Florida Player’s System Was Clean

Florida freshman Eraste Autin did not have any illegal or performance-enhancing drugs or supplements in his body when he died last month, according to toxicology reports.

The only drug present in Autin’s system was laudanosine, a sedative given to patients on a respirator, according to an examination of blood and urine samples by the University of Florida Diagnostic Referral Laboratories.

Autin, a running back, collapsed 20 minutes after a voluntary workout July 19, had a massive heart attack later that night and was in a coma and on life support until he died six days later.

The toxicology examination, obtained Thursday by the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, found no substances in blood and urine tests taken at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida Medical Center shortly after Autin was transported there. The laudanosine was discovered in a post-mortem blood test.

The report also indicated Autin had several needle punctures high on his left thigh, but comprehensive drug screens revealed no foreign substances.

The medical examiner’s office labeled the probable cause of death as heatstroke and noted that Autin’s body temperature when he arrived at the hospital was 108 degrees. The report also said Autin was suffering from thermal injury and multi-system organ failure.

No autopsy was performed at the request of the family.