Did ‘Rehab’ singer Amy Winehouse die due to drinking withdrawal?

Over the weekend, a celebrity doctor in the US belied claims made by Amy Winehouse’s bereaved parents that the late British singer may have died due to alcohol withdrawal instead of substance abuse. Winehouse, who died at the age of 27 in London last week, tried to enlist the help of celebrity recovery expert Dr. Drew Pinsky in the days before her death, the “Celebrity Rehab" host told Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM on Friday (Saturday in Manila). During his interview, Pinsky disputed the account of how the “Back to Black" chanteuse had died according to the singer’s parents. “Just this morning, her parents put out some type of news release that suggests that what they believe she died of was alcohol withdrawal, which is a very interesting little theory," Pinsky posited. “It’s wrong, it’s not what she died of, I can virtually guarantee you." In cases of fatal alcohol withdrawal, Pinsky said, “You get really really sick and you seize, and you become encephalopathic and confused, and your heart becomes erratic, and it’s not like you just drop dead like her parents are suggesting." Pinsky, who is in the USA, was not part of the team that conducted an autopsy of Winehouse's remains. (See: Winehouse autopsy fails to determine cause of death.) On a radio show, Pinsky revealed that the deceased singer had attempted to reach him for help. “Believe it or not she was trying to contact me which was weird. Janice Dickinson told me that," Pinsky recalled. “I remember getting calls from Europe and thinking, ‘What the hell is this?’" Winehouse was found unconscious on Saturday in her London apartment by an ambulance service, which was unable to revive her. Authorities described her cause of death as “unexplained." She was 27. — Reuters/MRT, GMA News