DESERET NEWS (Salt Lake City, Utah) 31 August 03 Pain killer, not snake, claimed man
Layton (AP): The state medical examiner has concluded a Layton man died not from his rattlesnake bite but from an overdose of a drug prescribed to ease the pain of the bite.
Adley Jason Floyd, 31, died June 3, two days after being bitten in his back yard. The state Medical Examiner's Office said Thursday the cause of death was consistent with a narcotic overdose but the snake bite was a significant condition.
Linda Floyd said her son had trouble with drug addiction in the past and that his tolerance level might not have been as high as he thought when he took the prescribed pain killers. However, she still contests the autopsy results, contending tissue samples should have been taken from the hand that was bitten.
The University of Utah Medical Center, where he was treated just before he died, prescribed Percocet, a pain killer that contains oxycodone and acetaminophen, said Dr. Edward A. Leis, the deputy medical examiner.
The toxicology results showed Jason Floyd's blood contained 0.2 milligrams of oxycodone per liter, which is what Leis said he normally sees in drug fatalities.
Pain killer, not snake, claimed man