TAMPA, FL -- TV pitchman Billy Mays used cocaine just days before his death, according to a report by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner.
The well-known infomercial salesman was found dead at his Tampa home in June.
Dr. Chrostowski, who performed the autopsy, concluded that Mays died of heart disease.
In his report, he states that "cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death."
The medical examiner concluded that Mays had used cocaine in the days prior to his death, but not immediately before.
Cocaine can raise the arterial blood pressure, directly cause thickening of the left wall of the ventricle and accelerate the formation of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the release said.
Mays' widow Deborah said in a written statement that the family was "totally unaware of any non prescription drug usage and are actively considering an independent evaluation of the autopsy results."
She added, "We are extremely disappointed by the press release released by the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office. We believe it contains speculative conclusions that are frankly unnecessary and tend to obscure the conclusion that Billy suffered from chronic, untreated hypertension."
The report also stated that traces of tramadol, hydrocodone, and oxycodone as well as anti-anxiety drugs alprazolam and diazepamwere found in his system. Mays had prescriptions for the tramadol and hydrocodone, because of his hip pain, the report stated.
He was scheduled to have hip surgery that day he died.
He had a family history of heart disease. The official cause of death was listed as hypertensive and arteriosclerotic heart disease.
Longtime friend and colleague AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of the "As Seen on TV" product company Telebrands, said Mays never exhibited any signs of drug use and was always prepared for his many commericial shoots.
"I'm just shocked," Khubani said. "He was the model of a responsible citizen."
Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed demonstrating knives, mops and other "As Seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.
Khubani, founder and CEO of "As Seen on TV," said he first met Mays in the early 1990s when Mays was still pitching one of his early products, the Shammy absorbent cloth, at a trade fair. He said he most recently worked with Mays on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.
After meeting Orange Glo International founder Max Appel at a home show in Pittsburghin the mid-1990s, Mays was recruited to demonstrate the environmentallyfriendly line of cleaning products on the St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network.
Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays showing how it's done while tossing out kitschy phrases like, "Long live your laundry!"
Sarah Ellerstein worked closely with Mays when she was a buyer for the Home Shopping Network in the 1990s and he was pitching Orange Glo products.
"Billy was such a sweet guy, very lovable, very nice, always smiling, just a great, great guy," she said, adding that Mays met his future wife at the network. "Everybody thinks because he's loud and boisterous on theair that that's the way he is, but I always found him to be a quiet, down-to-earth person."
His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans for his commercials on a wide variety of products. People lined up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stopped him in airports to chat about the products.
"I enjoy what I do," Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "I think it shows."
Mays liked to tell the story of giving bottles of OxiClean to the 300 guests at his wedding, and doing his ad spiel ("powered by the air we breathe!") on the dance floor at the reception. Visitors to his house typically got bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips.
As part of "Pitchmen," Mays and Sullivan showed viewers new gadgets such as the Impact Gel shoe insert; the Tool Band-it, a magnetized armband that holds tools; and the Soft Buns portable seat cushion.
"One of the things that we hope to do with 'Pitchmen' is to give people anappreciation of what we do," Mays told The Tampa Tribune in an April interview. "I don't take on a product unless I believe in it. I use everything that I sell."
His former wife, Dolores "Dee Dee" Mays, of McKees Rocks, Pa., recalled that the first product he sold was the Wash-matik, a device for pumping water from a bucket to wash cars.
"I knew him since he was 15, and I always knew he had it in him," she saidof Mays' success. "He'll live on forever because he always had the biggest heart in the world. He loved his friends and family and woulddo anything for them. He was a generous soul and a great father."
Besides his wife, Mays is survived by a 3-year-old daughter and a stepson in his 20s, police said.
