Medical examiner says Alaska man who died after ingesting crab was victim of heart disease

Heart, not shellfish, to blame in AK man’s death

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The state medical examiner has determined that a heart problem, not paralytic shellfish poisoning, killed a man who ate Dungeness crab that he caught near his Alaska home.

The widow of John Michael Saunders says the medical examiner concluded he died from heart disease, likely the result of arrhythmia due to previous severe heart damage from a series of small, undetected heart attacks.

His death was suspected to be shellfish poisoning after an Alaska woman, Dottie Lindkoff, died days earlier after eating clams from Auke Bay near Juneau.

He had symptoms that included tingling of the lips, numbness in his body, weakness and poor coordination.

Saunders was the fifth person to fall ill after eating seafood in June.

Information from: Anchorage Daily News, www.adn.com