This is the autopsy report showing Rich Piana’s official cause of death. Rich Piana died on August 25, 2017, in hospital in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, where he had recently relocated from California. Florida’s District Six Medical Examiner’s Office, which serves Pinellas and Pasco counties, graciously provided this electronic copy of the report.
It is tragic and difficult to comprehend that Dallas McCarver and Rich Piana died the same week in the same U.S. state. We are all trying to process the loss. Maybe this report will help some of us find closure. Unfortunately, the medical examiner notes that the hospital Rich died in threw away the specimens that were meant to be used for toxicology–despite the medical examiner requesting they retain them–so the official cause of death is “undetermined.”
That said, the medical examiner did note that Rich was suffering from heart disease. His heart was 670 grams. The average adult heart is 250–350 grams, so his heart was two or three times the size of a normal heart. While athletes tend to have larger hearts than normal folk, the presence of hypertrophied ventricles, atherosclerosis in the aorta, and thickened papillary muscles and chordae tendineae confirm heart disease.
The other conditions noted by the medical examiner, including fluid in the lungs and abdomen, likely presented after he was already on his deathbed.
A couple things of note: The medical examiner recorded Rich Piana’s height at 72 inches (6 ft), whereas most people thought he was 6’2″. Also, his weight was recorded at a measly 221 lb (100 kg). In a video posted to his YouTube channel on Jul 27, 2017, less than a month before his untimely death, Rich said he weighed 271 lb (123 kg). Of course, he almost certainly lost weight while in hospital, but probably not 50 pounds.
The last interesting thing here is the lack of any mention of implants. For years people spread rumors that Rich had undergone surgeries to have glute implants, calf implants and the like. It seems doubtful that the medical examiner wouldn’t notice these things, so it’s probably safe to put those rumors to bed.
If you can’t see the below embedded PDF, or if you want to download the document, there is a link to it HERE.
Rich Piana's Autopsy.
A final note: If you’re a family member of Rich’s and do not want this autopsy report to stay up, or if you have a correction to something I said, please contact me through my contact form. I’m just trying to help people find closure and make sense of the untimely death of a representative of fitness, not cause anyone any pain.