No Prosecution Seen in Andy Warhol Death

Prosecutors investigating pop artist Andy Warhol’s death said Friday that they had found no evidence on which to pursue criminal charges involving his medical care.

Warhol died of a heart attack at New York Hospital on Feb. 22, the day after undergoing surgery to remove an inflamed gallbladder. Medical Examiner Elliott Gross had asked Dist. Atty. Robert Morgenthau to investigate.

Government medical investigators had questioned the performance of New York Hospital, Warhol’s chiropractor and his private nurse in his treatment and monitoring before his death.

But Morgenthau reported “insufficient evidence of criminal liability” to ask a grand jury to take up the matter.

Massage of Gallbladder

Gross reported in April that the chiropractor’s massage of Warhol’s gallbladder may have contributed to the onset of his condition.

“There is no evidence that the chiropractor’s manipulation was performed with a criminal state of mind,” recklessly or with criminal negligence, Morgenthau said.

Morgenthau, in reference to the private nurse, said he agreed “her nursing notes do not adequately reflect Warhol’s clinical condition during the early morning hours prior to 5:45 a.m. on Feb. 22 when the cardiac code was called.” But the notes “do not reveal evidence of criminal liability,” he said.