Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503140056
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
A doctor consulted in the autopsy of Reggie Lewis confirmed Friday that he told the state medical examiner's office cocaine could have caused the death of the Boston Celtics' captain.
Dr. John Fallon, a pathologist at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, said he had discussed several possible causes of heart scarring - including cocaine use - with Dr. Stanton Kessler, acting state medical examiner at the time.
He stressed, however, that the findings were ``totally nonspecific'' and did not pinpoint cocaine or anything else as the exact cause of death.
The state's chief medical examiner said Thursday that no one had suggested cocaine use could have contributed to Lewis' death in 1993.
State officials, meanwhile, ordered the Massachusetts State Police to interview doctors who consulted on the Lewis autopsy.
Kathleen O'Toole, the state's public safety secretary, said she was concerned about conflicting reports on whether the medical examiner's office investigated the possible role of cocaine use in Lewis' death.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that two consultants on the autopsy, Fallon and cardiologist Jeffrey Isner, found a scarred heart consistent with cocaine use and reported their findings to Kessler.
But Dr. Richard J. Evans, the chief medical examiner as well as Kessler's boss, said none of the consultants had raised the possibility of cocaine damage. He accused them of breaching confidentiality by discussing the case.
``In our case files, none of our doctors raised this in writing in their reports, or even verbally to me. Or, as far as I know, did Dr. Kessler, in spite of what the Journal says,'' Evans said. ``This never came up. Honest to God, it never came up.''
O'Toole said state police troopers assigned to the medical examiner's office would interview the autopsy consultants to determine whether the doctors had information ``that they neglected to bring to our attention the first time'' in their formal, written reports.
``Anytime the integrity of one of my agencies is called into question, of course I'm very concerned,'' O'Toole said after a meeting with Evans.
When asked why state troopers would be conducting the interviews, O'Toole said: ``It just makes sense.''
Charles McDonald, spokesman for the Office of Public Safety, declined to characterize the inquiry as a criminal investigation and said he could not discuss whether the troopers would be investigating possible breaches of confidentiality by the consultants.
Fallon, who worked at Massachusetts General Hospital at the time of the autopsy, said he and Isner discussed many possible causes of heart scarring with Kessler, including inflammation from infection, drugs, trauma and decreased blood flow.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL FATALITY
by CNB