Amy Winehouse Death Confirmed to Be Alcohol-Related

A coroner's report in London on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 confirmed that the death of Amy Winehouse was from alcohol poisoning. After the Grammy award-winning singer and London resident passed away at the age of 27 on July 23, 2011, the original coroner inquest was deemed inconsequential due to lack of qualifications. The coroner resigned in November of 2011 when her credibility was questioned after authorities learned that she had not been a registered lawyer in Great Britain for five years, a necessary requirement.

Winehouse was found dead in her home in London with empty bottles of vodka. The singer had struggled with drug abuse and alcohol abuse for years and had recently quit taking drugs and made attempts to stop drinking alcohol. In a widely public battle with drug addiction and alcohol addiction, Winehouse was able to get clean from her use of heroin, crack and marijuana, but struggled with maintaining sobriety from alcohol. According to sources that knew the singer, she had recently started drinking again after remaining sober for roughly two weeks.

Toxicology reports after Winehouse's death indicated that she had a blood alcohol content of 0.4, more than five times the legal driving limit of 0.08. At this high level of intoxication, medical professionals suggested that she most likely had a respiratory arrest. Consuming that much alcohol can have serious effect on the central nervous system, and the person will sometimes not wake up after falling asleep.

Winehouse rose to fame with the release of her 2006 album "Back to Black", which won a total of five Grammys. She had a distinct style and strong voice. Winehouse often worked with producer Mark Ronson in a genre of music classified as neo-soul. In addition to her drug and alcohol abuse problems, the singer also suffered from various health problems including seizures, emphysema and bulimia. There were no suspicions of foul play in her death, and it was determined that the consumption of alcohol was voluntary.

Stories like Winehouse's are not all that uncommon in the music industry. Drug abuse and alcohol abuse occur quite frequently among musicians, and drug overdoses and alcohol toxicity have been known to cause numerous deaths among members of the music scene. This can attributed to a variety of different reasons, such as the environment of playing in bars and venues that serve alcohol, the culture of drug use among people in the music industry, and the stress of playing onstage in front of large crowds. There have been many great musicians over the years that passed away too early in life due to complications resulting from drug and alcohol addictions.

Winehouse was known by those close to her as not only an extremely talented singer, but also an intelligent and determined individual. Unfortunately, she did not have a successful attempt at recovery and passed away early in what may have been a long and prosperous career and life. Her death demonstrates the power that drugs and alcohol can have over lives, and the importance in seeking treatment to get clean and stay sober.