U.S.-Mexico border crossers will navigate between two time zones until April 1 because the United... La Jolla eye surgeon had h

Kawesch - a well-known figure in San Diego as a result of his celebrity-filled television ads, battles with the state Medical Board and conviction on tax-evasion charges - appears to have died of natural causes, authorities said. More information is expected to come from routine toxicology tests, which could take weeks.

The 46-year-old physician was found dead in his bed Thursday morning by hotel employees at the Mayan Palace in Playa del Carmen, a low-key resort on the Mayan Riviera, about an hour's drive from Cancun.

"It's a tragedy," said Michael Lipman, one of Kawesch's lawyers. "As far as I knew, he was healthy. I saw him a couple weeks ago and he looked fine."

The hotel employees entered Kawesch's room after he failed to respond to repeated knocking by a housekeeper, said Luis Fernando Ventura, regional director of forensics for the Attorney General's Office in the state of Quintana Roo.

"In the room, there was no sign of violence," Ventura said. "Everything was in order. He was lying peacefully in his bed. This was a death from natural causes."

Kawesch, who is divorced and has a young son, checked in alone on March 10. He was last seen by hotel employees about 3 a.m. Wednesday, when he returned to the hotel for the night, Ventura said.

"The woman who cleans the rooms knocked on the door to see if he was going to need that service," Ventura said. "When he did not answer, she told the hotel administrator, and he went to check the room. They saw that he was in his bed and thought that he was asleep. When they tried to wake him, they saw that he did not respond and they called a doctor."

Mexican authorities said Kawesch's body was handed over to relatives yesterday afternoon and would probably be returned to the United States today. Kawesch's brother, Gary, a well-known Northern California eye surgeon, traveled to Mexico after hearing the news, Lipman said.

Kawesch's death provides a final headline for a man who had a knack for attracting attention. The ads touting his LASIK-surgery practice - featuring celebrities ranging from singer Jessica Simpson to former San Diego Mayor Susan Golding - were a staple of local radio and television. His client volume was enormous: He performed more than 33,000 procedures on 22,000 patients.

But he was also in the news for his battles with state medical officials and former patients who sued him for medical malpractice. In 2001, state officials accused Kawesch of operating on patients who could not benefit from his services and on some who were harmed by inappropriate use of his techniques.

An administrative law judge who reviewed the medical complaints concluded that Kawesch should not be stripped of his license. However, after Kawesch pleaded guilty in 2004 to charges of evading more than $4 million in taxes, the Medical Board revoked his license, citing the tax conviction.

In 2005, he served five months in prison for tax evasion, then resumed his practice after a judge ruled that the Medical Board had improperly revoked his license.

Of the 2,460 California physicians practicing in Kawesch's ophthalmology specialty, only 2.6 percent had one or more such settlements. Board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said Kawesch was the only one who had more than 10 in the past four years.

San Diego lawyer Duane Admire, who represents a number of plaintiffs who have filed malpractice suits against Kawesch, said he noticed a change in the doctor after he served his prison sentence.

Admire is representing six people who still have lawsuits pending against Kawesch. As a result of the doctor's death, they will not be able to collect punitive damages but could still win judgments to cover pain and suffering and economic hardship, Admire said.

No one could be reached at Kawesch's La Jolla office yesterday. A message on the answering machine said: "The office will be closed for personal reasons from Friday, March 16, to Monday, March 26. If you have an appointment during this time, please call back on Tuesday, March 27, to reschedule. We apologize for the inconvenience."

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