Can sleep apnea kill you? Did it kill Carrie Fisher? Those might be 2 different questions; drugs may have been involved with Fisher's death. The reality is that sleep-disordered breathing is associated with increased cardiovascular & stroke death rates. It's also associated with increased diabetes, drug use, and mental health problems.

The question of causality can get murky. Does Insulin resistance cause death? It causes cv inflammation which can, in turn, cause heart attack & stroke. And AIDS causes the inability to fight routine infections which can in turn cause death.

The ASAA (American Sleep Apnea Association) has some good points about this issue. So did sleep apnea kill Carrie Fisher? They think it did. I think it at least helped.