Cyril Wecht Web Journal

Smith's death accidental overdose

Dr. Wecht said the death of Anna Nicole Smith's son Daniel was caused by a lethal combination of methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro, but was accidental.

A first here... one of the stories we found was this one at People.com.

Uncertain drugs played a role in death of Daniel Smith

If you're an avid observer of Dr. Wecht's work, you're surely aware he was hired by Anna Nicole Smith to perform a private autopsy on her son, Daniel Smith, following his mysterious death in the Bahamas.

Early rumors pointed to a possible drug overdose, but Dr. Wecht said that while Smith was taking low doses of the antidepressant Lexapro, it's uncertain the drug was a factor. Toxicology reports were still pending.

See Death certificate issued for Anna Nicole's son

Dr. Wecht on CNN discussing John Karr

Just a quick media alert. We've found video from Dr. Wecht's appearance on CNN over the weekend discussing John Karr. Unfortunately, there's no direct link to the video, itself. We found it on a search results page, so just look for the link in the right-hand column,
"Karr 'obsessed' with JonBenet"

Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Aug. 15

Dr. Wecht was back on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith discussing the crash of Flight 522 in Greece. Greek officials have theorized as many as six people may have been alive at the time of the crash, but both Dr. Wecht and former NTSB chairman Jim Burnett doubt that was actually the case.

]]> "I find it very difficult to believe that that would be the case, because there was, what, about 35, 40 minutes in which the plane was on autopilot. If the crash had occurred within a matter of some minutes, then you could have that kind of disparity in terms of mortality, some people having bad lungs and bad heart, and other people being in great health.

But with that passage of time, I would think that the environment would have come to be pretty much the same for everybody. That would have been an extremely cold situation, temperatures maybe minus 40 degrees, if there was a gaping hole or a significant hole in the cabin. The depressurization, I think, would have been even more significant. The fact the co-pilot was slumped over and the pilot wasn‘t to be seen, perhaps on the floor, leads one to believe that there was a problem obviously with oxygen supply.

With regard to the coroner‘s statement that six people were alive, I‘m puzzled by that. The only way in which you can ascertain life in that kind of a situation would be to find evidence of a vital reaction, that is, the body‘s defense mechanisms. And they don‘t kick in for some minutes. The other way to find out whether someone was alive is to detect carbon monoxide. If there was a fire after the plane landed, and if the people were alive, and they kept breathing, even if unconscious, then there would have been CO.

So—but for six people to have been alive, and 115 people to have died, that seems a bit incredulous."

Here's the complete excerpt »

Making sense of the multimillion-dollar body snatchers

Dr. Wecht recently joined Tucker Carlson on MSNBC's 'Situation’ to explain how stolen body parts may have ended up in hundreds of unsuspecting patients. Outrageous, but true. Apparently, four men were arrested in New York and New Jersey for stealing bones and tissue from more than 1,000 corpses and then reselling the body parts to companies that supply hospitals. This is one you've got to read. Check out what Dr. Wecht had to say, himself.

Dr. Wecht participates on Dr. King panel at CMU

Dr. Wecht joined other civic leaders on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on a panel at Carnegie Mellon to honor and discuss the late civil rights leader’s work. Check out, 'Putting “Dr. King” Back in Martin Luther King Jr. Day'.

New Yorker examines Iraqi prisoner's death

Manadel al-Jamad was an Iraqi prisoner at the Abu Ghraib prison who died during a C.I.A. interrogation in 2003. In November, New Yorker magazine dwelved into Jamadi's death, examining the suspicious autopsy and posing the question, "Can the C.I.A. legally kill a person?" Dr. Wecht and New York State Police pathologist Michael Baden both reviewed Jamadi's autopsy and concluded differently than the military pathologists who conducted the initial autopsy. It's an interesting story. See A Deadly Interrogation

Update on Dr. Wecht's Katrina trip

Authorities are now investigating whether hospital and nursing home patients were put out of their misery during Hurricane Katrina with lethal doses of morphine or other drugs. Dr. Wecht, who spent several days in Louisianna conducting autopsies, said toxicological tests should be able to show if drugs such as morphine were in a victim's system and whether they contributed to death.

Autopsy conditions seemed poor, at best. Dr. Wecht said most of the bodies were in advanced stages of decomposition so there were few blood samples. The toxicological tests had to rely on pieces of body tissue, instead.

See Probe looks at alleged Katrina euthanasia

Dr. Wecht to examine victims in New Orleans

Dr. Wecht will help examine bodies from Hurricane Katrina, reports Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I'm looking forward to it, not only on a professional level with the challenge of it all, but it's a chance to make a small contribution," Wecht said. Read the story.

"Live & Direct" on Rita Crosby

Appearing on 'Rita Crosby Live & Direct,' Dr. Wecht said examiners may not be able to come up with a definitive anatomical cause of death for Taylor Behl, the Viginia Commonwealth University student who had been missing for several weeks before authorities found her body.

Dr. Wech said the soft tissues will have decomposed making it difficult to pick on a possible cause such as strangulation. He said cartilaginous structures in the neck decompose quickly especially in younger individuals.

Read the full transcript.

Many Katrina victims may never be identified

Dr. Wecht joined 'The Situation with Tucker Carlson' on Tuesday to discuss the difficult task of identifying the dead in the wake of Katrina.

"These bodies, for the most part, have been decomposing now for about, what, two weeks. Temperatures above 90 degrees, very high humidity. Many of the bodies floating in water, which, of course, then, adds to the decomposition, particularly that kind of warm, brackish water. The bodies become bloated, gaseous distension, as a result of the bacterial infestation. The discoloration is very, very intense, mottled. It's impossible to differentiate between Caucasian, African-American and Asian, with bodies like this, as strange as that may seem."

Here's the transcript.

Look what we found on Google Video

We've discovered a new means for tracking Dr. Wecht's appearances on the major news networks: Google Video. MSNBC does a decent job of putting transcripts of their TV programs on their Web site, but others like Fox and CNN do not, which makes it difficult to find out when and where Dr. Wecht was on TV. Not anymore, we found some useful things on Google Video we couldn't find anywhere else. The transcripts are not complete as it's pretty clear they're computer-generated, but they're still interesting, nonetheless. Check it out.

Katrina: A Public Health Tragedy

Dr. Wecht told Pittsburgh's KDKA TV Hurricane Katrina is a disaster that has the potential to develop into a public health tragedy. "I predict some of these disease processes will play out for months and even years ahead," explains Dr. Wecht, "because some of these diseases -- for example hepatitis, they can affect the liver and produce cirrhosis, scarring of the liver, and you may not even know about it for years." Here's the complete story.

'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Aug. 15

The chief coroner in Greece has claimed that at least some of the passengers on Helios Airways Flight 522 were alive when the plane hit the ground, but Dr. Wecht says to believe six people were alive when 115 died seems a bit incredulous. He appeared on 'Countdown with Keith Olberman' with guest host Amy Robach to dicuss the crash. Here's the transcipt.

'The Abrams Report' for April 22

Anna Ayala has been charged with grand theft and attempted grand theft. Remember, she's the woman who made the bogus claim about finding a finger in her chili at Wendy's. But while she's in a heap of trouble, the question still lingering is where did the finger come from. Dr. Wecht joined Dan Abrams on MSNBC to talk about what investigators will do. Check out the transcript ».