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'It wasn't suicide'
29/09/2006 09:01 - (SA)
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| Reality TV star and former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith. (AP) |
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Nassau, Bahamas - Anna Nicole Smith believes that a private pathologist's conclusion that her son died from an accidental lethal combination of drugs shows he didn't commit suicide and hopes that others learn from the tragedy, a lawyer said on Thursday.
The examiner hired by the family, Cyril Wecht, said 20-year-old Daniel Smith had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died on September 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas. Low levels of the three drugs interacted to cause an accidental death, he said.
"At least she knows the attacks on her son's reputation can be put to rest because it's clear he didn't intentionally take his life," said Wayne Munroe, a Bahamian attorney for the 38-year-old reality TV star and former Playboy Playmate.
Smith, who gave birth to a daughter three days before her son stopped breathing near her bedside, is looking forward to seeing the conclusions of Wecht and the Bahamas pathologist who performed a separate, official autopsy, Munroe said.
Wecht is waiting for test results on tissue samples before he completes his final report.
Smith wants others to learn from her son's death, Munroe told The Associated Press.
"She wants to see exactly what happened in a final report because she wants to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else's son," he said.
Daniel Smith hospitalised for depression
Daniel Smith, who reportedly was hospitalised for depression and back pain before he travelled to Nassau, had been prescribed the antidepressant Lexapro, Wecht said. The pathologist said he was unable to find out whether Daniel Smith had been prescribed Zoloft, the other antidepressant found in his system.
The two drugs can be lethal when taken together or in sequence, according to Ann Blake Tracy, the Des Moines, Iowa-based director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness.
"The residue can stay there for some time, and if they're prescribed one after they've taken another, they can end up in trouble," she said.
Wecht said he did not know why Smith was taking methadone, a pain-reliever that is also used to ease heroin cravings for recovering addicts.
The combination of the three drugs, even in low doses, could easily have killed Smith, said Lisa Johnson, a pharmacist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles.
"The methadone will slow you down, but the other ones make your system speed up, so it's an odd combination," she said.
Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez said he has not received official toxicology results or a police report, which can determine whether a jury inquest is necessary. Wecht, a Pittsburgh-based forensic pathologist, plans to discuss his findings with Bahamas officials. Gomez said Wecht's toxicology results will not affect the Bahamian investigation.
- AP
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