Experts question suspect's creatine suggestion in wife's death

The chemical treatment that Dr. Robert J. Ferrante advocated for his late wife is most often used to help improve exercise performance and muscle mass, not to promote female fertility, according to the National Institutes of Health.

In fact, the NIH specifically discourages women from taking the chemical, known as creatine, while they're pregnant or breast-feeding. Medical experts just don't know enough about its effects to deem it safe for expectant mothers, the NIH MedlinePlus information service warns.

Yet on April 17, Ferrante, 64, of Schenley Farms pushed his wife, Dr. Autumn Marie Klein, 41, who was trying to conceive a child, to go on a creatine regimen, according to a criminal complaint. She collapsed later the same day and died of cyanide poisoning three days later.

Police on Wednesday charged Ferrante with homicide.

“As far as a fertility thing, I'm kind of at a loss,” said Dr. J. Douglas Bricker, dean at the Duquesne University Mylan School of Pharmacy. “It doesn't make much sense.”

He said bodybuilders typically use creatine to increase muscle mass. Pharmacist Dana Nelson said he has never heard of a woman taking the chemical to encourage pregnancy.

“It just doesn't make any sense, quite honestly, at least in my way of thinking,” said Nelson, who works in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He said creatine can cause complications for pregnant women.

Several other medical groups declined to comment on the use of creatine, citing the sensitivity of the Ferrante case. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Klein's death a homicide.

The day Ferrante encouraged Klein by text message to take creatine and told her it would make “a huge difference,” a witness helped him to measure out a gallon of the chemical in a laboratory where he worked, according to the complaint. The witness saw cyanide in the same lab, the complaint says.

According to the NIH, creatine also can be used to treat congestive heart failure, depression, bipolar disorder and high cholesterol, among other ailments. More than 4 million kilograms are consumed in the United States each year.

Margaret Harding and Adam Smeltz are staff writers for Trib Total Media. Harding can be reached at 412-380-8519 or mharding@tribweb.com. Smeltz can be reached at 412-380-5676 or asmeltz@tribweb.com.