upsetting details in Karen Carpenters autopsy report | Music News

Karen Carpenter is taken into account one of the best vocalists of all time and her legacy lives on, more than 40 years after her death.

The musician was the lead singer and drummer of the extremely profitable duo the Carpenters, which she shaped with her older brother Richard.

The music world was left shocked when Karen, who was praised for her vocal abilities, and had a distinctive three-octave contralto vary, handed away at the age of only 32 on February 4, 1983.

Based on her autopsy report, Karen’s instant trigger of death was established as Hyperosmolar coma – now called Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar State (HHS).

The condition, which could be deadly if not handled immediately, is characterised by extraordinarily high blood sugar, extreme dehydration and high blood osmolality (concentrated blood), Cleveland Clinic explains.

The autopsy, launched on March 11, 1973, attributed Karen’s death to “emetine cardiotoxicity due to or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa.”

Her blood sugar was discovered to be 1,110 milligrams per deciliter (61.6 mmol/L), more than 10 instances the average. The autopsy revealed that Karen was discovered unresponsive on her kitchen ground by her mom, who immediately called the emergency providers.

Paramedics initiated CPR while transporting the singer to Downey Community Hospital in California, but life saving efforts had been “of no avail” and she she was pronounced lifeless.

It said, “Close examination revealed no indications of trauma or foul play.”

Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, who carried out the autopsy, wrote, “From the anatomic findings and pertinent history I ascribed death to: (A) EMETINE CARDIOTOXICITY DUE TO AS AS A CONSEQUENCE OF (B) ANOREXIA NERVOSA.”

In the biography Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter, which was launched in 2023, writer Lucy O’Brien revealed that, a 12 months before her death, the singer spent six months in intensive, $100-a-session therapy in a bid to improve her health.

During the periods, Karen admitted to taking more than 90 laxatives a day in order to expel food from her physique – which led her to dropping to just 89lbs (40kg/6.3stone).

Lucy said, “Karen’s willingness to set aside the time and the money showed her initial level of commitment to the therapy.”

In an excerpt from the biography, printed by The Hollywood Reporter, the author said Karen’s “compulsive behaviors” that had developed would need to be dislodged.

This began with cutting down the quantity of laxatives, as properly as her use of thyroid medication Synthroid, which speeds up metabolism to lose weight quicker.

Overuse of Synthroid could lead on to harmful penalties, with an overdose extremely rising the chances of her falling into a coma or having a coronary heart assault.

When Karen rebelled against the help from Dr Steven Levenkron, he allegedly responded, “But you do need care because you are incompetent…because you can’t keep yourself alive.”

Ultimately, in September 1982, Karen can be admitted into Lennox Hill Hospital in New York, and positioned on an IV nutrient drip in a bid to keep her alive.

While it labored, the weight increase put a pressure on her coronary heart. Nonetheless, returning to California that November, Karen had began trying ahead to a more healthy future, even planning a tour with her brother and writing music again.

But sadly, her life was cut short when she handed away in February the next 12 months.