Hulk Hogan may have died of medical malpractice, according to a new report.
An occupational therapist, who was with the 71-year-old wrestling legend when he passed on July 24, allegedly made this claim to Clearwater Police officials.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ Sports on Friday that the individual alleged a surgeon had “severed” the athlete’s phrenic nerve during a recent operation.
This nerve controls the diaphragm, the muscle primarily responsible for breathing, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The allegation was reportedly included in the police report regarding the cops’ 911 response to Hulk’s Florida home.
Hulk’s daughter, Brooke Hogan, confirmed this to the outlet.
TMZ claimed that Hulk did not clench his chest when he was believed to have gone into cardiac arrest — but, instead, simply stopped breathing.
The former reality star’s wife, Sky Daily, reportedly was the one to notice.
Reps for Hulk, Brooke and Daily did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
A public information officer for the Clearwater Police Department, meanwhile, tells us that they are continuing their investigation and “have been in communication with family members – including his son, Nick, and daughter, Brooke.”
“All of this takes time,” the officer adds. “The Hogan family has been appreciative of our efforts and our communication with them.”
The PIO also confirmed that no records, including bodycam footage, will be released yet, as the investigation is ongoing.
The officer concludes, “We plan to meet with the family and brief them on the case to this point, and we will share the results of the investigation with the family prior to closing the case and releasing it to the public and media.”
Hogan is survived by Daily, who married Hogan in 2023, Brooke and Nick Hogan.
Brooke, 37, hinted at the medical malpractice possibility on Wednesday when she wrote via Instagram about body cam footage that would “supposedly contain information that could potentially shed enough light to change the narrative … everyone’s been hearing.”
Brooke initially expressed doubt about the nature of her father’s passing when the document revealing his cause of death, a heart attack, mentioned Hulk’s battle with leukemia.
“We don’t have cancer that runs in our family,” she subsequently said on the “Bubba the Love Sponge” radio show. “It seems weird.
“The leukemia out of nowhere hits me as BS,” she continued in the July interview.
Brooke doubled down on her “uncertainty” in an Instagram Story last month and insisted that “anyone would want answers.”
She noted, “I don’t think anyone thinks there’s foul play suspected, but the man had a very complicated medical history.”
Brooke went on to offer to pay for a autopsy and added that Daily had “been doing the research.”
Although Brooke told TMZ on Thursday that an autopsy had been completed, she declined to divulge details.
She did clarify that Hulk, who was laid to rest on Aug. 5, has yet to be cremated.
Brooke had a complicated relationship with her dad, whom she had been estranged from for years, and skipped Hulk’s funeral earlier this month.
Instead, she and husband Steven Olesky took a beach trip with their 7-month-old twins, Oliver and Molly.
The “Hogan Knows Best” alum defended the decision as a way to grieve Hulk “in the way that made [her] feel the closest to him.”
The post Hulk Hogan may have died as a result of medical malpractice: report appeared first on Page Six.
