Alcohol did not kill George Best new documentary claims.

By his own admission, football legend George Best had been "drinking heavily" in the lead up to his death and it was widely assumed that it was his well-documented problems with alcohol that had caused it. But after examining his medical record, the leading British physician Dr Jason Payne-James has concluded that the former Manchester star was actually killed by an overdose of immunosuppressant drugs.

The one time king of Old Trafford's immune system was "virtually switched off" he told a new Channel 5 documentary Autopsy: The Last Hours Of George Best. The programme is due to air on Monday, 16 November.

"George had told his doctors that in the months leading up to his admission he had been drinking heavily," he said. "The alcohol had clouded his judgement and he had overdosed on his immuno-suppressant medication."

He added that when Best "developed a chest infection, there was nothing to stop it spreading throughout his body".

"By the time George was taken off life support, the infection had quite simply overwhelmed all his vital organs – his lungs, kidneys, liver, heart and brain," he said. "None of them could perform their individual functions necessary to sustain life."



By Henry Austin.
Full story at Yahoo News.