Dex Carvey's primary cause of death determined by coroner: fentanyl and other drugs
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Dex Carvey, an aspiring comedian and son of former "Saturday Night Live" star Dana Carvey, died from a lethal combination of fentanyl, ketamine and cocaine, officials said.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determined on Tuesday that the actor died of an accidental drug overdose, confirming the details previously shared by his father and mother, Paula Zwagerman, in November. The report revealed no additional causes or significant conditions. Dex was 32.
Dana Carvey and Zwagerman announced their son's death in a social media statement on Nov. 16. The spouses, who also share son Thomas Carvey, mourned Dex, who "packed a lot" into his 32 years of life.
Read more: Dana Carvey, wife mourn death of son Dex Carvey, 32
"He was extremely talented at so many things — music, art, film making, comedy — and pursued all of them passionately,” the actor's parents said, before acknowledging people whose lives are affected by addiction.
Dex Carvey was born on June 23, 1991, and appeared in a handful of projects, including the miniseries "Beyond the Comics" and "The Funster," according to IMDb.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported in December that fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, caused more than 60% of all accidental drug or alcohol overdoses in 2022.
Read more: Ex-drug dealer Jelly Roll needs more than a favor. He needs Congress to pass an anti-fentanyl bill
“We’re still amid the worst overdose crisis in history, and that’s obviously an emergency situation,” Dr. Gary Tsai, director of the county’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Control program, told The Times in December. “We’re doing a lot of work to improve our system, but there’s obviously still a lot of work that we have to do.”
Two months after losing his eldest son, Dana Carvey opened up about his grief and about finding comfort in keeping busy. During his return to the "Fly on the Wall" podcast last week, Dana Carvey told his co-host David Spade, "You just want to make sure you keep moving."
Read more: Dana Carvey lost his son Dex to addiction. In podcast return, he wants to laugh again
He continued: "I thought about this over the holidays and I decided to come back to the podcast because I think ... it’s going to be a break and I think it’s going to be really cool to laugh."
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
