Patton Oswalt says heart condition, meds killed wife
LOS ANGELES -- Comedian and actor Patton Oswalt said Friday that coroner’s officials informed him that his wife died last year from a combination of prescription medications and an undiagnosed heart condition.
Oswalt wrote in a statement to The Associated Press that he and his wife Michelle McNamara had no idea she had a condition that caused blockages in her arteries.
“We learned today the combination of drugs in Michelle’s system, along with a condition we were unaware of, proved lethal,” Oswalt said.
The blockages, combined with her taking the medications Adderall, Xanax and the pain medication fentanyl, caused his wife’s death in April 2016, Oswalt said in the statement sent via his publicist.
Los Angeles coroner’s Lt. David Smith said McNamara’s cause of death remains listed as pending.
McNamara died April 21 in her sleep at age 46.
She founded the website the True Crime Diary, writing about breaking crime news and “cold cases” of crimes that were unsolved by police.
Oswalt is a comedian whose TV credits include “Veep,” ‘’Justified,” ‘’Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “The King of Queens” and films including “Magnolia,” ‘’Starsky & Hutch” and “Ratatouille.” He and McNamara married in 2005.
A few weeks after McNamara’s death, Oswalt penned a heartfelt essay, saying his “family is devastated but can’t help remember all of the times she made them laugh or comforted them.”
He said his wife’s death “hasn’t left a void, she’s left a blast crater.”
The couple had a daughter who is now 7.