Cocaine Helped Kill Billy Mays, Coroner Says

Toxicology tests show that drug contributed to fatal heart attack

Mr. OxiClean wasn't as clean as we thought.

In June, an initial coroner's report said pitchman extraordinaire Billy Mays had died of heart disease. Now, we've learned cocaine contributed to his death.

According to the Hillsborough County, Fla., medical examiner, the bearded Orange Glo hawker did indeed die from a heart attack while sleeping. But toxicology tests reveal that cocaine was a factor.

"Cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the medical examiner said in a press release.

While the 50-year-old Mays had used the drug in the days before his June 27 death, the coroner said, he was not under the influence of cocaine at the time he died.

Previously, the coroner said Mays had prescription painkillers for a hip problem but had no known history of drug abuse.

A month ago, Discovery Channel it would pick up a second season of the Mays-fronted reality show Pitchmen "as a tribute to Mays' legacy."

(Originally published Aug. 7, 2009, at 2:08 p.m. PT)