Traces of erectile drug found in dead teen

ORINDA, Calif., July 23 (UPI) -- The father of a 16-year-old boy who died at a party in Orinda, Calif., says he does not know why his son apparently took an erectile drug before he died.

Bill Loudon said he is clueless regarding why investigators found high levels of the erectile dysfunction medication papaverine in his son, Joseph, after the teen died at a May 23 house party, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday.

"I have no idea how Joe might have obtained the drug or why it was in his system," Loudon said. "It is not a drug that was in either my house or that of his mother."

The Contra Costa County coroner ruled the teenage boy died after he choked on his own vomit at the party. Alcohol and the erectile medication consumed by the teen brought about the fit of nausea, the coroner said.

The coroner also found that Joseph Loudon had a blood-alcohol level of 0.03 percent, well below the 0.08 level that constitutes drunken driving for adults.

Orinda Police Chief Bill French told the Chronicle the younger Loudon was not on any prescription medication when he died.