Amy Winehouse's Death: No Drugs Found

Aug. 23, 2011— -- There were "no illegal substances" found in Amy Winehouse's body at the time of her death, her family claims, according to The Associated Press.

The family revealed the results of a toxicology test in a statement released today.

"Toxicology results returned to the Winehouse family by authorities have confirmed that there were no illegal substances in Amy's system at the time of her death," the statement read. "Results indicate that alcohol was present but it cannot be determined as yet if it played a role in her death."

"The family would like to thank the police and coroner for their continuing thorough investigations and for keeping them informed throughout the process. They await the outcome of the inquest in October," the statement concluded.

Winehouse's formal cause of death remains unknown and will be not be released until October.

The 27-year-old singer was found dead at her flat in London's Camden district July 23.

Officials reportedly found no drug paraphernalia or sign of drugs in Winehouse's home.

Bruce A. Goldberger, a toxicology professor at the University of Florida, said the negative toxicology result does not completely rule out the involvement of a drug or a combination of drugs that could have been missed by the testing procedures or were metabolized before the test.

He said some prescription drugs, illicit drugs and "designer" drugs can escape detection.

Nor does this test result rule out the toll years of drug and alcohol abuse could have had on Winehouse's body.

"The misuse/abuse of illicit drugs as well as prescription drugs can lead to cardiovascular disease and other changes in the body that can lead to death," Goldberger told ABCNews.com. "Alcohol abuse can cause similar changes."

"I think the picture that we get by studying Amy Winehouse and her behavior is so different than some of the other stars that we've lost, including Heath Ledger," Goldberger said. "This lifestyle that she lived could have resulted in her death, even though drugs were not found at the time of autopsy."

Soon after her death, her U.K.-based representative Chris Goodman revealed that a bodyguard hired to watch the singer was the first person to discover her death.

"She was in her bedroom after saying she wanted to sleep, and when he went to wake her, he found she wasn't breathing," Goodman told the Sun newspaper. "He called the emergency services straight away. He was very shocked. At this stage no one knows how she died. She died alone in bed."

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The Sun also reported that Winehouse had seen a doctor the night before she died as part of a routine series of checkups, given her history of drug and alcohol abuse. The doctor saw nothing wrong.