Rich Piana, 46, was a professional bodybuilder from Florida who captivated more than 1.2 million Instagram users with his muscular self-portraits.
In the last few years, he has become an internet sensation because of his amazing social media posts, fitness routines, and supplement company.
In 2016, he disclosed that his staggering 22 stone weight was actually “down” from prior gains. His mother, a bodybuilder herself, introduced him to the sport when they lived in California, so fitness ran in his family.
According to an autopsy report that Men’s Health was able to obtain, the 46-year-old’s cause of death was declared “unknown” since there were too many possible contributing variables, and it was not possible to perform a toxicology check.
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About the body builder’s mysterious death
The autopsy indicated that it was impossible to pinpoint the cause of death due to the presence of “significant” cardiac disease, his history of drug use, and the absence of hospital specimens. All of these circumstances could have played a role in his demise.
It was reported by the Florida District Six Medical Examiner’s Office that no toxicology report had been done to see if Piana’s death was caused by drugs or something else in his system.
William Pellan, the Director of Investigations for the District Six Medical Examiner’s Office, told Men’s Health, “We did not perform toxicology analysis due to the admission specimens being discarded well before his (Piana’s) date of death.” “Those specimens provide the ability to determine what is in a person’s system at the time of the incident.”
Pellan continued by saying that although specimens are required for toxicology tests in cases like Piana’s, hospitals usually trash them after three days.
“In this particular circumstance, both the police agency as well as our office made contact with the hospital and requested the specimens to be retained,” he stated.
Piana unexpectedly passed out while having a haircut in August 2017, and he was sent to a hospital. Before passing away in the hospital, he was put into a medically induced coma for slightly more than two weeks.
Given that Piana was transparent about her use of insulin and anabolic steroids, there have been rumors that the adored bodybuilder used drugs before passing away. According to TMZ, authorities discovered 20 steroid vials in his house.
Piana’s drug use was not linked in any way to his death in the autopsy report, while Pellan stated that it was impossible to rule out drug use as a contributing factor.
“Due to the lack of available admission specimens, drug involvement could not be ruled out,” he stated. “The results show no evidence that drugs were a factor in his demise. The results show that the heart is enlarged.”
In addition to cardiomegaly, which is an enlarged heart, Piana’s autopsy revealed “coronary atherosclerosis,” or artery hardening.
These “significant” heart disease symptoms suggest that this may also have had a role in Piana’s demise. Still, without a toxicology analysis to rule out drug use, it is impossible to conclude this.
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