Hulk Hogan’s Shocking Cause of Death Revealed

Honestly, he's had so many surgeries. >> Okay. The phrenic nerve is a nerve that. involves respiratory. >> It's okay. >> And if you slice that, which is hard to. do, >> Okay, doctor. >> Okay. >> After almost a year, we are finally. [music] getting a lot more information. in the investigation into Hulk Hogan's. death. What is newly released body cam. and a comprehensive police report. [music] tell us about what happened to. the wrestling icon and why his daughter. says there are still a lot more. questions. Welcome to Sidebar, presented.

by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. We have a lot more details now into the. death of wrestling icon Hulk Hogan. We. have covered this before on Sidebar, but. now we have videos, we have a 72-page. police report, and most importantly, an. official cause of death. And here's the. thing, I'm going to read from the. report, but I'm going to bring on a. coroner to make sense of what all this. means, to understand it. Now, if you. recall, back on July 24th, 2025, Hulk.

Hogan, real name Terry Gene Bollea, stopped breathing at his Clearwater, Florida home. His wife, Sky Daily Hogan, had called 911. She, and an occupational. therapist, and a home health aide were. all reportedly performing CPR on him. until the first responders arrived, but. he ultimately died. And there were. questions. There were questions about. his death. We've covered this here on. Sidebar, whether his death was a result. of medical malpractice resulting from a.

neck surgery, questions about him. seemingly being in good spirits and. health before his death, why he suddenly. stopped breathing. Well, now we have a. 72-page. Clearwater PD case master report, two. new videos, okay? This is giving us new. insight. This is giving us new. information. And I want to start with. the videos. So, we haven't seen this. before. That occupational therapist, identified as Justin McKamey leaves Hulk. Hogan's house on the morning of July.

24th, speaks to police, and I want you. to listen very carefully to how he. describes what he saw, but more. importantly about and this is kind of. quick at the end. how a doctor may have messed up. >> I I witnessed. to what to what he had surgery um a. month or two ago. His clutch his. shoulder uh the chronic nerve wouldn't. completely.

Been home with the health health. I'm an. occupational therapist. and uh. he isn't good. So, last week one time I checked his. pulse. Get here. He's not breathing. I do all the checks. >> So, she's been doing all the checks. >> I was checking out the. I was told he was sleeping. >> Do what? >> He was sleeping. >> Okay. Okay. >> Uh he ate very little. A couple of. Gatorades on the floor. Was up throughout the night. No cough. And uh.

And that's when I noticed. >> It is. Yeah, it should be behind that. seat. >> No rise and fall of the chest. Try to get pulse. Try to get blood. pressure. Nothing. She came in We advised it together. Immediately called 911. Down to the floor. We started compressions. He wasn't. Basically he wasn't breathing. In any case. >> I saw that I didn't cuz he's such a big. guy. So, getting a pulse, getting all. that stuff sometimes difficult. And uh.

then when I realized that obviously we. didn't call and get get assistance. To be honest I'm surprised he lasted. this long. >> You said you were only here like 10. minutes, right? Before he. >> here about 10:30 in the. >> Talking to you. >> Um. >> 2:30 in the night. >> I was here at 9:30. I walked in the. door. >> And how long have you been. helping take care of him? >> Only my second visit. Only my second. visit. >> Okay. >> I just did the initial eval last week. Honestly, I was surprised he was in. there for at least 2 weeks. >> And are you trying to help him adjust to.

being in like a wheelchair mainly and. stuff like that. >> Yeah, occupational That definition PT. does the legs. OT we do the upper body. >> Okay. >> Function. >> So just helping him function as best he. can. >> Right. I was trying to get him back to. cuz he didn't have breathing problems. >> Was he able to Was he able to walk and. stuff? >> Barely. It was a pivot transfer. He's. been using like urinal stuff. >> What's the biggest issue right now? >> Everything. Uh like we were. >> Like Like why is he kind of Why was he. not able to walk? >> He had that. They said severed the phrenic nerve in.

surgery. >> Was that recently? Okay. So he had a back surgery? Or what was it? >> It was. Honestly, he's had so many surgeries. >> Okay. >> The phrenic nerve is a nerve that. involves respiratory. >> Okay. >> And if you slice that, which is hard to. do, the doctor screwed. >> Okay. >> That's after the surgery. >> You caught that, right? Doctor screwed. up. That's what led to speculation that. Hogan's death was maybe caused by a.

botched surgery. And then later on, by. the way, we have another video, months. later, November 19th, 2025, as he's in. his car, this occupational therapist and. officer approaches him again to get. clarification on that, you know, bit. about the doctor. And it seems like he. kind of tempers it a bit. >> I was talking to Boss, who just wants. one more. >> question. In the video, you you talked. about how. the the phrenic nerve, when it gets. severed, it's a hard thing to do.

>> I assume that, yeah. >> Oh, you were saying that. >> That's not right, man. >> Okay. Cuz. basically like what we're trying to. trying to know is like how you knew that. that nerve I'm sorry, laying in your. car. That that that nerve is a. a a common thing that can be injured. during a surgery and be like did like. how did you arrive at that medical. conclusion to say that? That it's hard to do? >> No, that it was said.

>> Okay. >> I assume, I mean. I don't know. I mean I I I I I I. >> But I mean you're you're not a a. neurosurgeon, right? >> No, not at all. Yeah. I Yeah, I'm a. cardiac surgeon. >> Didn't go to medical school. You have. you have the degree for the occupational. therapy and and what's the laughing. beyond? >> No idea. >> Okay. Sorry to keep you. >> It's okay. I was also glad you were. there. >> I understand that. >> So, I got got in trouble before for talking. to them. >> Okay. Well, I think that should be it. All right. Thank you, sir.

>> It was interesting though. I listened to. the interview of Robert Leslie Farmer. saying it a couple of days after that. >> I've heard it. >> And the guy mentioned his right nurse. himself. He said, "Oh, it could have. been And this is And I was like, "Huh.". >> I've heard it. >> Yeah. So. I shouldn't have said the comment. >> Okay. Well, fair enough. >> I just want to let that doctor know that. I am. I just get you stronger and get you. moving. >> Well, that's equally important, so. All right. Take care, sir. >> Thank you. >> Okay, real quick. For all you cat owners.

out there, who does not want their cat. to be healthy and happy, right? And. feeding them Smalls, that's the key. Why? Most cat food out there is made. with cheap fillers and meat byproducts. and artificial ingredients. And your. cat's health at the end of the day is. paying the price. That's the truth. Smalls is different. Their recipes are. made with preservative-free, 100%. human-grade ingredients that you'd find. right in your fridge. Cats really rely. on protein for energy. They also need a. lot of hydration to stay healthy and. toned. And luckily, Smalls contains at.

least 80% animal protein. Their fresh. ingredients are gently cooked to retain. all their nutrients, their hydration, their flavor. 88% of cat parents report. that after feeding them Smalls, their. cats have better digestion, shinier. coats, more energy to play. Experts have. also been raving about it. Forbes ranked. Smalls the best overall cat food. BuzzFeed reviewers reported that their. cats went ballistic for this stuff. So, your cat's health starts with what they. eat. Try Smalls, get 60% off your first.

order, plus free shipping and treats for. life when you go to smalls.com/sidebar. So, it seems that he says he assumed. that he got it from the medical record. Not a doctor, not a nurse. But, in terms. of what happened, according to law. enforcement, now I want to go directly. to the report. I'm going to read you. verbatim. Quote, "According to Mrs. Beleya and Nicholas Beleya, Mr. Beleya. had been suffering from numerous medical. diagnoses to include leukemia, atrial.

fibrillation, pneumonia, and kidney. failure. Additionally, Mr. Beleya had. undergone multiple hospitalizations over. the course of the last several months. for a myriad of conditions. A statement. was obtained from Mrs. Beleya and. Nicholas Beleya. Mrs. Beleya reported. that the occupational therapist and the. home health aide had begun to set up for. Mr. Beleya's therapy session for the. day. She advised Mr. Beleya had been. seated in his recliner in the living. room of the residence and had eaten a. small breakfast. As Mr. McCamey was. taking vital signs, she noticed it. appeared as though Mr. Beleya's chest.

was no longer rising and falling, and. she went to check on him. At this point, she and Mr. McCamey realized he did not. have a pulse, and Mrs. Beleya. immediately called 911. 911 call. recordings were obtained and. corroborated the timelines and. information provided by all parties. involved, as well as the information. provided by Mrs. Beleya to the 911 call. taker. Detectives conducted a visual. inspection of Mr. Beleya's body, which. did not reveal any signs of trauma or. injury. Morton Plant Hospital staff,

following the death of Mr. Beleya, contacted his family primary care. physician, Dr. Gerald Fitzgerald, who. advised he would sign Mr. Balewa's death. certificate. And with respect to what Hogan was. reportedly going through, the report. states, quote, "Sergeant Beaver and I. then asked about Mr. Balewa's past. medical history. Mrs. Balewa advised he. had undergone a spinal surgery on his. neck approximately 6 weeks prior to this. incident and referred to the operation. as a fusion. Mrs. Balewa stated, in.

addition to the spinal surgery, Mr. Balewa had an operation on his heart. approximately 3 weeks ago to repair a. valve. At the time of his cardiac. surgery, she advised Mr. Balewa was. diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic. leukemia as well. She continued to say. her husband had been in the hospital for. approximately 3 weeks following the. surgery. Mrs. Balewa stated, following. the diagnosis of leukemia, her husband. had begun chemotherapy treatment. approximately 1 week prior. I asked Mrs. Balewa about any medications her husband.

was taking and she stated he was on. several different ones and was unable to. provide the exact names. She explained. the officers who had responded to her. house had asked about the medications. and were later provided the same. Please refer to additional supplements. for details surrounding the specific. medications Mr. Balewa was prescribed. and later collected. I asked Mrs. Balewa. how her husband was behaving earlier in. the morning prior to the medical. incident. She stated it was a normal morning and. that he had eaten a breakfast of yogurt. and berries approximately 15 minutes.

prior to the arrival of the occupational. therapist. I later spoke individually. with Christopher Volo, who works with. Mr. Balewa as a manager. Mr. Volo stated Mr. Balewa had been. placed on dialysis approximately 1 to 2. weeks prior to this incident and from. his recollection appeared to be doing. better while undergoing dialysis. Mr. Volo then stated he had been diagnosed. with kidney failure as well. Mr. Volo. continued to say that on this date, July 24th, 2025, Mr. Balewa had another.

dialysis appointment scheduled for later. in the day. After speaking with Mrs. Bollea and Mr. Volo, I returned to ER. room 1 where Mr. Bollea was being. treated. A short time later, Dr. Erica. Francis pronounced Mr. Bollea deceased. at 11:17 hours. Sergeant Beaver and I. then entered the room and conducted a. visual inspection of Mr. Bollea's body. The body was lying supine to the. hospital bed of room 1. There was an. intraosseous catheter in his right shin.

bone. There was an intravenous catheter. in his right arm. Previously, while. medical personnel were providing. life-saving measures to Mr. Bollea, I. noticed they were utilizing an automated. mechanical chest compression device. There were no signs of trauma to the. body except for redness and apparent. abrasion from where the compression. device had been placed on his sternum. I. also noted Mr. Bollea appeared to have. swelling in his ankles and lower. portions of his legs. Sergeant Beaver. took eight photographs of Mr. Bollea. with his department-issued cellular.

phone. Sergeant Beaver and I then. uploaded the photographs to. axon.evidence.com. and their access was restricted. After. the photographs were uploaded to. evidence.com, I witnessed Sergeant. Beaver delete the photographs from his. department-issued cell phone. And I. wonder if that's so, you know, nothing's. leaked of Hulk Hogan cuz he's a. celebrity. I do wonder that. Now, in. terms of Hogan's death, the report. states, quote, "The private autopsy was. completed on August 16th, 2025 at 11:55.

hours by Dr. Daniel L. Schultz, M.D., pathologist. An excerpt from Dr. Schultz's abbreviated summation reads, 'Mr. Terry Bollea died exclusively from. compelling natural disease with no. reasonable traumatic or terminal. toxicologic contributions. As such, the. manner of death is also natural.' The. abbreviated summation continues, 'Mr. Bollea's circumstances of death and. health history do not align with any. jurisdictional type of case per Florida. code. His death was natural at the face.

base further on the benefits of a. complete autopsy the natural passing of. Mr. Terry Bollea has been validated and. suspicions of trauma terminal toxins. have been reasonably excluded. There's. another part that says on July 25th, 2025 at approximately 900 hours I. contacted the Pinellas County Medical. Examiner's office and spoke with MEO. investigator Jim Baining to advise on. the above discrepancy in the medication. While speaking with Baining, I was. informed that the Medical Examiner's.

office was aware of the recent surgery. on Mr. Bollea's neck where it was. alleged that the phrenic nerve had been. damaged. So they were aware of this. At. the end of the report it says quote Dr. Fitzgerald stated he was advised by Dr. Francis that Mr. Bollea had come into. the emergency department in asystole and. after approximately 45 minutes. life-saving measures resulting in no. cardiac rhythm changes, he pronounced. Mr. Bollea deceased and asked if Dr. Fitzgerald would be willing to sign the. death certificate. Dr. Fitzgerald stated.

that based on what he was told by Dr. Francis, he believed the cause of death. was cardiac in nature and agreed to sign. the certificate. Officers later. collected the medications currently. prescribed to Mr. Bollea and conducted a. pill inventory which indicated Mr. Bollea was taking fewer medications than. he was prescribed. The Clearwater Police. Department enlisted the assistance of. the DEA to ascertain if there were any. prescribing anomalies in relation to any. opiates. The DEA verified that there.

were no anomalous prescriptions of any. opiates to Mr. Bollea by Mr. Fitzgerald. or any other prescribers within the past. 6 months. While conducting the pill. inventory, detectives discovered that. Mr. Bollea was taking a lower dose of. the prescribed opiates inconsistent with. an individual suffering from a current. addiction. Additionally, none of the. medications collected by the Clearwater. Police Department had been prescribed by. Dr. Fitzgerald due to the allegations. made by Mr. McCamey indicating the.

possibility of an injury to Mr. Beleya. being a potential proximal cause of. death. Several subpoena requests were. completed requesting Mr. Beleya's. medical records from several medical. providers with consent provided by his. next of kin, Mrs. Beleya. The subpoenas were ultimately served by. the State Attorney's Office for the. Sixth Judicial Circuit to Morton Plant. Hospital, Tampa General Hospital, Visiting Nurses Association, and Good. Samaritan Hospital. Over the course of. several months, the results were. received from all entities. A review of.

the medical records yielded several. medical diagnoses and multiple extended. hospitalizations and declining health. over the few months preceding Mr. Beleya's death consistent with the. interviews provided by Mrs. Beleya and. Nicholas Beleya. On August 27th, 2025, Mrs. Beleya and Nicholas Beleya allowed. Detective Bieber to review home. surveillance footage from the morning of. July 24th, 2025. The camera view. captured the living room of the. residence where Mr. Beleya was located.

at the time he went into cardiac arrest. by responding officers and medical. personnel. The recording was viewed in. person in the residence and it. corroborated the statements previously. made by Mrs. Beleya, Ms. Swinton, and. Mr. McCamey regarding the series of. events immediately preceding and after. Mr. Beleya went into cardiac arrest. The. footage was not collected and remained. in the family's possession. Detectives. conducted interviews with all responding. emergency medical services providers. Interviewed EMS personnel also did not.

report seeing any signs of trauma or. injury to Mr. Beleya's body. It was. later learned that Mrs. Beleya and. Nicholas Beleya had arranged for a. private autopsy to be completed on Mr. Beleya. The Clearwater Police Department. received an abbreviated summation of the. autopsy report from Dr. Daniel Schultz, the pathologist who conducted the. autopsy. In his summation, Dr. Schultz. writes that he performed the autopsy on. August 16th, 2025 at 11:55 hours. Dr. Schultz writes that Mr. Bollea died,

quote, exclusively from compelling. natural disease with no reasonable. traumatic or terminal toxicologic. contributions. As such, the manner of. death is also natural. Following an. exhaustive review of the statements, medical records, surveillance footage. from within the residence, and a visual. inspection of Mr. Bollea's body, there. has been no evidence to indicate the. death of Terry Bollea was anything other. than natural. Through the course of the.

investigation, there has been no. evidence to indicate any criminal. wrongdoing related to his death. This. case will be closed and will be. considered solved non-criminal. Okay. And that is supported by law enforcement. throughout this report. Like, for. example, you have this notation from a. detective from the robbery homicide. division. It says, quote, "In my review. of the records, I did not observe. anything inconsistent with natural. death.". Now, before I bring on our coroner to.

make sense of this, I want to briefly. talk. about Brooke Hogan. Hulk Hogan's reportedly estranged. daughter. Apparently, they didn't speak. in quite some time. Apparently, she. wasn't in his will. The report states, "On Thursday, August 7th, 2025 at. approximately 14:31 hours, Terry. Bollea's daughter, Brooke Bollea, contacted me in reference to information. on her father, specifically whether an. autopsy would be performed. I explained. that the decision on whether an autopsy. should be performed is the. responsibility of the medical examiner.

Ms. Bollea went on to say that she was. concerned with her father's recent. medical history, advising that she was. told recently that medical personnel may. have botched his recent surgery. I. explained that we heard the same. unconfirmed allegation, but that we. would look into it. Ms. Balewa also. brought up her concerns of cremation in. relation to an outside private autopsy. I explained that those decisions were up. to the legal next of kin and suggested. she discuss this with Skye. Ms. Balewa. thanked me for taking her call and. assisting her as much as I could. Prior.

to ending the call, Ms. Balewa inquired. about any and all lab work available. related to her father's death. I advised. I would send over the phone numbers to. Morton Plant Hospital legal division in. reference to this. I offered my. condolences to the loss of her father. and ended the call. At approximately. 15:50 hours, I provided Ms. Balewa with. the following Morton Plant Hospital. corporate legal department phone numbers. to include their legal aid department. There's another part that says on. Tuesday, August 21st, 2025 at. approximately 14:16 hours, contact was.

made with Ms. Balewa to inquire if she'd. be able to meet in person at the. Clearwater Police Department for the. purpose of discussing the status of the. investigation and to clarify some of the. speculation circulating in the public. Ms. Balewa advised that she would be. unavailable until November due to. previously scheduled obligations. I. explained that we believed it would be. appropriate to share case facts with. her. She acknowledged this, but. reiterated that she was unable to meet. At approximately 16:01 hours, Ms. Balewa. contacted me back stating she thought.

about the option of coming to speak with. investigators reference the reports, audio, and body worn camera BWC footage. prior to the close of the case and prior. to the public and media obtaining this. information. She stated she was trying. to work out something for the following. week. She did have some follow-up. questions on the medical examiner's. office decision not to autopsy, questions on how death investigations. work on the law enforcement side, as. well as additional questions on viewing. her father. She also stated she was. concerned about the private autopsy, to.

which she indicated she was not. convinced it would be or has been done. correctly. I reiterated to Miss Bollea. that this process was completely outside. the scope of our investigation and. entirely up to the legal next of kin. Now, I should tell you that the. Clearwater Police Department praised. Hulk Hogan's family including Sky, his. kids Nick and Brooke, the attorney Kevin. Haslett for their quote willingness to. allow our investigators access to very.

personal information at a time when they. were grieving and struggling. They had. added that it was quote extremely. helpful. Here's the thing. Brooke has spoken out after all this. Spoken out after the Clearwater PD. released this report. In a clip that was. shared on social media, she reportedly. said, "I think my fans and I think. people know me well enough to know that. I have integrity. I try to keep my mouth. shut. I've tried to stay out of this. stuff, but dear. Clearwater Police, keep my effing name. out of your mouth. You have not treated.

me like family. You have not helped me. You have not been in touch with me like. you should have been. Maybe I lost my. privileges because I didn't attend a. funeral my dad didn't want. Maybe I. didn't want to see my dad paraded around. like a show pony with makeup on smelling. like formaldehyde. Sorry, that's not. what my dad wanted. Sorry, that I didn't. want to deal with all the shady people. around him. I guess that makes me not. his daughter anymore, right? I guess. that makes me not equal to Nick. I guess. that makes me not able to get any. answers. And Brooke reportedly shared a.

separate clip on X saying the following, I was the one that asked for the. autopsy. I offered to pay for it, but. instead they're going to baby face. Oh, no, no, we'll do it. Okay, then why. didn't you list autopsy on his final. death certificate? That's my first. thing. Unless that autopsy contains. something that doesn't align with your. narrative because I've asked for it. publicly. Nobody is trying to give it to. me. Nobody is trying to be like, Brooke. shut up, here it is. If anything, don't. say anything that's on it because. there's something damning on there. that's embarrassing for dad. Nobody is.

saying anything like that. And she said. that a private autopsy was conducted, that she doesn't that she wasn't allowed. to see the results. She questioned. certain things, why Skye, in her reading. of the report, why she was the only one. who noticed her father wasn't breathing. when there were two other medical. professionals there, why, according to. her, no blood samples were available, but apparently nothing suspicious was. found in her father's blood. She also. highlighted what she believes were. inconsistencies, again, in her view, between toxicology findings and.

medications that her father may have. been taking. And according to TMZ, Brooke also said, quote, "There's been a. lot of inconsistencies from the. beginning. I think CWPD missed the mark. by not immediately making this a big. investigation and not questioning. everything and everybody out the gate. This should have been treated as a. taped-off, lockdown, thorough. investigation. from day one." All right. Want to bring. on Dr. Dana Rutherford, Richland County. Coroner. Haven't seen her in quite some. time, but always happy to see Nita. Uh.

thank you so much for taking the time. Um generally speaking, anything strike. you as odd about this this report? >> You know, I think when people are. celebrities, they are scrutinized in. their personal lives in a way that is so. invasive. And for me, this report, the. 72 pages that I combed through, just. seemed a bit excessive to me for a. natural death that occurred in a home of. a patient who had chronic illness. This.

was a natural death. Like everyone concluded that, the family. chose to have a private autopsy. We can. dig into that a little bit in in terms. of why they did that, but nothing about. this case from the original 911 call to. the police report when they went out. Nothing about it was super odd to me, but you know, they went through the. investigation and and and did their job. and so I guess the family can rest easy.

with that. >> Listen, you're the professional. I I'm. just reading this and it's clear they. say multiple times this is a natural. death. How do they know it's a natural. death? Like I'm I'm I'm looking at it. and I'm trying to understand. so what does that mean that it's a. natural death? How exactly did Hulk. Hogan die? >> So one, let's just walk our audience. through what manner of death actually. means. So cause of death is the medical. reason that someone's heart and lungs. stopped working. The manner of death is.

is how that happens. You only have five. to choose from and I like to teach. people this acronym NASH U. You have. natural, accidental, suicide, homicide. and undetermined. There are only five. manners of death that you can choose. from. So when we look at the context of. this case, here's a person who had. chronic health conditions. He had kidney. failure. He had leukemia. He had atrial. fibrillation. He had all of these things. that could have caused his death at any.

given point in time. The A-fib alone. being this unnatural and. uh and off heartbeat that he had could. have killed him at any point. He could. have been just sitting down watching TV. and his heart could have skipped enough. beats that it could have killed him. So. he had chronic health conditions that. could have killed him at any moment. Again, when we look at the body, we look. at the health history, one of the things. that we say is what happened here that. could have possibly caused his death.

outside of the. with the absence of trauma, no injury, no recent falls. When we talk about. leukemia and the fact that he could have. the potential to bleed very easily, a. slight fall could have had could have. caused him to have a subdural, you know, hematoma or a subdural hemorrhage that. could have caused his death. But he. didn't have any of those things. So I'm. not sure why they did so much of an. investigation, but I also understand. that the family may have wanted some. more answers and certainly looking at.

the toxicology can give us that and we. can talk a little bit about that if you. want. >> talk about that next because first of. all, I think they had to release this and I. think that they had to do a thorough. investigation, which I hope they do in. every case, but there was a lot of. speculation regarding Hulk Hogan. There. was a lot of speculation as to his. death. What about the toxicology? What. do you take from that? >> So, the toxicology just showed that he. was actually not even taking the opioid. medications that were prescribed to him. in any manner that would have been. indicative of addiction. And so, when we.

look at prescriptions, we look at who. prescribed them, how often they. prescribed them, we can actually run. something called a scripts report and. actually receive information that is. sent to the DEA about prescriber and. prescribers and their habits and their. trends in prescribing opioid. medications. And so, none of those. things were out of alignment based on. the 72 pages that I read. He was actually undertaking his. medication his medication in a way that.

said he was only using it as needed PRN. He wasn't taking it as prescribed. Again, he was under dosing himself, which lets me know that he was probably. getting closer to death. The closer to. death that you get, sometimes you have a. a decreased need for those pain. medicines and he just wasn't utilizing. it. I understand that when people have a. history of drug use in their past, people think that they fall off the. wagon and that maybe they're using again. or maybe there's some issue there. Um,

but we can't hold someone's past against. them. We can use history to inform our. investigation, but we shouldn't go in. just automatically thinking that this is. what's going to be the case. His. toxicology didn't reveal anything. [snorts] that was nefarious. It didn't. show any poisons or any substances that. would have contributed to his death. >> What about this whole phrenic nerve. conversation? I played the clip earlier. about the occupational therapist. Um the. report and from what I said, it looks. like the ME knew about the phrenic nerve.

situation. Um but as far as I'm seeing, and you. tell me, and I saw you kind of look the. other way, it doesn't seem that this. phrenic nerve contributed to his death. in any way, right? >> It didn't. And again, this is like a. whole lot of things. >> breathing, right? It controls breathing? >> Yes, but he also had so many other. health conditions. Let's just take the. kidney failure, for example. You have a. decreased function of the kidneys. They are not filtering toxins the way.

that they normally would. So, you're. building up these toxins in your system. You cannot filter them out, no matter. how hard your body tries, unless you put. someone on dialysis. He had leukemia, which also contributes to weakness, tiredness, just an overall run-down. body. It makes them more susceptible to. infections. He had A-fib. His heart did. not beat appropriately. He had to take. medications to try to keep his heart in. rhythm.

All of these things can cause problems. And so, when you have kidney failure, and the more progressive kidney failure. you have, guess what else you get? You. get a backup of fluid in the body that. can lead to pulmonary edema, that can. lead to increased respiratory distress, that can cause you to stop breathing. properly. And you may not breathe enough. times per minute to sustain life. So, yes, I understand this phrenic nerve. injury, and people wanted to take a look. at that. And again, I think it was it.

was smart and prudent of the family to. have the independent autopsy done, because the medical examiner didn't see. a point in doing an autopsy. Which. should let you know, no one thought that. there was anything criminal happening. here, but they did do a toxicology to. determine if there were any medication. substances that could have contributed. to his death or impaired his breathing, which I think is really important, and. there was nothing there. So, again, phrenic nerve injury, sure, but not not.

the cause of death here. >> Just to be clear, you you talked about. the various complications and the. various issues and potential. complications. Do we know They don't. know precisely at that moment in time. how this happened, right? Unless I'm. wrong. >> Well, let me just give you guys a little bit. of education about what a death. certificate actually says. It is the. medical opinion. of how someone died. It doesn't have to. be an exact cause. We certify deaths all.

the time without doing an autopsy. Doctors certify natural deaths based on. someone's medical history. And so, you. can. die in your home, an unwitnessed death, your primary care doctor has seen you. within the last 3 months, you have. congestive heart failure or kidney. failure, and they can put a cause of. death on your death certificate that. says complications of kidney failure or. complications of arteriosclerotic. cardiovascular disease, heart disease, congestive heart failure,

whatever it is. There doesn't have to be an autopsy. There also does not have to be a. toxicology. The medical examiner did not. see a point in doing any of those. things. The family chose to have a. private autopsy, and the cause of death. was still ruled as natural, which is. what the medical examiner stated in his. medical opinion to be the case. He did. an external examination of this body to. look for signs of injury, to look for signs of trauma, there were. none. They looked at the toxicology. report, and again, there was nothing.

there to indicate that he had anything. in his system that contributed to his. death. So, the exact cause. cardiac arrest is not a suitable cause. of death to put on a death certificate, but his heart and lungs stopped working. due to natural disease. He certainly had. three major things that could have. contributed to that. >> And the private autopsy, what do you. take away from that? >> It just confirms maybe what the family. needed to know for closure. It says that.

the toxicology. was not a contributing factor to his. death, that this was a death of natural. disease based on his past medical. history. Again, kidney failure causes so. many complications in the body, the. leukemia, pneumonia. Leukemia makes your. body more susceptible to infection. He. had been hospitalized multiple times. over the past few months for multiple. diagnoses. He had health problems. He. was chronically ill. We want our heroes.

to live forever, but death is inevitable. and it's random. And when you have this. type of health history, it can happen at. any moment. >> Um doc, before I let you go. I mentioned it before, Brooke Hogan has a lot of questions. even after this report came out. Questions about the blood, questions. about toxicology, questions about the. investigation. I know you've seen some of her comments. that she's made. Any thoughts on that? >> I think Brooke Hogan is grieving and I.

think that when you're grieving, you're. reaching for any sort of answer. You're. reaching for blame. We want our family. members to live forever and it's just. not going to happen. And again, with. this extensive health history, he was. prone and more at risk for death than. someone who was of healthy heart and. kidneys. He just was not a healthy. person. He chronically ill. And I think. that Brooke in in all of her questioning.

of the police, when I read this 72-page. report, I don't know these officers. I. don't have a relationship with the. medical examiner in Florida to to speak. on their behalf. They don't know me. I'm. telling you this was a thorough. investigation, in my opinion, from their. summary to the detailed witness. statements. I don't see anything that. was overlooked in this case. >> No no inconsistencies, in your opinion? >> No, none. Because again, this was pulled. together as a natural death from the. beginning. Now, the fact that they went.

further and looked at. witness statements and said, "Okay, well, let's view the video footage." If. they would have seen anything on that. video footage that was even remotely. suspicious, they would have taken. custody of that video. They would have. re-interviewed witnesses. They would. have made an arrest if they felt like. someone was neglecting him. Which is. what it seems to be Brooke is. indicating. There were two medical. professionals in the home, but they were. also performing other care for him, getting other things ready. There's no. reason for someone to be sitting on him.

24/7, staring at him as he's sitting. there watching television and and eating. his breakfast. I don't see any. any implication of malpractice or. wrongdoing in this case. I think Brooke. is grieving. >> Uh doctor, thank you so much for. clarifying this. You know, I read it, I. try to make sense of it, our viewers try. to make sense of it, but we're very. lucky to have you. Dr. Neda Rutherford, thank you so much. Good seeing you. >> My pleasure. Thank you so much. >> All right, that's all we have for you.

right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get. your podcast. You can also check us out. on NBC's Peacock. If you want to follow. me, X, Instagram, my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you next. time, everybody. >> [music].