DEA Investigating How Heath Ledger Obtained Painkillers

People.com reports that federal agents in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are still investigating how actor Heath Ledger obtained the painkillers, Oxycontin and Vicodin, that were found in his system and contributed to his death. Bottles for the painkillers were not found in Ledger's apartment. A source for People said that the DEA would interview people and search databases, credit card records and the like during their investigation. "Either someone gave [the drugs] to [Ledger] or he bought it himself or he got it online."

The DEA agents have already interviewed two doctors who met with Ledger and prescribed him drugs other than the painkillers, said the source, and they will continue trying to find physicians who may have prescribed the drugs, which is the first step in such investigations. After interviewing all the physicians, agents will then look at other people who could have given Ledger the painkillers.

Relatively small amounts of Oxycontin and Vicodin were found in Ledger's system, but the source said that, "Just the mix itself with the other drugs is enough to kill you."

It is also unclear why Ledger would have taken the strong painkillers, since the actor had seemingly gotten clean and "everyone spoke so highly of him," according to the source.