Bias’ Earlier Cocaine Use ‘Distinct Possibility’

Maryland’s chief medical examiner, amending his previous autopsy report on the death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias, said Thursday night, “There’s a distinct probability” that the June 19 incident that took Bias’ life was not the first time Bias had used cocaine.

However, Dr. John E. Smialek said he “can’t state categorically” that microscopic heart tissue damage found recently was caused by cocaine. In addition, Smialek said, the new findings were insufficient to determine the nature or frequency of any previous exposure to the drug.

In an autopsy report released June 28 Smialek had said that there was no evidence of cocaine use by Bias before his death of “cocaine intoxication” on June 19.

Thursday night, however, after the release of what he called a final autopsy report, Smialek said that based on the nature of damage to heart muscle fibers found in recent microscopic studies, “I think there’s a distinct probability that previous exposure to cocaine was the cause of that.”

He said the studies explored whether possible abnormalities in areas that control the rhythm and beat of the heart might have been related to Bias’ death.