Socialite Casey Johnson died of a complication of diabetes, which she had since childhood, the Los Angeles County coroner said Thursday. Johnson, 30, an heiress to the Johnson and Johnson health care products fortune, died of diabetic ketoacidosis, the coroner said in a brief news release. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a life-threatening condition caused by lack of insulin and sky-high blood sugar. An autopsy was conducted Jan. 5, a day after Johnson's body was found at her home. The coroner's office said it would not be able to discuss specifics until the autopsy report and toxicology results become available within two weeks. “If you have somebody with diabetes, there should be somebody checking up on that person,” said Dr. Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner in New York City who has been an expert witness in cases involving the late comedian John Belushi and former pro football star O.J. Simpson. He said Johnson probably slipped into a diabetic coma, and that people can usually be resuscitated from that in the first 24 hours. Johnson had been an insulin-dependent diabetic since she was a child.
