David Gail: Cause of death of Beverly Hills 90210 actor was 'drug-related', his publicist says

The death of David Gail, best known for his role on 'Beverly Hills, 90210', was drug-related, his publicist said. Previously, it was reported that he died of a serious cardiac arrest, with police reportedly investigating a possible overdose, which his family denied.

According to his publicist, Lisa Brown, the cause of death was anoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a brain injury resulting from lack of blood, after resuscitation from cardiopulmonary arrest. The statement said it was due to drug intoxication from cocaine, fentanyl, amphetamines, ethanol and other substances.

Gail, 58, was found unresponsive by emergency personnel "who made every attempt to save his life including cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation". He was placed on life support for several days and died on January 16.

Gail’s mother, Mary Painter, said in a statement: "It breaks my heart to learn that my son died this way." Painter said Gail "became reliant" on medicine years ago after having undergone multiple operations on his hands and wrists.

She added: "He lived in enough pain to prevent him from working for almost a decade, with relief only achieved through full disability, physical therapy and pain medicine.

"He struggled to stop taking pharmaceuticals and did before turning toward a more Eastern pain management including acupuncture and natural medicines. I can only assume that his former opioid dependence played a part in self-medicating from uncontrolled sources."

His death was first announced by his sister, Katie Colmenares, in a touching post on Instagram.

She wrote on the social media website alongside a picture of her and her brother: "I will hold you so tight every day in my heart you gorgeous loving amazing fierce human being missing you every second of every day forever there will never be another."

In Beverly Hills, 90210, a popular teen drama in the 1990s, he acted opposite Shannen Doherty's Brenda Walsh as her one-time fiancé, Stuart Carlson. Gail was also known for his role in the US medical drama Port Charles - a spin-off of the popular US soap opera General Hospital - which he starred in more than 200 episodes as Dr Joe Scanlon.