Former hand surgeon Michael Brown has died after he was removed from life support in a Miami Beach hospital, according to news reports.

The Houston Press reported on Thursday that the notorious doctor's hospitalization on Oct. 24 — only hours before he was to start a 30-day federal prison sentence — was the result of an apparent suicide attempt.

According to a Miami Beach police filing, officers discovered a heavily intoxicated Brown at his mansion lying in a master bedroom closet, along with more than $16,000. A suicide note was sitting on a nearby nightstand.

A female witness who had been in a relationship with the doctor since early summer explained to police that Brown "has been depressed and has been having suicidal thoughts for the last couple of months."

On the day of his hospitalization for cardiac arrest, the woman noted that he shared a desire to take his own life. Around 5:30 p.m., she asked an unnamed man to check on Brown, who was found unconscious in the closet, "not breathing and the color of his skin changing."

CultureMap will update the story as further details emerge.