Los Angeles (E! Online) - Earlier this month, authorities declared that the untimely death of Heath Ledger was caused by an accidental overdose of prescription medication. Now, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency is getting to the bottom of how, and from whom, the medications were issued.
The DEA is currently investigating two doctors in connection with the 28-year-olds prescription disbursement, one in California and one in Texas, neither of whose names have been released.
Authorities have already taken pains to make clear that the investigation is currently dealing only with the legality of the prescriptions issued and is not a investigation into Ledgers death, with both People and the New York Daily News citing sources claiming that its unclear as yet whether there was any wrongdoing on the doctors behalf.
According to the NYDN, the two doctors are believed to have been the physicians who prescribed the painkillers Oxycontin and Vicodin to Ledger, though its unclear whether both doctors prescribed both sets of pills or whether they were each responsible for only one of the medications.
Whatever the case, the medications were just two of six potent prescription drugs found in Ledgers system at the time of his Jan. 22 death. The others included Xanax, Valium, the anti-anxiety and sleeping aid Temazepam and the sleeping aid Doxylamine.
At issue in the investigation, in addition to whether the medications were legally prescribed, is whether any doctor-shopping took place to obtain the pills, i.e., whether the patient went to several doctors in an effort to score more prescriptions than one single doctor would dispense.
Earlier this month, just hours after the New York Medical Examiners office confirmed Ledgers cause of death on Feb. 6 came word that the DEA had already launched their investigation and was in the midst of issuing subpoenas to obtain the actors toxicology report as well as information about the case from the New York Police department to determine whether the amount of pills prescribed to Ledger were in violation of federal law.
Several days later, on Feb. 9, several close friends and family members, including Ledgers parents, sister, erstwhile former fiance Michelle Williams and former costar Cate Blanchett convened in Perth, Australia for a private memorial honoring the actor.
During the service, the assembled mourners jumped into the ocean on Ledgers favorite hometown beach in honor of the free spirit.
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