Investigations into the health of late actor Michael Landon have begun almost 30 years after his shocking death.
At the age of 54, Landon passed away on July 1, 1991, just months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The Reelz Channel will air an episode of Autopsy: The Last Hours of… focused on Landon, which explores the proximity of the Little House on the Prairie set to the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.
The laboratory experienced a “partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor” in 1959, according to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.
“People’s exclusive sneak peek of the special reveals that for nine years, Little House on the Prairie was filmed just 15 miles away from the Santa Susana Nuclear Laboratory,” states a narrator.
According to Karen Grassle, Landon’s co-star who played Caroline Ingalls, finding the right outdoor location for the show took several months.
Eventually, they discovered a ranch in Simi Valley that was perfect for their needs.
However, the narrator explains in the clip that “when hundreds of local residents started suffering from cancer, scientists discovered that the Santa Susana lab had been the site of the worst radioactive disaster in U.S. history and that years of contamination had prompted a cancer epidemic.”
As a result of this “cancer epidemic,” numerous studies were conducted in the area.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter, after examining the Report of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Advisory Panel from October 2006 and Landon’s autopsy results, does not believe there is a connection between the proximity to the laboratory and Landon’s cancer.
“Despite scientific studies linking proximity to the site with elevated cancer rates, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that Michael’s pancreatic cancer was caused by him working so close to the contaminated area,” states Dr. Hunter.
He adds, “Although I can’t completely rule it out, I have found another cause of his cancer that is much more compelling and direct.”
Years after Landon’s death, on March 27, 1992, the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) released a report examining cancer incidence among residents of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
The report concluded that residents living near the Santa Susana Field Laboratory were not at an increased risk of developing cancers associated with radiation exposure.
The report categorized cancers into three groups: very radiosensitive, moderately radiosensitive, and possibly radiosensitive.
It was found that people living near the laboratory did not have an increased risk of developing radiation-related cancers.
However, there was a slightly higher rate of bladder cancer among male residents living in Los Angeles County near the laboratory, as well as an increased proportion of lung cancer among men in Ventura.
After Landon’s cancer diagnosis in 1991, he retreated to his 10-acre Malibu ranch with his third wife, Cindy, and their two young children.
Landon followed a vegetarian diet and underwent various treatments such as chemotherapy and an experimental procedure involving a cancer-fighting drug.
Unfortunately, these treatments had a low chance of success, as pancreatic and liver cancers have low survival rates.
Landon’s condition deteriorated rapidly in his final days.
On his last weekend alive, he gathered his loved ones at the ranch and requested some alone time with Cindy before passing away.
Autopsy: The Last Hours of… airs Sundays on Reelz.
