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Elizabeth Pena Death: Alcohol Abuse And Internal Bleeding Caused Her Heart To Stop

By Jonathan Franks
Published on: 11:58 PST, Oct 22, 2014

Actress Elizabeth Pena died from complications caused by alcohol abuse, according to TMZ.

According to the information printed on her official death certificate, Elizabeth Pena suffered from a severe liver condition (cirrhosis) “due to alcohol.”

TMZ reported on Wednesday that the 55-year old actress suffered from this particular medical condition for months. However, shortly before Elizabeth’s death, the cirrhosis of her liver escalated to an acute status.

The death certificate of Elizabeth Pena confirms that she started suffering from acute gastrointestinal bleeding hours before she died. It was that continuous bleeding which led to Elizabeth’s heart stopping.

The acute gastrointestinal bleeding and the cirrhosis of her liver caused by her alcohol abuse were two of the four causes of death listed on her official death certificate. Cardiogenic shock and cardiopulmonary arrest were the remaining two causes listed.

According to USA Today, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office, Craig Harvey, confirmed that Elizabeth Pena’s death certificate was “signed by a private doctor.”

Throughout Elizabeth’s career, she focused on expanding the public’s view and expectations of Spanish-speaking people — which explains why she tried to make her résumé of roles on the big and small screen alike as diverse as possible.

She spoke publicly about her views on this issue in a 1996 interview with Dallas Morning News, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“In the United States, all Spanish-speaking people are lumped into one category. But we’re all so different. Argentinians are completely different from Mexicans. Mexicans are completely different from Cubans. Cubans are completely different from people from Paraguay and Uruguay.”

Elizabeth Pena was primarily known for her roles in such films as Rush Hour, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, as well as the Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba, starring Lou Diamond Phillips. In recent years, Elizabeth also starred on the hit ABC television series, Modern Family, as Sofia Vergara’s mother.

Pena also was a voice actor in the 2004 Pixar film, The Incredibles, and several popular television series — including Justice League, Maya & Miguel and American Dad.

Elizabeth Pena was pronounced dead on October 14 at Cedars Sinai Hospital located in Los Angeles, California. She is survived by her husband and two children as well as her sister and mother.

[Image Credit: Page Six]

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