Confirming cause of Anna Nicole Smith's death weeks away: ME

It will likely be three to five weeks before a cause of death can be determined for tabloid fixture Anna Nicole Smith, Florida medical officials said Friday after the completion of an autopsy.

"At this time, we did not make a determination in cause of death," Joshua Perper, medical examiner for Broward County,told reporters in Fort Lauderdale.

Perpersaid his team was "able to exclude any kind of physical injury," but acknowledged that Friday's findings "are limited to what we are able to see with our naked eyes."

Toxicology and other tests still have to be completed,he said.

Investigators reported finding prescription medicines, but there were no illegal drugs in Smith's hotel room, where she collapsed on Thursday. Perper also said that his team "didn't find in the stomach any kind of tablets or pills."

"The investigation is still ongoing," said Seminole police Chief Charlie Tiger. "We are not going to release any more information."

Sudden collapse,death

Smith was rushed to hospital on Thursday afternoon after a private nurse found her unconscious and unresponsivein a room at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

Perper said Smith was "virtually dead on arrival" at hospital.

In a broadcast interview on Friday morning, Smith's mother blamed drugs for her daughter's sudden passing.

"I think she had too many drugs, just like Danny," Vergie Arthur told ABC's Good Morning America,referring to the recent death of Smith's 20-year-old son. A private medical examiner determinedDaniel Smith'sdeath was due to a combination of methadone and two antidepressants.

"I tried to warn her about drugs and the people she hung around with. She didn't listen," Arthur said.

An official inquiry into Daniel Smith's deathis scheduled to begin in the Bahamas in March.

Anna Nicole Smith's attorney, Ron Rale, has said Smith reported feeling ill the past few days and was still depressed over her son's death in the Bahamas in September, just days after she gave birth to her daughter Dannielynn.

Involved in host of legal wrangles

Smithwas embroiled in several legal disputes before her death. They includea paternity suit over her five-month-old daughter, who is reportedly being cared for by a close friend of Smith's in the Bahamas.

Attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith's partner, is listed as the baby's father on the birth certificate. However, her former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, has claimed to be the biological father.

On Friday, a Los Angelesjudge refused Birkhead's request to order an emergency DNA test on Smith's body as part of the paternity suit. However, the judge ordered that her body be preserved until a hearing in 10 days.

Later Friday, the case became even murkier when Prince Frederick von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, also claimed to be the father of Smith's infant daughter, saying he had been maintaining an affair with Smithfor a decade.

Lawsuits springing up

Just last week, Smithwas included in a class-action lawsuit against TrimSpa, which produces a weight-loss pillthat Smith had been promoting as part of her role as acompany spokesperson. The suit alleges the marketing of the supplement was false and misleading.

Most prominently, however, Smith a former Playboy covergirl and playmate of the year, and Guess model was in a decade-long battle over the fortune of her former husband, J. Howard Marshall.

Texas-bornSmith, a former topless dancer,was notorious for her relationship with the 89-year-old oil tycoon after meeting him at a strip club. They had been married for 14 months when he died in 1995.

A Federal Court in California initially awarded Smith $474 million US, but the decision was later overturned. However, last May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that she could continue her fight for the Marshall fortune.