Family Of Chris Cornell Suing Doctors Over His Tragic Death

The family of the late Chris Cornell are taking legal action against his doctors for allegedly overprescribing drugs to him before his tragic death.

The Soundgarden singer’s death on 18 May 18, 2017 was officially ruled a suicide by hanging. But his family has filed a lawsuit accusing his doctor of overprescribing drugs to him and that this, ultimately, led to his death.

The coroner ruled Cornell’s death a suicide, the singer’s widow, Vicky, subsequently released a statement questioning whether his anxiety medication, Atvian, was to blame for his actions. Furthermore, an attorney for the Cornell family, Kirk Pasich, added that they were “disturbed at inferences that Chris knowing and intentionally took his life”.

Chris Cornell's widow Vicky had said that she “noticed that he wasn’t himself during his final hours and that something was very off”.

The lawsuit action is being taken by Vicky and their two 14-year-old daughter Toni and 12-year-old son Christopher.

In court documents, they're accusing one Beverly Hills doctor and his practise of providing "dangerous mind-altering controlled substances to Chris Cornell which impaired Mr. Cornell’s cognition, clouded his judgment, and caused him to engage in dangerous impulsive behaviors that he was unable to control, costing him his life".

The lawsuit, which is filed in LA courts, claims the doctor and his practise failed to take into account Chris Cornell's previous history of substance abuse and failed to consult with the singer about exactly what drugs they were prescribing him.

The Cornell family criticise the doctor and his practice for prescribing Chris Cornell with Lorazepam, a drug normally recommend for short-term use, for over the 20 months prior to his death.

The lawsuit file claims that the “unmonitored use of such excessive amounts of Lorazepam … was known to increase the risk of suicide because it can severely impair judgment, thinking and impulse control and diminish the ability of a patient to think and act rationally”.

The Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman was only 52-years-old when he was found dead in his hotel room. With Cornell’s death, the singer had joined several other members of the early ’90s Seattle rock scene who had sadly passed well before their time. Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood – a friend of Cornell’s whom he had formed the Seattle supergroup Temple Of The Dog in tribute to – also belong to this tragic group. Add in Stone Temple Pilots’ Scott Weiland and the mortality rate for Gen X alt.rockers is frighteningly high.

Back in February, his wife Vicky gave an interview. In it, she said: “I know that people say, you know, you can’t blame yourself. I’m trying not to, but there were signs. I was, I feel, guilty of the same thing. You think addiction is a choice. And it’s not.”

She had this to say about the suicide: "“I don’t think that he could make any decisions because of the level of impairment. He wanted to be there for his family, for his children. He loved his life… he would never have ever left this world.”

She spoke about how she misses him very much. “He was the best husband, the greatest father. I lost my soulmate and the love of my life," she said.