Getty Corey Haim/Corey Haim's funeral
Corey Haim died of complications from pneumonia and an enlarged heart, although his death at age 38 was investigated as a suspected drug overdose. Actor Corey Feldman, who starred with Haim in several movies, said in interviews at the time he knew Haim did not overdose.
Haim collapsed in the apartment he shared with his mother in Los Angeles, and investigators suspected he died from prescription drug abuse. However, toxicology results indicated drugs did not contributed to the former child actor’s cause of death March 10, 2010. Read Haim’s full autopsy report here.
Feldman is naming names in his new documentary, “My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys” which airs on his own streaming platform at 11 p.m. EST March 9 and 3 p.m. EST March 10. Learn more about the film and how to stream the documentary here.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Corey Haim’s Autopsy Showed an ‘Extremely Large Amount’ of Swelling to His Lungs
Will Wall St and Hollywood crash on the same day?
Corey Feldman, Corey Haim and My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys.
While Corey Haim’s death was investigated as a suspected prescription drug overdose, his autopsy and toxicology results told a different story. CNN reported on the toxicology results after they were returned, which “revealed no significant contributing factors” from drugs. However, the autopsy did show “an extremely large amount” of swelling in his lungs.
Before his death, Haim was “in bed all day,” according to his full autopsy report. Haim was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His probable cause of death was listed as cardiopulmonary arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department wrote in its initial report. Haim’s mom, Judy Haim, told police her son had been sick, but she thought he was getting better. The two lived together in a Los Angeles apartment. On March 8, 2010, two days before he died, he told her he had a fever and wasn’t feeling well. The next day, he did not get out of bed. He was coughing all day, and she brought him vegetable soup and tea. She called 911 when her son fell to his knees and did not respond to her.
She told police he was not getting “high” because he had a fever of between 99 and 101 degrees, according to the autopsy report. When he became unresponsive, he began to shake and his eyes rolled back. The report added he did not have a history of suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts, and that no suicide note was found.
2. False Rumors Surrounded Corey Haim’s Death, Claiming He Died of an Overdose
THORNHILL, CANADA – MARCH 16: Mourners carry the coffin during the private funeral service for actor Corey Haim at Steeles Memorial Chapel on March 16, 2010 in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Jag Gundu/Getty Images)
Corey Feldman said on the Wendy Williams show that rumors portrayed Corey Haim’s death as one caused by a drug overdose. He said those rumors were false.
“No, he did not overdose. He actually died of pneumonia and an enlarged heart. But the rumor that came out when he died was that he had overdosed. But the truth of the matter, he did not overdose,” Feldman said.
Haim’s death was first investigated as a “suspected prescription medication overdose,” CNN reported in 2010 after his toxicology results were returned. The toxicology “revealed no significant contributing factors” from drugs.
Toxicology tests showed that Haim’s blood did have “low levels” of a list of drugs, including an antidepressant (Prozac), an antipsychotic (Olanzapine), diazepam (Valium), a muscle relaxer (Carisoprodol), a tranquilizer (meprobamate) and THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Haim also was taking a cough suppressant, antihistamine and ibuprofen, according to the full autopsy report.
“These medications are present in low levels and are non-contributory to death,” the autopsy report said.
In a news conference, then-California Attorney General Jerry Brown used Haim’s death to publicize his enforcement efforts against illegal prescription drug use, CNN reported at the time. At a news conference, Brown called Haim “the poster child” for the problem of addicts “doctor shopping” for addictive prescription medications. State investigators found Haim had obtained Vicodin, Valium, Soma and Xanax just five days before he died, Brown said.
Brown launched an inquiry into what he said was Haim’s “doctor shopping” for drugs. He said seven doctors gave him prescriptions for four controlled substances in the last 10 weeks of his life, according to CNN.
3. Corey Feldman Suspects Corey Haim May Have Been Murdered
Rare exclusive Interview With THE LOST BOYS’ Corey Haim!
Corey Feldman said in an interview shortly before the release of his new documentary, “My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys” that he suspected his friend, Corey Haim, may have been murdered.
“Was he done in?” Wendy Williams asked Corey Feldman on her show.
“OK, so, we don’t know that,” he responded. “See that’s another thing is I want to investigate…”
The Los Angeles Police Department opened a death investigation after Corey Haim was rushed to St. Joseph Hospital in Los Angeles, where he was pronounced dead March 10, 2010. The investigation concluded with an autopsy and toxicology report, which indicated Haim died of natural causes due to complications of pneumonia and an enlarged heart. You can read the report here.
Haim’s mother, Judy Haim, told police about the days leading up to his death. She said he told her he was sick on March 8, 2010, two days before he died. On March 9, she said he was coughing frequently and stayed in bed all day. She said she brought him tea and vegetable soup. She thought he was getting better until he collapsed and became unresponsive, she told police, according to the full autopsy report.
4. Before Corey Haim Died, Corey Feldman Promised He Would Reveal the Truth About Their Sexual Abuse
Corey Feldman’s documentary, “My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys” was part of a promise Feldman made his longtime friend and co-star, according to E News.
“Corey asked me to make sure that if he died before me that his story was told. I am doing exactly that… The only thing left is he wants people to know who the assailant was, and I hope to God that one day that story can be told, too,” Feldman told the news outlet in 2018.
Feldman recalled to E News a conversation he had with Haim, where Haim said he believed the person who raped him would kill him if he told the truth.
“Why don’t you just tell them the truth finally and get it out?” Feldman said he asked Haim.
“Because he’ll kill me. He will kill me,” Haim responded, according to Feldman.
Haim told Feldman, “‘If something happens to me or should I die before you, promise me that my story will be told,'” Feldman said.
5. Corey Feldman & Corey Haim’s Mother & Manager Insisted Corey Haim Did Not Overdose
Corey Haim had a well-publicized drug addiction, which he was recovering from at the time of his death, according to a 2010 CNN article. Haim battled drug addiction for decades, beginning when he was a child actor. He was in a program for drug addiction at the time of his death. Haim’s manager, Mark Heaslip, told CNN Haim “was making major progress” in a program to wean him off pills.
Haim would sometimes threaten to find doctors to prescribe him drugs when his primary physician wouldn’t give him what he wanted, his manager told CNN.
“I would be the only one who could talk him out of it,” Heaslip said in 2010.
Corey Haim’s mom, Judy Haim, also insisted her son had not died from a drug overdose before the toxicology tests were revealed.
Corey Feldman wrote in his memoir, “Coreyography,” that he knew long before the toxicology tests came back he knew his longtime friend did not overdose.
“I knew him better than anyone,” he recalled telling Larry King. “Believe me, I would know.”
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Corey Haim’s Death: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know