Lack Of Oxygen Blamed For Dwarf's Death

[Ian David]

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Doctors said they now know the cause of death of a dwarf whose real estate informercials and appearances on a TV with his twin brother made the two millionaires.

John Rice died during surgery in November. An autopsy report released Wednesday showed that he received too little oxygen, causing a fatal heart attack. Doctors struggled to insert a breathing tube when the 53-year-old Lake Worth man arrived at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach for surgery on a broken leg.

The autopsy report did not say why doctors had difficulty inserting the tube into his airway or whether or not they were to blame for the death. The 2-foot 10-inch Rice died Nov. 5.

More:
http://www.wesh.com/news/6022786/detail.html

Is this the same guy who was on an episode of the TV show "Real People" back in the late 1970s?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. It must be.

It must be.
How many other twin millionaire dwarfs are there?

how sad. RIP

[roguevalley]

2. I remember them. Very sad.

[Liberal In Texas]

3. "Real People" Yes.

"Their size hooked you. Their skill sold you: From the Tonight Show to Real People to the local TV Parade of Homes that the brothers kicked off in 1980 to today's Hulett Pest Control ads."
-http://www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/content/accent/epaper/2005/11/12/a1d_john_rice_1112.html

[Heddi]

4. I wonder if they had problems inserting the tube

because of anatomical differences due to his height and such? I'm *just* a nursing student (but I'll be an RN in 6 months! woot!), and I know that there are often issues when trying to intubate the very young, the very old, the obese, and people with anatomical variations. I remember I was observing a surgery last quarter and the woman who was having surgery was a woman with down's syndrome. Because of the DS, she had a shorter, fatter neck than "most" people and the doctors had one hell of a time getting her intubated just because of the anatomical abnormalities due to her condition.

Of course, anatomy doesn't always read the textbooks, and I've seen Dr's in the ER have problems intubating a seemingly "normal" person for various reasons: swelling in the throat, unknown tumors in the throat, epiglottitis, etc.