Report of cocaine found in stomach of reality show producer raises suspicions, medical experts say

Ugandan authorities claim American reality show producer Jeff Rice died from a cocaine overdose after medical professionals performed a post mortem and found high concentrations of the drug in his stomach, the English language Ugandan newspaper The Daily Monitor reports.

Medical experts tell FoxNews.com that if that the report is accurate, Rice may have been forced to ingest the drug, or could have ingested it on accident.

Sally Blackman, the widow of Jeff Rice, told FoxNews.com that her husband was found dead in his hotel room in Kampala, Uganda and his production assistant was found in critical condition. She said there was no sign of attack, and that it was being treated as a suspected poisoning.

But English language Ugandan online newspaper The Daily Monitor quoted a police official Wednesday as saying Rice died of a cocaine overdose.

"Results from the analytical laboratory indicate that there was an overdose of cocaine. There was too much concentration in the stomach,” law enforcement rep Asuman Mugenyi was reported as saying.

Dr. Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police and a Fox News contributor, said the circumstances sound unusual.

“Even if both were voluntarily using the drug, it’s very unusual that two people would have such similar symptoms so quickly from an accidental overdose,” Baden said. “It sounds like there is more to this story than a typical overdose.”

The Ugandan police rep said the preliminary investigation pointed to death by choking, but that since two people were involved, that didn't make sense.

"We ordered for another post mortem which revealed that it was caused by an overdose,” the rep is reported as saying. Police denied foul play was involved, but a source close to Rice said he may have been butting heads with local thugs at the time he was found dead. Facilitators like Rice are typically hired by larger production companies to make necessary arrangements with local officials before producers come in to shoot scenes for their shows.

“If [cocaine] was found in his stomach, it could absolutely have been the result of poisoning if he was forced to ingest it,” Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, an addiction specialist and professor of psychology at Stony Brook University, told FoxNews.com. “If someone were to snort very large amounts of cocaine, there could have been some trace amounts from nasal drip into the stomach, but if the concentration was found in the stomach, that’s likely a result of smuggling or ingestion."

“It could have been shoved into their mouth or put into their food. Cocaine is very erosive and will eat away at the stomach lining,” Kardaras said. “It would eventually get into the bloodstream and being a stimulant, would lead to a heart attack.”

“The police may know more about the nature of his death, but are not letting on,” Baden added. “If the family is concerned about poisoning, they should have the body brought back to the U.S. and have a second autopsy with toxicology reports done.”

Niether Baden nor Kardaras are involved in the investigation.

Rice was originally from the United States and moved to South Africa in 1999, where he worked to help develop the country’s film industry.

FoxNews.com's Allison McGevna and Meaghan Murphy contributed to this report.