Does ex-”coroner to the stars” Dr. Thomas...

Does ex-”coroner to the stars” Dr. Thomas Noguchi have a publicist problem in his future?

The doctor’s first work of fiction, “Unnatural Causes,” is a mystery thriller co-written with Arthur Lyons and due soon from Putnam. It’s a medically detailed account of a coroner’s investigation into the mysterious drowning death of a TV comic with a voracious appetite for drugs. The book’s NYC publicist told us that the celebrity stiff is not only based on John Belushi, but “also on Freddie Prinze.” And that the wife of the dead comic is “based partially” on Belushi’s wife.

But Noguchi, now professor of clinical pathology at the USC School of Medicine, is saying no, no, no!

“Publicists might feel that way, but I had no specific person in mind,” he told us. “(The book) is fictitious but scientifically accurate.”

He conceded that while dramatizing a suspicious overdose death for a second victim in the novel, “Of course, I had Belushi’s death on my mind, but it’s not based on any specific case.” And he flatly denied that a sleazy Hollywood character was a “lightly veiled Dan Aykroyd stand-in,” as Kirkus Reviews implied.

Added Noguchi: “I’m going to have to talk to that publicist.”