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Star's son was depressed
19/09/2006 06:49 - (SA)
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| Anna and her son in 1999. (AP File) |
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Nassau, Bahamas - Anna Nicole Smith's son was on prescription anti-depression medication before his death but there was no evidence of a "suicidal overdose", said a pathologist who did a second autopsy on the 20-year-old.
Daniel Smith, who died in Anna Nicole Smith's hospital room three days after the reality TV star gave birth to a daughter, began taking a "quite low" dosage of prescription anti-depressants four to six weeks ago, forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht said on Monday.
Wecht, speaking by phone from Miami a day after conducting the autopsy in the Bahamas, said he did not know whether the medication played any role in the death.
He is still awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine the cause of death.
Wecht's autopsy ruled out several natural causes - including heart disease, stroke or a "congenital anomaly" - as well as foul play.
Investigators say they did not find evidence of drugs or obvious signs of a crime. A jury inquiry into the death has been scheduled.
'Had to do with a girlfriend'
Wecht, who ordered drug and chemical analyses that could take weeks, said he learned about the prescription medication after the autopsy from Daniel Smith's psychiatrist in the United States. The depression apparently "had to do with a girlfriend", he said.
He said he and the Bahamian coroner who did the first autopsy agreed "that this would not have been a suicidal overdose".
"I believe I can rule out definitely, absolutely, unequivocally homicide, and I believe I can also unequivocally rule out suicide, and that's based on a variety of findings," Wecht told CNN's Larry King Live.
Wecht said Smith suffered from sleep apnoea, which may have blocked his breathing and contributed to his death, and also speculated that he may have had other drugs in his system.
"It is possible we might be dealing with one of those tragic and cumulative and drug-related deaths where somebody inadvertently takes two or three different kinds of drugs, each of which has a central nervous system effect," he said.
Bahamian pathologists performed an autopsy on September 12 and were expecting toxicology results this week, but the coroner's office has said the findings will not be released before a jury inquest scheduled for October 23.
- AP
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