New Twist in Hulk Hogan’s Death: Malpractice Lawsuit Incoming

There is a growing mystery surrounding. the death of wrestling icon Hulk Hogan. and it is far from over because now it's. being reported that his widow may be. about to file a medical malpractice. lawsuit against the player she claims. may be responsible for what happened to. her husband. We are breaking down what. this means, what we can expect, and also. the latest news regarding Hulk Hogan's. daughter's visit to view his body after. some very public comments she made. regarding this investigation. Welcome to.

Sidebar presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. [Music]. All right, we got to talk about what's. happening with Hulk Hogan. So, we did a. previous sidebar on some of the strange. happenings in the aftermath of the. wrestling icon's death on July 24th at. age 71. That even though after he. reportedly stopped breathing in his. Clearwater, Florida home and the county. forensic science center said that his. cause of death was determined to be from. a heart attack. even though his manner. of death was being ruled natural.

according to the cremation summary. approval report and that he had atrial. fibrillation and battled chronic. lymphocyic leukemia type of cancer. affecting white blood cells. There were. a lot of questions surrounding his death. and whether there is something more. here. I mean, we got a statement from. Clearwater PD the last time that we did. a sidebar on this from Rob Shaw, the. public information officer from the. police department that said in part, "The Clearwater Police Department. continues its investigation into the. July 24th death of Terry Blea, also.

known as Hulk Hogan. The unique nature. of this case has required us to. interview multiple witnesses and seek. medical records from a variety of. providers, and our detectives continue. to do that. All of this takes time. Until the investigation is completed, no. records related to the case, including. body camera footage, can be released. But now we have major news, and it. follows up what we covered in our. previous episode regarding Hulk Hogan's. widow, Sky Daily, who seemingly raised. questions about what happened. It has.

been reported by the Daily Mail that she. may now potentially file a medical. malpractice lawsuit in connection with. her husband's death. that it may be. connected to neck surgery that Hulk. Hogan underwent back in May. And she. reported claims that his frenic nerve. was quote compromised during surgery and. that may have led to him suffering. shortness of breath. She believes that. quote definitely that definitely.

contributed to him dying two months. later. In her exclusive interview with. the Daily Mail, she says, "We are. investigating for possible malpractice. If you have shortness of breath for a. long time, that makes you very sick. It's not something that's alarming, sudden cause of death. It's something. that wears on you, makes you weak. And. TMZ has been reporting that sources who. heard this 911 call that day that. brought first responders to Hulk Hogan's. house. They confirmed that Sky said, "My. husband's not breathing. He just stopped.

breathing." So, in other words, the call. may not have been for, you know, a heart. attack, but that he just stopped. breathing. and she added, "We've all. known about it for a while. It's not. brand new information. Everything about. his neck surgery has been documented. from when he was alive. So, there's. nothing that happened right before he. passed. And actually, it's being. reported, and this is something we. discussed in our previous sidebar, that. an occupational therapist who was. present at Hulk Hogan's house at in. Clearwater, Florida, when he stopped.

breathing, this person apparently told. cops on the scene that a surgeon quote. severed Hulk Hogan's frenic nerve during. a recent surgery. And this is. apparently, according to a police report. that TMZ says is on quote lockdown. Now, TMZ indicated that police had. conversations about what this therapist. allegedly told them, and that is. captured on body cam. Again, that hasn't. been released. And by the way, this. nerve, according to the Cleveland. Clinic, this nerve controls your. diaphragm, and it is essential to your.

ability to breathe. So, it's very. important what we're talking about. According to TMZ, quote, "Our sources. say Hulk did not have a chest clenching. episode before his passing. Rather, he. merely stopped breathing." We're told it. was his wife Sky who sounded the alarm. when his breath halted and that's when. the 911 call was made. Now, the Daily. Mail has reported that this therapist. has been identified as Justin McC. This. is who they're saying it is. And they. also claim that he is trying to stay out. of view right now with his wife telling. the outlet that he quote has gone away.

and things aren't good right now. Now, according to the Daily Mail, Sky. apparently says that he spoke with. police and that he got his information. from medical records with Sky saying. it's nothing he saw with his own eyes. Okay, I want to get into this. I want to. get into this potential lawsuit and I. also want to talk to you about an update. regarding Brooke Hogan because she has. made some strong public comments. regarding her father's death, but now we. have learned that she has seen his body. So, I want to get into all that. Let me.

bring on right now trial attorney. Aaliyah Roberts. Uh uh Leo, so good to. see you. Thank you so much for taking. the time. Strategic to make this. announcement about filing a lawsuit. Sometimes you just file the lawsuit and. that's it. Why announce it? >> I think this is one of those situations. where because there has been so much. public scrutiny about what's going on. There's been so much confusion or. questions about was there malpractice? Was there foul play? I think that this. might be um Hulk Hogan's wife way of. essentially saying, "Hey, I'm I'm doing.

something about it, right? Like I'm. trying I'm doing my best based off the. information that I have. This is where I. think we're going." So, kind of like to. not to calm the noise, but to kind of. give some streamlining as to all the. speculation that's been going on around. Hulk Hogan's death. >> Now, she hasn't named the medical. facility. She hasn't named the doctor or. doctors involved. Why not? um strategy. It and it could also be because she. doesn't know. Um sometimes when you have. a lawyer, you want to look at everybody. from the nurses who were on staff that.

night to the physicians assistants to. the surgeons. So there's a lot of people. that may or may not be included in this. lawsuit individually named as well as. the hospital in the event that the. hospital we get into this thing about. insurance. in the event of the hospital. being like the the individual that has. most of the insurance for settlement. purposes versus individual uh lawsuits. against these specific doctors, PAs and. nurses. It comes down to a matter of. where are the the pockets essentially in.

order to settle this lawsuit. Sometimes. it's with the hospital. Sometimes you. might find more insurance somewhere. else. So it could again also a strategy. standpoint. >> Talking lawsuits here, you know who are. experts in litigation by the way? Our. sponsor Morgan and Morgan. This is. America's largest injury law firm. This. is a firm with over a,000 attorneys. You. know why they have so many? Because they. win a lot. They have recovered over $25. billion for more than 500,000 clients. Think about that. In fact, in the past. few months, a client in Florida received. $12 million after the insurance company.

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forthepeople.com/lcsidebar. by clicking the link below or scanning. the QR code on screen. Is it also because she's not sure that. she actually wants to move forward with. a lawsuit and she doesn't want to say. anything that could maybe lead to a. defamation action? Right? Because let. here's one of the things she told the. Daily Mail uh that Hulk Hogan hasn't. been cremated yet that he's his embombed. body uh you know is that's the current.

state. Um that she says we will be. cremating him shortly as we are wrapping. up this medical investigation. She added. it's not like in the movies where you. snap your fingers. It's very time. consuming to call sending in records. requests, get approval, send in the. death certificate to get information. We're currently in the investigatory. process for possible malpractice. So, is. that what's going on too? >> For sure. Um, to to the point of getting. medical records, sometimes it takes a. month, sometimes it takes six. It. depends on the the medical the medical. the hospital and how their medical.

records department works as well as just. trying to get as much information as. possible. Sometimes when you go to the. hospital, you'll get like a print out or. discharge paperwork or a summary, right? And it's usually six or seven pages. But. when you have something like surgery, you want the entire medical record. So. you want Hulk Hogan's medical records. before the surgery, after the surgery, and any type of um followup, any type of. post-operative visits. So again, depending on the speed of the medical. records facility at the hospital, even.

assuming that there is a rush put on it, it can take some time. time. And when I. say time, I mean months. >> What would a lawsuit look like here? >> Well, when you have a medical. malpractice action, you name the. hospital and or the facility in which. the surgery was performed. A lot of. people don't know this, but surgery. isn't always performed at a hospital. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. Sometimes you have operative centers. So. assuming this is performed at a. hospital, you name the hospital. You. name the surgeon that performed the s.

the surgery. You name the assistant. surgeon who also assisted the surgeon on. the surgery. You might also, if there's. a physician's assistant, you might also. name them in the lawsuit. You might also. name the nurses. Sometimes the. anesthesiologist is also included. What. you're doing is you want to make sure. that you cover every single base of. every single person that was in that. room. And it's the individuals that are. named. Their job is to say, "Hey, I. didn't do it. It wasn't me." But as the. law, the lawyer, as the the plaintiff's. attorney in this case, you want to make.

sure that you have named every single. person that you possibly can so you. don't leave any stone unturned. >> But let me get this straight. They're. basically saying, I mean, if this. lawsuit moves forward, they are. responsible for Hulk Hogan's death. Isn't there a causation issue? They're. saying that that surgery caused his. death months later. How do you prove. that? How do you prove that causal link? >> Well, that's also something that we have. to explore, right? Sometimes if there's. a break in causation, it's going to be. very, very difficult. But I want to hear.

more from this occupational therapist. because I think that he might have some. information about this causal link. because he was clearly treating Hulk. Hogan in some capacity after the. surgery. Right? If it's a situation. which is intervening, did the. occupational therapist do some sort of. exacerbation to the neck and the. movements that might have worsened the. condition that caused Hoken to stop. breathing? Why is he no longer in in the. public eye or why is he no longer um. answering questions or things like that? If there's a situation in which we had. the surgery, I think I said this before,

it wasn't a quite a snip, but maybe a. nick that over time, consistently with. movements, consistently with exercise, it continued to worsen and worsen. then. caused Hulk Hogan to stop breathing. >> Do they have to have conversations. um establishing that they knew there was. a problem after the surgery that they. were talking about this problem? They. were talking about the nerve um that it. was persistently bothering him like you. said it was creating an issue. Does it. matter whether or not they get a medical.

I mean does it matter if they sought. medical attention or advice regarding. you know this allegedly severed nerve. why they didn't get it treated I mean. I'm very curious to see what the. conversations were between May and July. right. >> agreed agreed and sometimes again. there's nerves right we don't always. know what's going on in as far as our. nerves are concerned maybe it's just oh. this this feels a little uncomfortable. something doesn't really feel right and. you go on about your day, right? And.

this and unfortunately when you have a. situation like this, like we said, it. started in May, but it could have. worsened slowly over time. It might not. have been something so drastic as to on, you know, May 1st, I had the surgery and. May 2nd, I'm no longer breathing, right? As we we know, sometimes medical medical. situations take time. So in this. situation where you have a surgery that. may have been compromised, maybe it was. one of those things that it could have. been repaired. That's also a something. that could be explored if it would have.

been addressed sooner. So maybe if I'm. the doctors, I'm going to say, "Well, if. he would have told us, if there would. have been a conversation, we could have. went back in, we could have fixed it, and he would be here today." That's why. we have medical experts, right? I think. I talked about that before how you have. like you get the entire records as a. plaintiff's attorney and you go to your. surgeon and say, "Hey surgeon, look at. these records and tell me what went. wrong. Tell me where there was an. opportunity to be corrected and tell me. where we fell below the standard of. acceptable care in the medical field.". >> And a lot of this is based on discovery,

right? So during that phase, you will. have, let's say it's a medical facility, let's say it's the doctors, what have. you, they will have to turn over. information to Skyside. And the threat. of that, the risk of that, doesn't that. cause a lot of defendants to want to. settle the case to make sure it doesn't. go to trial? Does it make them want to. settle this even before it gets to the. discovery phase? Um, but at this point, look, this is an allegation. It's not. even a full-blown lawsuit. Uh, but I'm.

just thinking, I'm I'm theorizing here. what discovery could mean in a case like. this. >> For sure. For sure. And just so we. understand, the the medical records are. not something that you're expecting to. you can make a demand for it to the. other side, but because Hulk Hogan's. wife is his power of attorney, all she. has to sign a HIPPA authorization and. any type of medical record regarding. this surgery, pre and post followup, any. type of treatment, that's all given to. her. Right? So, what's good for. discovery purposes from the other side. is I want to see the schedules. I want. to see what time everybody came in to.

work that day. I want to see what time. everybody left that day. I want to see. who was in the room at that specific. time. That's where we get discoverable. information from. Because on your actual. medical records, they might just have. the surgeon and the assistant surgeon. named, right? But when you start getting. schedules from other individuals who. might have been in the room that might. have had some sort of influence, like an. anesthesiologist, like an assistant PA, maybe there was a first year medical. student in there that was using their. surgery as this opportunity to learn. That's not going to be in the medical. records, but it might come out in. discovery.

>> And any text messages, right? Any. emails, any communications between these. medical professionals that may relate to. this surgery? >> For sure. >> Okay. So, I wanted to ask you about. this. By the way, the occupational. therapist, if that is true, that this. occupational therapist is trying to stay. under the radar and things are not. great, what exactly does that tell you? Again, if that's true, >> I think that he might know a little bit. more than he's leaning that he's letting.

us know. Right. I I said this earlier. I. thought that it was a little strange. that he spoke to the police and. automatically made these allegations. It. could have been something as simple as. he exacerbated or worsened a condition. and instead of blaming it on himself and. taking accountability for himself, he. points the finger at the medical. professionals that performed the. surgery. Right? If you have a situation. like that where it's like, "Oh, no, it. wasn't me, it was him." Because. sometimes, not all the time, occupational therapists are either. referred to by the surgeons or by the. medical facility. So they kind of are.

all in the same, you know, pot for lack. of a better term of all working together. to provide medical services to, in this. case, Hulk Hogan. So if you have a. situation which the occupational. therapist either works with the surgeons. or is affiliated with the hospital in. any way, he's trying to make sure that. his record is clean and his record is. clear and he says, "Oh, hey, it wasn't. me. Look at the surgeons. They did they. did something um they fell below the. standard of care, not me." Right? But. like I said, it was very strange to me. that he was immediately giving. statements to the police about.

malpractice as soon as the police came. when when Hulk Hogan unfortunately. passed away. >> By the way, Sky had some comments. regarding the police, too, and whether. they may have seemingly messed up the. investigation. She said, "I know the. truth will come out, so I'm sitting back. here politely being like everything's. being well documented. I know it's fine, but I'm trying to be respectful of the. police department because the police. department has been very respectful and. very thorough. I have cameras in the. house. They've looked at all the. cameras. They've counted all the. medicines. They've done everything that. they would normally do. They've seen.

very clear medical records where it's. just completely obvious how things go. They've been very thorough. What do you. make of that statement? And by the way, how does the police investigation affect. a potential civil case? >> Um, so two points, right? So sometimes. when you have criminal Trump's civil. cases, sometimes if there's a criminal. if there's a criminal investigation or. there's a criminal lawsuit that's filed. in conjunction with the civil lawsuit, the criminal lawsuit, you might get more. information. You might get more.

discovery and any type of conviction or. any type of um sentence when it comes to. the criminal can have an impact on a. civil lawsuit. Right? I also think that. it's very very important to note that. she is making sure that people know that. the police are doing their job. Right? There's always a situation when you have. a criminal investigation or end of. investigation with a celebrity. You want. to make sure that the police are doing. exactly what they're supposed to be. doing as they should be doing it all the. time, right? But especially when you're. handling something like a celebrity um. wrongful death or potentially a a.

celebrity, you know, a foul play. incident with a celebrity, you want to. make sure that you are expressing that. the police are doing what they need to. do. I think additionally, as I said. before, there's been a lot of public. speculation as to what's going on. So, it could have been something as simple. as I want to make sure that the people. who are following this know that the. police are doing what they're supposed. to be doing from Sky standpoint. >> And I wanted to ask you about this, too. I wanted to ask you about Brook Hogan, okay? Because this is another layer to. this. This is new news that's come out.

So, it has been reported that she. finally was able to see her father's. body. Now, this is a a daughter who has. been uh reportedly had a strain. relationship uh with her father um but. has been quite vocal about his death. And she told TMZ, TMZ Live more. specifically, and also uh Bubba the Love. Sponge show that everything appears to. be quote on the up and up. This is after. viewing his body, saying to Bubba, "I. was able to see my dad and he looked. great. He looked like he was ready for a.

pay-per-view. He looked like he was. ready to go on TV. He was big, strong, hair looking good, bandana on, fu manchu. going, he looked great. And she said it. was awesome to see him. And she. confirmed to TMZ that she saw incision. scars uh on his body which showed an. autopsy was in fact performed. And she. claimed that she was able to say her. final goodbyes. Now, the reason that. this is so important is because since.

her father's death, as I mentioned, she. has been quite outspoken regarding. questions that she and the family have. had and even and she had even offered to. pay for an autopsy, saying, "My dad's. dignity and legacy deserves it." She. posted on social media in part, quote, "Fact, I've 100% gotten legit calls from. professionals, from police officials to. nurses that were supposedly with my dad. on the day of his death, telling me I. need to see body cam footage, and I need.

to get a hold of the 911 tapes because. they supposedly contain information that. could potentially shed enough light to. change the narrative we, I, everyone's. been hearing." Those same professionals. feel so passionately about what they. witnessed. They have continued to. contact me and push me to find specific. answers to this very day. They are quite. literally putting their careers at risk. because they feel so compelled to do the. right thing. The short of it is it's all. up to my dad's wife and I have zero. control. I cannot do anything. My hands. are tied and I have no say in anything.

regarding my dad even as his daughter. Those are the rules as I've been told. And also, do I question his general. physician signing off on his death. certificate given his background, which. is available for anyone to see via. simple Google search? You can answer. that one for yourself. But now, it seems. that Brook Hogan has been able to get at. least some answers and her reportedly. saying this was quote very helpful for. her and saying, "Everybody appears to be. acting in good faith and doing the right. thing. I feel good going home that I got.

to see my dad. I got to see the autopsy. done. I know there's still more. investigating to do. From what my heart. is telling me, everybody's on the up and. up and trying to do their jobs. Now, going back to Sky, she talked about. this, too, telling the Daily Mail that. Brooke had asked her to view her. father's body, saying she sent me a. really nice text message that was like, "Sky, I've never had a problem with you, and your children are so wonderful and. great." But she did say that Brooke did. have a chance to view this body earlier. And in regards to reporting that Brooke.

met with police, Sky apparently said, "I'm so grateful she met with police. I'm also grateful Brooke was able to. finally see her dad and get the closure. that a daughter needs." Aaliyah, back to. you. What do you make of that? I think. that it's very clear that behind the. scenes there might have been some my dad. versus my husband type of argument. between the two that the statements are. very very particular and they let me. know that okay we're great now but. pointing out the fact that Brooke had. the opportunity to view her dad and then.

didn't do it until later. Well, maybe. she was either grieving or maybe she. wanted to view her dad after she knew. that the autopsy had been performed. because she was so vocal about wanting. that autopsy performed. It seems on the. surface that everybody is getting along, right? But the the the words that and. the statement that are used like Sky. bringing up that Brooke had the. opportunity to view her dad's body. before this and things like that let me. know there might have been some back and. forth between the two behind closed. doors, right? That that we're never. going to see that we're never going to. hear about. But it's good to know that. there is a positive relationship going.

forward, especially if we're talking. about a medical malpractice lawsuit. The. family gets involved. the lawyer for the. hospital or the doctors might want to. also depose Brooke as a nonparty witness. in addition to Sky as the power of. attorney who will probably be over the. estate. So, it's good to know that they. have a united front. It seems that. everything is fine now. Um, but those. the statements and the way they're. written definitely let me know there was. probably some back and forth. conversations that happened that we'll. never hear about. >> I was going to ask you if you think. Brooke Hogan would play a a a role of.

some kind in an upcoming lawsuit. Would. she be called as a witness? Um, and. you're saying there's a possibility. >> There's always a possibility when it. comes to the estate. Um, and you're h. unfortunately handling an individual who. is no longer with us. You have, you. know, normally a spouse, right? If the. spouse has been involved in the care of. that individual, fine. But I think um, Sky, I think she's only been married, she was only married to Hulk Hogan in. 2022, I believe. So assuming Yeah, I. think they're only married for three. years. So assuming there were there was.

a long history of medical issues that. Hulk Hogan had, Brooke might have, you. know, some detail into that. And I we. know that they're strained, but it's. really just a matter of letting letting. um the the strategy of the lawyer for. the hospital or for the doctors that. might say, "Well, you've been vocal. about this, so we want to hear what you. have to say in an actual deposition.". Well, that that that I don't know. exactly what she saw, what she might. have been looking for and got this sense. of obviously I'm not talking about. emotional closure. That's a totally.

different scenario. But was it I think. she seemed based on the comments. reassured that an autopsy was performed. Um and she seemed reassured about. looking at his body and the shape of the. body and and how he appeared. Um, but I. don't know if it necessarily negates. um what Sky may be claiming, right? There could have been damage potentially. to this nerve that maybe was the cause. of death if you take these allegations. as true. And again, there's no lawsuit. yet, but I don't know if Brook's.

conclusions. based on this limited interview or. interviews would it it wouldn't. necessarily hurt or help um Sky claims. I'm not exactly sure. >> No. So sometimes um when I say meant. using Brook as a nonparty witness, they. might have questions about very simple. questions about Hulk Hogan's health. history to the extent that you know. Did. you know that your father had cancer? Did you know what medications your. father was taking? Did you know about. any of his treatment? Do you know any of. his doctors? Things like that. Really to.

just get some information as far as what. she might have known. And again, it's a. strategy standpoint, right? There might. be individuals who are closer to Hulk. Hogan's actual medical treatment that. are better witnesses, but sometimes I. know that from a strategy standpoint, there are lawyers who will use the. family members as nonparty witnesses to. see what other information they may have. they may have or may be able to. contribute. >> Well, we will continue to follow it. Um, you know, Leah, you've been with me for. I think both Hulk Hogan episodes. Let's.

see what happens. If there's a lawsuit, maybe we'll break it down together. We. shall see. Um, but we're still in the. early stages. Um, and we're just wishing. the for the family to have peace and I. know this is the grieving time and. having a spotlight on all this and. questions doesn't make it easy. But. look, this is the situation we're. running into. There's something going on. here and we're just trying to figure it. out. Uh, Lee Roberts, thank you so much. for taking the time. It was great seeing. you. >> Thank you, Jesse. >> And 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 should. get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time. [Music].