Chris Cornell went nearly two years without seeing his doctor for a check-up, but that didn't prevent the rock icon from obtaining prescriptions for powerful psychotropic meds, according to a lawsuit from his widow Vicky Cornell.
She is suing Dr. Robert Koblin for malpractice, claiming he funneled her husband 940 doses of the Lorazepam (aka Ativan) and Oxycodone over the last 20 months of his life.
Vicky alleges that despite the Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman's history of addiction struggles, Koblin never attempted to determined if he was in danger or at risk of suicide. She said Chris was referred to Koblin in 2004 by his therapist, so the doctor should have had no excuse to not know his medical history.
The lawsuit alleges Lorazepam, an anti-anxiety medication, increases the risk of suicide in addiction-prone people because it impairs judgment and rational thinking, and because it diminishes impulse control.
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Vicky and Chris's Soundgarden band mates have said repeatedly that the singer seemed completely normal the day he took his own life last year.
The lawsuit also alleges that Koblin never warned Chris about the potentially fatal side-effects of the drugs he was taking. It says he permitted non-physician staff to write prescriptions without proving medical necessity.
In an interview with ABC last February, Vicky recalled how Chris's use of Ativan increased in the weeks before his suicide. “In a seven-day period, he took 20-something pills and in a nine-day period, 33,” she said.
Original article by Andrew Magnotta at iHeartRadio