Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky was interviewed on the Dr. Oz show on Thursday. She discussed the medical examiner explaining why he ruled suicide as the ‘mechanical’ cause of death, when what led to Chris’ death is actually much more complicated. The medical examiner’s ruling did not take any mental impairment into account. She also discussed mourning her husband, and the moments when she misses him the most. Alternative Nation transcribed quotes.
“Chris was a beautiful human being. He was thoughtful, caring, selfless. He was just good through and through. He was one of those remarkable people that if you met him, he touched you. He was just the most loving and doting father and husband. He was my rock, I could lean on him.”
She added, “I miss talking to him. They say that when you are grieving and you lose someone who you love so much, and you’re so close to that it’s those big moments in life like birthdays and holidays that are the hardest. I feel like it’s not those days, it’s the every days. It’s the not being able to turn on the television, not being able to watch Game of Thrones, not being able to go to Whole Foods because I pass his cookies and start bawling. I miss all those things.”
She also described her meeting with the Detroit medical examiner over Chris’ cause of death.
“I asked him what he meant. I said to him, ‘What do you mean the drugs did not contribute to the cause of death?’ We know that he was impaired, I called the security guard to break down the door, it was clear, you know what was in his system.’ He said, ‘I’m not talking about mental impairment. I’m talking about the mechanical cause of death. The drugs did not have anything to do with how he actually died. They didn’t cause an overdose, they didn’t cause him to have a heart attack. I’m just saying that it didn’t contribute to the mechanical cause of death, I’m not commenting either way on the mental impairment.’
Then he went on to explain that suicide trumps all. I didn’t even understand, what does that mean, suicide trumps all? Because suicide means you took your life, right, albeit intentionally. But how can there be intentionality if somebody is impaired? If he was impaired enough that he couldn’t drive a car, that he wouldn’t be able to sit and take a deposition, social services would take children away if he would be with them in that condition. So if he had control of his faculties, would he have done the same thing if he was in the right state of mind?
That really got to me, because I thought for example if someone were to go out and shoot somebody, we’re going to look at the cause of death. If it’s murder 1, murder 2, manslaughter, intentional, unintentional, under the influence, temporary insanity, we look into all of these different causes. But then when it’s suicide, it’s, ‘Oh yeah, it’s your problem,’ and lumped all into one. I want to know what caused my husband to do that, I know that Chris had no suicidal ideation ever, and this made no sense.”
A quote was shown by Richard J. Cote MD, FRCPath, FCAP.
“There is clear evidence of drug ingestion leading to impaired behavior. The drugs that were found, and their levels, strongly indicate doses that would impair mental and motor function individually, but have much more powerful effects when found in combination.”
Vicky recently joined the Advisory Board at the Addiction Policy Forum. As a member of the Advisory Board, Vicky joined former Drug Czar General Barry McCaffrey and former Members of Congress Alan Mollohan and Frank Guinta. She has become an advocate for raising awareness for addiction and the opioid epidemic.
