You choose, we deliver
If you are interested in this story, you might be interested in others from The Journal Gazette. Go to www.journalgazette.net/newsletter and pick the subjects you care most about. We'll deliver your customized daily news report at 3 a.m. Fort Wayne time, right to your email.

People

  • Justin Bieber wanted for questioning in scuffle
    CALABASAS, Calif. — Justin Bieber is wanted for questioning by Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators after a photographer complained of being roughed up by the pop star at a shopping center.Sheriff's Lt.
  • Madonna kicks off tour in Israel
    Israelis are gearing up to get down at Madonna’s show as the pop diva landed in the Holy Land ahead of her world tour which kicks off here next week.
  • Born this way? Lady Gaga meets Thai 'lady boys'
    BANGKOK — Lady Gaga has met Thailand's premier "lady boys" at a Bangkok drag show featuring busty dancers who were not born that wayDiving in to the city's nightlife, the pop diva and an entourage from her "Born This
Advertisement

Coroner seeks Houston's medical, Rx records

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has issued subpoenas for medical and pharmacy records from Whitney Houston’s doctors and medical providers, which is standard procedure in such investigations, an official said.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the request is made in virtually all death investigations because it can shed additional light on how people died and whether they had any serious medical conditions.

“We’ve already contacted a number of doctors with requests for records,” he said.

Winter said that at this time, there is nothing unusual about how his office is proceeding with the Houston death investigation and that requests for medical records are requested through subpoenas.

“If somebody even dies in a crash, a blunt-force trauma, we will still take medical issues into account,” he said.

“Anything helps.”

Investigators found several bottles of prescription medication in the Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel room where Houston died Saturday, although Winter has said they weren’t an unusually large number. Detectives have declined to disclose which medications were seized.

Authorities said an autopsy found no indications of foul play or obvious signs of trauma on Houston. She was under water and apparently unconscious when she was pulled from a bathtub, officials said.

It could be weeks before the coroner’s office completes toxicology tests to establish the cause of death.

Houston died just hours before she was scheduled to perform at producer Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy Awards bash. Her family plans a private church service in her hometown of Newark, N.J.

Houston, a sensation from her first album in 1985, was one of the world’s best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, turning out such hits as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” `’How Will I Know,” `’The Greatest Love of All” and “I Will Always Love You.”

But as she struggled with drugs, her majestic voice became raspy, and she couldn’t hit the high notes.