Casey Johnson's Cause Of Death: Diabetes Neglect

LOS ANGELES — Socialite Casey Johnson died of a complication of diabetes, the Los Angeles County coroner said Thursday.

Johnson, 30, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson health care products fortune, died of diabetic ketoacidosis, the coroner said in a brief statement. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a life-threatening condition caused by lack of insulin and sky-high blood sugar.

An autopsy was conducted Jan. 5, a day after Johnson's body was found at her home. The coroner's office said it would not be able to discuss specifics until the autopsy report and toxicology results become available within two weeks.

Dr. Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner in New York City, said Johnson probably slipped into a diabetic coma, but people can usually be resuscitated from that in the first 24 hours.

"If you have somebody with diabetes, there should be somebody checking up on that person," said Baden, who has been an expert witness in cases involving the late comedian John Belushi and former pro football star O.J. Simpson.

A message left for a family spokesman was not immediately returned.

Johnson, the daughter of New York Jets owner Robert "Woody" Johnson, lived a party life. In December, she announced her engagement to bisexual reality TV star Tila Tequila.

Her body was flown east for a private funeral.

Johnson had been an insulin-dependent diabetic since childhood. A memorial fund in her name was set up with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Her father is chairman of that organization and co-author of the book "Managing Your Child's Diabetes."

Casey Johnson lived in a quiet neighborhood behind big wooden gates marked "Grumblenot," but she often partied with high school friend and fellow heiress Paris Hilton.

Johnson was charged in December with burglary and receiving stolen property for allegedly taking $22,000 in clothing, jewelry and other items from a friend's home. She pleaded not guilty and faced a February hearing.

She is survived by her parents, two younger sisters, and an adopted child she named Ava-Monroe, after her idol, Marilyn Monroe.

Comments

[AlsoSarah]

04:56 PM on 02/06/2010

LOS ANGELES — Socialite Casey Johnson died of a complication of diabetes, the Los Angeles County coroner said Thursday.

This was the cause of her death. NOT diabetes neglect.

[AlsoSarah]

04:58 PM on 02/06/2010

Someone should lawyer up for defamation.

[AlsoSarah]

04:32 PM on 02/06/2010

It is simply wrong in every way for anyone to call this diabetic neglect. No one can know why she slipped into keacidosis. Having observed keacidosis on several occassions, I will tell you it can come on very quickly and the diabetic is so out of it they seldom know what is happening to themselves. Diabetic keacidosis can kill within 24 hours. So I do agree that if you know or love someone that is a T1 diabetic, check up on them at least daily.

[slaxx]

06:40 PM on 02/05/2010

she could have been one of those people who skips their insulin in order to stay thin - i believe they have a term for it - something like 'insulin bilemmia' where people will binge and skip their shot so the sugar and calories aren't absorbed. it's very dangerous.

[jena132]

12:37 PM on 02/05/2010

Sad that she didn't take care of herself. My condolences to her loved ones.

[hannabanana]

10:57 AM on 02/05/2010

What is this even doing here - in the Entertainment section? This Spoilite never entertained anyone but herself.

[schatsie]

10:22 AM on 02/05/2010

My son is 35 and my heart goes out to her parents...It is never good for a parent to have a child die, no matter what the relationship or cause.

[EmmaJ76]

08:53 AM on 02/05/2010

Sad case, am reserving judgment until full tox tests come back. Funny though that yet again the wonderful Dr Baden in brought into speculate on a case he has not worked on....

I have had two friends die from diabetes - one was drug related and the other was simple neglect.

This is why I am reserving judgment because it could be either.

[Weathermaker]

08:29 AM on 02/05/2010

"Dr. Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner in New York City, said Johnson probably slipped into a diabetic coma, but people can usually be resuscitated from that in the first 24 hours."

Sad. She should have had a private nurse on call 24/7.

[AlsoSarah]

04:26 PM on 02/06/2010

Most diabetics try to lead a normal life and try not to draw attention to their diabetes. They are a stubborn lot. They want to be like everyone else.

[JayZee]

08:28 AM on 02/05/2010

I wonder if her diabetes was drug related also.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&channel=s&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=+drug+induced+diabetes&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g2&oq=

[schatsie]

10:21 AM on 02/05/2010

Nope, she was a childhood diabetic, juvenile diabetis is ugly...however, with the pumps that they have now, she could have lived a lot longer. I do feel that alcohol and the white menace really mess up the diabetic treatment. more so than drugs themselves which are low calory.

[AlsoSarah]

04:23 PM on 02/06/2010

When my daughter was on the pump she was always in keacidosis due to the canulas collapsing. Diabetes is not a walk in the park. Unfortunately many no-diabetics are ignorant to what T1 diabetes actually is. So I will tell them. It is a life threatening disease. So when this poor girl died from it they ..what else...blamed the diabetic.

[kimmisner]

08:20 AM on 02/05/2010

There's irony for you.

[VDOOnline]

08:15 AM on 02/05/2010

more at
http://bit.ly/cR7ay0

[joeyfoto]

04:12 AM on 02/05/2010

I have nothing to say about this tragedy except that it's sad and I wish it had not happened.but as a public health professional, I do have a comment on this page. PLEASE, don't get you health education on puff pages. If you want to learn about diabetes, begin at:

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/

Then, after exhausting conventional approaches, I'd recommend Andy Weil's web page for additional information on complementary medicine's approaches. Although some of the posts here were spot on, the forum contains information that is not helpful. If you care about your health, do your own homework.

[fabricnthreads]

06:36 PM on 02/05/2010

Thank you for pointing out how little most of the people on this page know about diabetes.

[dieselis]

01:08 AM on 02/05/2010

Diabetes is tricky to much insulin will kill you if your blood sugars drop to low even faster than high blood sugars. Diabetics should check their blood sugar when they awake in the morning,before each meal and prior to bed if your case is moderate to severe. Proper medication and balanced modest portioned meals are key. Its no picnic and Diabetics often don't take the disease seriously its a death sentence if you neglect it. Even when managed diabetes can ravage the body. She apparently made some bad choices but I feel for her father who has to live thinking he could or should have done more.

[learnsomething]

01:05 AM on 02/05/2010

Why are some of you dragging Tila into this. Tila had nothing to do with this woman death. Neither did her family.

[gleepglop]

10:43 AM on 02/05/2010

they said if somebody has diabetes like that then somebody should check up on her at least once every 24 hours. You'd think if you had a 'fiancee' that checking up on you once every 24 hours is the least they could do.

[DuchessMcCray]

10:31 PM on 02/04/2010

but how could she have diabetes? she was thin..gasp.. I mean doesn't thin means you are healthy? get real, a prime example that thin doesn't mean healthy

[idcsys]

11:37 PM on 02/04/2010

Good point.

[themeeg]

06:44 AM on 02/05/2010

Not really. More like an uninformed comment.

[ilovemyprez]

12:12 AM on 02/05/2010

She had type 1 juvenile diabetes since she was a child. Type 2 diabetes, which adults get, is often caused by obesity.

[DuchessMcCray]

09:23 AM on 02/05/2010

thanks, I'm the idiot who didn't read the whole article. truth be told I usually don't care to read about celebrities..