http://www.knssradio.com/Son-of-Bill-Kurtis-Dies-in-Sedan--KS/4845721

What a shame. He was only 38.

Anyone know what illness he had?

The article says that he had a caregiver and had been sick shorly before his death. Him having someone employed as a caregiver was making me think it could be cancer, and that he wanted to die at home. Just guessing tho...

How sad...:(

Another article I found said it is believed he died due to complications of schizophrenia.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6924728

Awww.... That picture in the article of him as a young guy, he looks like a mischevious little rascal! lol

One of the posters there said that her mother died from complications of schitzophrenia, and they often have shorter life spans that average. I don't know if that's true.

My great aunt had schizophrenia. She was a bit dangerous to others, and she saw and heard things that were not there. She died in her 50s, but it was from cancer. I was only two years old, so I wasn't aware of how the disease manifests.

I feel so bad for Bill Kurtis. It seems like he's had a rough personal life, with his son's mother dying when the boy was only 6, then his son to be afflicted with such a terrible disease and to die at age 38. It's just a sad, sad thing...

How awful! At first, I thought that it said he died IN A Sedan, but now I see that Sedan is the name of his town. For some reason, that relives me a little. I just read in that link that Bill Kurtis' wife had died earlier (didn't say when), but that makes it even worse. Just terrible to lose two close family members; no matter how far apart.

I read about this earlier this week. Poor Bill. My heart goes out to him and his family. Mental illness is one of the toughest things a family could face, and I can't even imagine what it's like to lose a child.

I read about this earlier this week. Poor Bill. My heart goes out to him and his family. Mental illness is one of the toughest things a family could face, and I can't even imagine what it's like to lose a child.


Me neither, how awful. My prayers and condolences to Bill Kurtis and family.

My thoughts and prayers are with Bill and his family.

More sad news. :(

My prayers are with his family. May he rest now.

Condolences to Bill and family.

How does schizophrenia kill?? I don't see how a mental illness can cause physical death other tha the individual hurting themself and Bill's son didn't kill himself.

Condolences to Bill and family.

How does schizophrenia kill?? I don't see how a mental illness can cause physical death other tha the individual hurting themself and Bill's son didn't kill himself.

Yeah, I'm not sure why they would call it "complications of schizophrenia" other than to keep the actual cause of death private, probably out of courtesy to Kurtis and his family. I'd speculate that they might be referring to suicide or drug overdose. This article says that schizophrenics are also more likely to have other physical health problems, but that heavy smoking is likely the source of those health problems:
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/177/3/212

They interviewed Bill Kurtis on CNN yesterday after the crazy AZ killed all those people.

They wanted to show mental illness can affect the families of famous people too and get Bill's take on it.

Bill said his son was over 300 lbs. and had diabetes and obesity due to the schizophrenia drugs so that's what killed him and that's schizophreniacs usually don't live past age 40.

I assume he said that because of all the drugs.

The thing is Scott Kurtis was living on his ranch and wasn't among the public so why take so much medication at all??

Since the medication eventually kills you isn't it best to take less of it?

Yeah, I'm not sure why they would call it "complications of schizophrenia" other than to keep the actual cause of death private, probably out of courtesy to Kurtis and his family. I'd speculate that they might be referring to suicide or drug overdose. This article says that schizophrenics are also more likely to have other physical health problems, but that heavy smoking is likely the source of those health problems:
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/177/3/212

They also often self-medicated w/ alcohol and illegal drugs.
This is a very sad thing to hear. My thoughts go out to the Kurtis family.

They interviewed Bill Kurtis on CNN yesterday after the crazy AZ killed all those people.

They wanted to show mental illness can affect the families of famous people too and get Bill's take on it.

Bill said his son was over 300 lbs. and had diabetes and obesity due to the schizophrenia drugs so that's what killed him and that's schizophreniacs usually don't live past age 40.

I assume he said that because of all the drugs.

The thing is Scott Kurtis was living on his ranch and wasn't among the public so why take so much medication at all??

Since the medication eventually kills you isn't it best to take less of it?

Keeping in mind that I have no medical expertise whatsoever, I think there is a very delicate balance with drugs for depression, psychosis, etc. It's not like Bill Kurtis could lock up his own son on his ranch if his son lowered his medication and ended up having an episode. They probably found a level of medication that kept him and those around him safe, but with severe side effects. You wouldn't want to risk an episode by reducing the medication. One would assume that Bill Kurtis's son had the best doctors money could buy, but I also don't think that there is no perfect medical solution when it comes to mental illness.

I have a relative who suffers from bipolar disorder. Getting her to stay on her meds has been a huge issue. She's gotten into legal trouble, abandoned her children, and attempted suicide several times. She's currently going through shock therapy, which a a pretty brutal form of treatment with severe side effects. Yet, she believes that the treatment is helping her and it's worth the risks. Desperately ill people sometimes take desperate measures.

Anyway, I'm glad that Bill Kurtis was in a place where he felt like he could talk about his son's death. It has to be so hard on him...