The release of the autopsy report for actor and comedian Bob Saget has raised questions as to what exactly caused the 65-year-old to die suddenly.
Saget suffered a significant blow to the head that fractured his skull and caused bleeding across his brain, according to the autopsy report revealed Friday, although initial reports seemed to indicate he had simply bumped his head.
Specifically, last week Saget's family released a statement that he had died from a brain bleed after hitting his head. They indicated he went to sleep without knowing the severity of his injury and was found dead by hotel staff at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, FL on Jan. 9 at around 4 p.m.
Medical experts are now saying that Saget's injuries were much more serious than that.
"This is significant trauma," Dr. Gavin Britz, the chair in neurosurgery at Houston Methodist, told The New York Times. "This is something I find with someone with a baseball bat to the head, or who has fallen from 20 or 30 feet."
Experts added that Saget was likely confused, and possibly unconscious from the injury.
"I doubt he was lucid," Dr. Jeffrey Bazarian, an emergency physician and concussion expert at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said, "and doubt he thought, 'I’m just going to sleep this off.'"
Dr. Bazarian also said that depending where Saget specifically hit his head that fractures could easily spread to other parts of his skull.
"It’s like an egg cracking," Dr. Bazarian said. "You hit it in one spot, and it can crack from the back to the front."
Byron York, the Washington Examiner's chief political correspondent, has questioned the initial investigation of Saget's death following the release of the autopsy report.
"This is really odd," York tweeted on Feb. 11. "Makes you wonder about the thoroughness of the original investigation of the scene."
Megan Ranney, MD, MPH, an emergency physician at Brown University, also weighed in on Twitter. She acknowledged the severity of the incident that had to occur to match the autopsy results, although she clarified that it doesn't necessarily mean he was the victim of 'intentional trauma' to the head.
"Hi. ICYMI: This is not a "slip & fall". This is not a minor concussion. This is MAJOR head trauma," Ranney said after seeing the autopsy report.
"PS: this doesn't mean it was INTENTIONAL trauma, either," she added. "But this is more than just 'I whacked my head on the kitchen cabinet'".
There was no alcohol or illegal drugs in Saget's system at the time of his death, according to the autopsy report. Although, there was Clonazepam, commonly known as Klonopin, a benzodiazepine, in his system. The drug is used to treat panic attacks and prevent seizures. Test results also showed signs of Trazodone, an antidepressant.
The autopsy did not indicate that these drugs would have contributed to his injuries or death. Medical experts, however, added they could make a person sleepy and be a factor in a fall.
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