More than a month after Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans was found dead in his Las Vegas home, Clark County coroner Mike Murphy has ruled that the death was accidental.
Gans, who was 52, died in his sleep May 1.
His death was the result of a toxic reaction to painkillers intensified by preexisting medical conditions, Murphy said. He cited Gans’ high blood pressure and a disorder that caused him to produce extra red blood cells as significant factors.
Gans did have toxic levels of hydromorphone, an opiate, in his blood, but the drug was to treat chronic pain. Murphy said that drug abuse was not a factor in the entertainer’s passing.
Voted Las Vegas’ "Entertainer of the Year" for 11 of the past 13 years, Gans was doing a one-man show on Broadway when he landed a three-month gig at the Stratosphere Hotel. It became such a big draw that it led to a stint at the Rio and then a nine-year deal to play in his own 1,250-seat theater at the Mirage Hotel in 2000.
In February, he was signed by hotel mogul Steve Wynn to the Encore Theater, located between Wynn’s Encore and the Wynn Las Vegas hotel.
