Leslie Cargile toxicology report: Suicide by painkillers, sedatives

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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A medical examiner has completely ruled out foul play, certifying the death of Leslie Cargile as a suicide.

She died of a mix of painkillers and other medicines, and her death was more than a day later than that of her husband, Allen.

This week, Dr. Stephen Pustilnik, head of the Galveston Medical Examiner’s Office, said the difference “was probably a couple of days” between Allen’s death and the death of his wife.

From the Citizen-Times:

A popular Black Mountain doctor found dead with her husband in a Texas hotel room committed suicide with a lethal cocktail of prescription painkillers and other medicines, a medical examiner is now saying.

Dr. Leslie Cargile had taken at least six different types of drugs, Dr. Stephen Pustilnik, head of the Galveston Medical Examiner’s Office, said this week. They included prescription painkillers such as hydrocodone and tramadol hydrochloride, the sedative butalbital, and a non-prescription allergy medicine.

The medical examiner was still finalizing Cargile’s report, but said he has completely ruled out foul play.

“I am certifying her death as a suicide,” he said.

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Pustilnik named six drugs that were found in Leslie Cargile, but said there could be other drugs listed in the report, which is not yet available to the public.

Those present ranged from the normally benign allergy medicine diphenhydramine to high-powered prescription sedatives and painkillers. Combined they proved deadly, though the amounts of some of the individual drugs would have also been lethal, he said.

“The tramadol and hydrocodone doses individually were enough to kill,” he said.

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But what could remain an unsolved mystery for friends and former patients alike is why the couple, which ran Leslie Cargile’s FamilyCare Home Practice and who were known for their philanthropy, killed themselves.

The practice’s closing caused confusion and grief among thousands of patients. It has since reopened under a doctor Cargile hired before her death.

At least one law enforcement agency has closed its portion of the case.

Read the full article here.

Leslie Cargile was 56 and Allen Cargile was 58 years old.

A toxicology report is not yet available for Allen Cargile.