Oct 29, 2007 10:02 pm US/Central
Report Can't Confirm Killed Musician Used Chantix
by Jay Gormley
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
The reason Dallas musician Carter Albrecht died has never been in question. But many continue to question what contributed to his behavior the night he was shot and killed.
On September 3, a homeowner shot Albrecht in the head. Albrecht was reportedly kicking and screaming at the man's back door. The homeowner later said he was only trying to fire a warning shot to protect his home. He thought Albrect was an intruder.
Albrecht's family continues to point to a smoking cessation drug as the cause for his behavior. They say the drug Chantix could have initiated Albrecht's combative, irrational behavior the night he died.
Ken said he believes his son might be alive today if he hadn't taken Chantix. "I know that he had taken it, because here's the box for the first week and all the pills are gone," said Ken Albrecht, Carter's father.
But the final medical report does not show any use of drugs, including Chantix.
"A medical examiner, knowing how important this was to the case, comes along 8 weeks later and says, 'We don't have a way to test for it.' Boy that's lame," Ken said.
Dr. Jeffrey Barnard, Chief Medical Examiner in Dallas County, wrote, "The drug Chantix is not listed in the report because no test exists in our laboratory." He also stated that he was "unable to find any lab which does this testing beyond the manufacturer."
The manufacturer is Pfizer. Dr. Barnard says Pfizer declined to conduct the test. Pfizer also declined to return phone calls made by CBS 11.
"It's upsetting to me that we can't at least have a report that says there was a certain percent of this stuff in his system," Ken said. "It's amazing Pfizer would have a drug out there that no one could test for."
Pfizer did send Dr. Barnard instructions on how to develop a test. The instructions included a small sample of what the drug may look like in the bloodstream.
But Dr. Barnard said the sample has a shelf life of two or three days, which is not enough time to develop a test, which could take weeks. Dr. Bernard said without a longer-living sample, constructing a test is nearly impossible.
For now, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office said the autopsy report is complete and no further testing will be performed.
While officials could not test for Chantix, the toxicology reports were able to show Albrecht's blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit at the time of his death.
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