Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky Cornell, along with her children, are filing a malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Robert Koblin, for an unspecified amount of money. This suit alleges that the doctor did not properly examine the late Cornell, or warn the musician of the danger’s of the drugs he prescribed.
Dr. Koblin has been accused of prescribing Cornell 940 doses of the anti-anxiety drug Lorazepam (aka Ativan) in addition to Oxcodone during the musician’s final 20 months. Cornell took his own life on May 18th, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan after playing a show with Soundgarden.
This suit further alleges that Lorazepam can impair judgment and increase the risk of suicide in addiction-prone individuals such as the late Cornell. According to Vicky Cornell, these risks were never properly brought to Chris Cornell’s attention.
Vicky Cornell has been active in numerous discussions regarding her late husband’s suicide from the beginning. In May of this year, the widow made a claim that the medical examiner had botched the singer’s death investigation.
“If you add it all up, he was on these prescription drugs that should have never been prescribed. It caused a relapse … I think it was, unfortunately, the perfect storm, a combination of factors that made him go manic,” Vicky Cornell explained. “Had the medical examiner looked at all these factors, maybe they wouldn’t have concluded it was a suicide in just an hour and a half.”
These statements were made during a time when Cornell’s family was placed under increased public scrutiny. According to her statements, misconceptions surrounding the late singer’s death have lead to conspiracy theories. “Some of the people are just fans looking for answers, but some of them are conspiracy theorists who have said the most vile things to my children and me,” she added.
Many of these types of misconceptions have permeated throughout the music world for decades. Both Kurt Cobain’s surviving widow Courtney Love, along with Elliott Smith’s former girlfriend Jennifer Chiba, have been the victims of several conspiracy claims alleging that they murdered their former lovers.
“We’re human beings. This is real life. We’re not characters in some film. I lost my husband. My children lost their father,” Vicky Cornell elaborated. “We’re in a lot of pain, and we have to deal with these people coming after us. If the autopsy report was thorough, I believe some of this could have been avoided.”
The late Cornell had suffered from agoraphobia, panic disorder, depression and numerous drug and alcohol addictions throughout his life. He eventually quit smoking and drinking around 2005, even stating that Soundgarden going dry had made a positive impact on the band.
As the frontman for the influential grunge outfit Soundgarden, Cornell was an important figure for many in the alternative rock music scene during the 1990’s. Due to his role in the band, a few remaining members have left its future up in the air.
“We’re just still taking our time and giving ourselves space to process everything,” the band’s drummer Matt Cameron told the PRP. “We would certainly love to try to continue to do something, figure out something to do together.”
Photo Credit: Alyssa Fried
Leave a Comment