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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Family members of Chris Cornell on Thursday sued a doctor they say overprescribed drugs to the rock singer, leading to his death.
Cornell’s widow, Vicky Cornell, and their children, Toni and Christopher, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that prescription drugs, especially the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam, led to erratic behavior from the Soundgarden frontman before his death in Detroit in 2017 at age 52.
The lawsuit says Dr. Robert Koblin and his Beverly Hills office “negligently and repeatedly” prescribed “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.”
It focuses in particular on 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. The lawsuit states Koblin and his office staff issued the prescriptions without the doctor physically examining or speaking to Cornell during that time period.
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 the autopsy report said the drugs were not a cause of death.
The lawsuit says Koblin knew Cornell had a serious history of substance abuse.
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.
Staff reached by phone at Koblin’s office said there was no immediate comment.
Vicky Cornell has said since immediately after her husband’s death that she felt the prescription drugs he was taking drove him to behave strangely, and there were no signs he might take his own life.
“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,” the lawsuit says.
Cornell’s wailing voice and his long-haired, shirtless stage presence made him an essential figure in the grunge-rock of the 1990s. Soundgarden was among the first groups to surge to national attention in a wave that later included Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.
Cornell also fronted the super-groups Audioslave with members of Rage Against The Machine and Temple of the Dog with members of Pearl Jam.
Last month, a bronze statue of Cornell was erected outside the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle.
The lawsuit, which seeks damages to be determined later, also names anonymous staffers at Koblin’s office as defendants.
Cornell’s oldest daughter, 18-year-old Lillian Jean Cornell-Silver, is also named as a defendant, but the lawsuit emphasizes that she is only included for procedural reasons.

The St. Mary Parish Courthouse held a Halloween costume contest Wednesday in which the several offices on the various floors competed individually, as groups and collectively. The winner for Best Individual Costume went to Ronda Pennington, who dressed as Charlie Chaplin. The Best Group Costume was awarded to Misty Strubb, Gretchen Brennan and Jennifer Derouen, who dressed as the Sanderson sisters from the movie Hocus Pocus. The Best Office Costumes award was a tie between the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Clerk’s Office. SMPSO were dressed as a witch’s wedding party and the Clerk’s office dressed as various seasons and holidays.

Three of the Tri-City Area’s four volleyball teams will continue their quest for berths in the Allstate Sugar Bowl/Louisiana High School Athletic Association Volleyball State Tournament when they compete in regional round contests Friday.
Two of the three teams will be at home as No. 6 Morgan City will host No. 11 Brusly in Division III action and No. 3 Central Catholic will meet No. 19 St. Katharine Drexel in Division V play. Both games are set for 5 p.m.
No. 17 Berwick will be on the road in Division III action when it meets top-ranked Vandebilt Catholic at 4:15 p.m. in Houma.
Berwick vs.
Vandebilt Catholic
The two District 8-III foes will meet in second-round action in Houma Friday as Berwick looks to make the state tournament, while Vandebilt Catholic seeks to continue its run for its second-straight Division III state championship.
Berwick (10-14) advanced to regional round after taking down No. 16 Pearl River 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-17) in first-round action Wednesday. It was the Lady Panthers’ first win against a Division III opponent in eight tries this season.
Meanwhile, Vandebilt Catholic defeated No. 32 DeRidder in first-round action.
Vandebilt Catholic enters the contest on a 10-game winning streak.
During the regular season, Vandebilt swept Berwick in both district contests, defeating the Lady Panthers in Houma on Oct. 9 25-7, 25-11, 25-17 and again on Oct. 18 in Berwick 25-10, 25-9, 25-21.
The teams have common opponents in district foes Morgan City and E.D. White. Vandebilt Catholic swept its two games with Morgan City and split its contests with E.D. White, while Berwick fell twice to Morgan City and twice to E.D. White.
Vandebilt Catholic and E.D. White were District 8-III co-champs with 5-1 marks, while Berwick finished fourth in league play at 0-6.
Morgan City vs. Brusly
Morgan City (28-13) and Brusly (28-16) meet in regional-round action in Morgan City Friday.
Brusly advanced to the second round after defeating No. 22 Loranger 3-0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-14), while Morgan City advanced to the second round after knocking off No. 27 Livonia 3-0 (25-8, 25-14, 25-11).
The two teams have server common opponents this season in Dutchtown, St. John, Terrebonne, Vandebilt Catholic, Livonia, Delcambre and Thibodaux. Brusly lost to Dutchtown, St. John, Terrebonne and Vandebilt Catholic, and it defeated Livonia twice and Delcambre. Brusly split two games with Thibodaux. Morgan City defeated St. John twice and Terrebonne, Thibodaux, Delcambre and Livonia. Morgan City fell to Vandebilt Catholic twice and Dutchtown.
Brusly finished as the top team in District 5-III with an 8-0 record, while Morgan City was third in District 8-III with a 2-4 mark.
Central Catholic vs.
St. Katharine Drexel
St. Katharine Drexel will come to Morgan City for a regional round contest Friday after upsetting No. 14 Crescent City Baptist 3-0 (25-11, 26-24, 25-15) in Division V first-round action Wednesday. While an upset on the bracket, St. Katharine Drexel had defeated Crescent City two out of three times during the regular season.
Central Catholic (34-8) advanced to the second round after cruising past No. 30 Christ Episcopal 3-0 (25-6, 25-6, 25-12).
Central Catholic and St. Katharine Drexel (19-17) have two common opponents this season in St. Martin’s Episcopal and Newman. Central Catholic defeated both teams, while St. Katharine Drexel fell to St. Martin’s Episcopal twice and Newman once.
St. Katharine Drexel finished second in District 9-V with a 2-1 mark, while Central Catholic won District 6-V with a 3-0 record.