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06/10/2009 - Danny Gans
Speaking as a physician with over 30 years of experience and training in the medical specialty of Addiction Medicine, I am concerned with the circus of speculation and inference associated with the untimely death of Danny Gans. If you live in Las Vegas or have visited the city, you are aware that Mr. Gans was at the top of his profession as an entertainer and beloved by this community.
The cause of death was acute hydromorphone toxicity, polycythemia vera (thickening of the blood caused by too many red blood cells), and hypertensive cardiovascular disease (high blood pressure and thickening of the heart muscle) as per the coroner’s office. Hydromorphone is the generic form of Dilaudid, a drug reportedly 7-10 times more potent than morphine and used as a narcotic analgesic for acute pain.
The cause of death does not imply that Mr. Gans was an abuser of, or dependent on narcotics. However speculation and conjecture to the contrary by some medical experts and members of the media are the responses to the coroner’s report.
One of the roles of a medical expert is to offer a medical opinion based on objective data, and, in the absence of this data, there is no opinion. We do not speculate or conjecture in the media.
Does the public have a right to know the details? If the family so wishes, then the answer is yes. However how many of us would want the intimate details of a family member's death made public?
Abuse, dependence, accidental overdose and death due to the effects of narcotic drugs are epidemic in this country and, quite frankly, can happen to anyone who uses these drugs.
Perhaps we should simply take a moment to honor a good man and refrain from tarnishing his reputation based on sensationalism.