Whitney Houston drowned face down in a tub of `` extremely hot water '' about 12 inches deep , the final autopsy report on the singer 's death said . The Los Angeles County coroner ruled that Houston 's February 11 death was an accidental drowning with the `` effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use '' as contributing factors . The coroner 's report stopped short of detailing what happened to Houston , but HLN 's Dr. Drew Pinsky , an addiction medicine specialist , examined the autopsy report for CNN and suggested she might have suffered a seizure brought on by the use of cocaine possibly combined with a withdrawal from alcohol and a prescription sedative . An empty bottle of the Xanax was found in her room , but the level of the sedative found in her blood was low , he said . Empty beer bottles were also found , but alcohol was not detected in her body , he said . `` To me , a sudden drop off in the Xanax level , a drop off in your alcohol consumption , add cocaine , that 's a recipe for a seizure , '' Pinsky said . `` Somebody who 's now upside down in a bathtub could easily seize and drown . '' However , Henry Spiller , a toxicologist and director of the Kentucky Regional Poison Control Center , said the level of Xanax found in Houston 's blood was not low enough to trigger a seizure . Those who abuse Xanax can take up to 20 pills a day , he said , and the level found in Houston 's body would indicate she took four to six pills several hours before she died . Since the drug was found in her blood , a seizure brought on by withdrawal is unlikely , he said . The coroner 's report notes that Houston suffered several small scald burns on her face at the time of her death . A 60 % narrowing of her arteries found in the autopsy is `` very mild heart disease , '' Pinsky said , which should not have caused a problem . Spiller said that based on his experience with cocaine abusers , two things may have happened -- either Houston had a seizure and fell into the tub , or had a cardiac arrhythmia . An arrhythmia occurs when the heart stops beating properly and fails to pump for a period of time , depriving the brain of oxygen and causing a loss of consciousness . It can be fatal . `` If you look at cocaine deaths , more deaths are from arrhythmias than seizures , '' Spiller said . `` Based on what is the report , it seems more likely that she had a vasospasm ( which shuts off blood flow to the heart ) or a fatal arrhythmia . '' Toxicology testing measured .58 micrograms of cocaine per milliliter of blood drawn from a vein in her leg during the autopsy , which Pinsky called a moderate level . Spiller said for that level of cocaine to be in Houston 's body , `` we 're talking about approximately half a gram of cocaine having been possibly ingested within 30 minutes to 90 minutes before her death . For someone who has been abusing cocaine , this may be their routine amount , but ( for ) someone who does n't regularly use cocaine and therefore does n't have a tolerance for the drug , this would be a high level . '' Houston 's cocaine use appeared to have occurred `` in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel , '' Chief Coroner Craig Harvey told reporters when he released the preliminary report last month . Investigators found `` a small spoon with a white crystal like substance in it and a rolled up piece of white paper '' in the bathroom where Houston drowned , coroner 's investigator Kristy McCracken wrote . `` Remnants of a white powdery substance '' were found on a bathroom counter , McCracken wrote . `` I also collected remnants of a white powdery substance from out of a drawer and from the bottom of a mirror in the same drawer in the bathroom counter , '' she wrote . Detectives found a `` plethora of medications bottles '' in the hotel room , although the coroner concluded the prescription drugs `` did not contribute to the death . '' Along with cocaine , the toxicology tests found other drugs in her body , including marijuana , the anti-anxiety drug Xanax , the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl , the report said . Houston was last seen alive by her personal assistant in her Beverly Hilton hotel room at about 3 p.m. that Saturday , the report said . The assistant left to run errands after telling Houston to take a bath in preparation for a pre-Grammy Awards party at the hotel that night , it said . When the assistant returned to the locked room at 3:35 p.m. , she found Houston `` lying face down in the bathtub filled with water , unresponsive . '' `` The assistant called for her bodyguard , and together they pulled the decedent out of the bathtub , '' the report said . When paramedics arrived about 10 minutes later they moved Houston to the living room floor . It was at 3:55 p.m. , 20 minutes after she was found by the assistant , that paramedics concluded she was dead , the report said . Houston won six Grammys and sold 170 million albums , singles and videos over her career . In recent years , the singer 's accomplishments were overtaken by her struggles with drug addiction .
A toxicologist says Houston 's death could have stemmed from cardiac arrhythmia . The man who died in the crash was a passenger on board Flight 214 that crashed into an apartment building near downtown Houston. Death was from accidental drowning ; cocaine , heart disease were factors . Investigators found `` a small spoon with a white crystal like substance `` in her bathroom . Her assistant found Houston 35 minutes after telling her to take a bath .