Gathers Had Low Level of Medication

Basketball star Hank Gathers did not have enough medication in his system when he died to treat his irregular heartbeat, the county coroner’s office said Monday.

Toxicology tests indicate that the Loyola Marymount center had a “sub-therapeutic” level of the drug Inderal in his blood system when he died after collapsing during a game March 4.

“That level was 26 nanograms per milliliter, whereas therapeutic levels range from 50-290 nanograms per milliliter,” coroner’s spokesman Bob Dambacher said.

Inderal is commonly used to treat irregular heartbeats. An attorney for the Gathers’ family said the player had his dosage reduced because it made him feel sluggish on the court, but he was reportedly still unhappy with the medication.

A cardiologist who declined to be identified told The Times that Gathers stopped taking the drug shortly before he died.

The coroner’s office would not say whether the level of Inderal in Gathers’ system indicated if or when he had stopped taking the drug. Dambacher would not elaborate on the office’s press release.

Autopsy results released last Thursday showed Gathers died from inflammation and scarring of the heart muscle, but did not state the exact cause of death. No illegal drugs were found in his system.

After the autopsy results were announced, cardiologist David Cannon of Good Samaritan Hospital said a virus could have caused the scarring of Gathers’ heart.

“It is one of the most common causes of cardiac arrest in young people,” he said. “A virus would be the second most common cause of death behind a coronary artery disease.”

Gathers’ first experienced problems on Dec. 9 when he collapsed during a game against UC-Santa Barbara. His condition later was diagnosed as arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat.