NBC News is reporting that Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky’s lawsuit against 87-year old Dr. Robert Koblin also names ‘anonymous’ staffers of his.
The lawsuit is over Koblin’s prescribing Cornell large amounts of Lorazepam, which is sold under the brand name Ativan, to Cornell in the 20 months leading up to his death.
Coroner’s investigators ruled Cornell’s death a suicide by hanging. Toxicology tests showed the presence of Ativan along with barbiturates, caffeine, the anti-opioid drug naloxone, and a decongestant, but ruled suicide as the cause of death. Vicky Cornell went to Detroit last year to attempt to get samples from the coroner’s as part of her own case to prove that drugs did contribute to Chris’ death, despite suicide being the mechanical cause.
The lawsuit says the doctor knew that Cornell had a serious history of substance abuse, and he failed to examine or consult with him as he was prescribing the drugs. Cornell went to rehab in 2002 around the time he joined Audioslave the quit prescription drugs. Vicky has said that he had a relapse in 2009, and then in the time leading up to his May 2017 death.
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 lawsuit says.
“At the time of his death, Mr. Cornell had everything to live for and was planning a future of recordings, performances and continued work as a charitable activist.”
