Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd emotionally responds to actress' autopsy report

Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd has released an emotional statement in response to the coroner's report that her actress mother died of sleep apnea and other contributing factors.

The Star Wars icon suffered a massive heart attack on board a flight from London to Los Angeles just before Christmas (16). She never gained consciousness and died on 27 December, with an autopsy report released on Friday (16Jun17) stating her cause of death as sleep apnea and other contributing factors.

The Los Angeles County Coroner's office added in their report that these factors included heart disease and drug use, which was "not ascertained", concluding that the manner of Carrie’s death was "undetermined".

Now Scream Queens actress Billie has responded to the report, telling People in a statement: "My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases.

"She talked about the shame that torments people and their families confronted by these diseases. I know my Mom, she’d want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles. Seek help, fight for government funding for mental health programs. Shame and those social stigmas are the enemies of progress to solutions and ultimately a cure. Love you Momby."

Carrie's brother Todd Fisher also responded to the report, insisting he was not "enlightened" by the conclusion.

"There’s nothing about this that is enlightening," he told the Associated Press. "I would tell you, from my perspective that there’s certainly no news that Carrie did drugs.

"I am not shocked that part of her health was affected by drugs. If you want to know what killed her, it’s all of it."

Carrie's issues with drugs began when she was just 13 years old, with the actress opening up about these addictions in 1987 semi-autobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge.

Billie and Todd were dealt a double blow following Carrie's death, when her mother, Hollywood icon Debbie Reynolds, passed away just a day later, on 28 December. The two stars were interred together at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.