"Woman's" Parents File Wrongful Death Suit

((HT: AJC/Mateucci))

A Carrollton doctor who prescribed drugs to professional wrestler Chris Benoit should pay for the lives of the wrestler’s deceased wife and son, the victims’ family says.

On Wednesday, the family filed a wrongful death suit in U.S. District Court against Dr. Phil Carroll Astin III and three unnamed drug distributors.

The suit claims the doctor and distributors prescribed drugs that caused Benoit to strangle his wife Nancy and smother 7-year-old son Daniel inside their Fayette County home in 2007.

Astin is now serving a 10-year prison sentence for illegally dispensing drugs.
Astin’s lawyer, Natasha Perdew Silas, could not be immediately reached for comment.

The suit claims that Astin prescribed painkillers, steroids and muscle relaxants to Benoit from June 2000 to June 23, 2007 – the day Benoit killed his family and then hanged himself.

The suit alleges that Astin has a responsibility to monitor Benoit and warn him of the side effects of the drugs. The suit also includes an affidavit by a veteran Long Island sports medicine doctor, who reviewed Benoit’s medical records.

The physician, Dr. Gary Wadler, found that Astin prescribed Benoit the medication without proper diagnosis or monitoring. The drugs ultimately caused Benoit’s “mental, physical, emotional and/or behavioral health to deteriorate to extent he killed” his family, Wadler said.

“It is my opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty and medical probability, that Astin was negligent in his care and treatment of Benoit,” wrote Wadler, a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s board.

The suit seeks financial damages to cover the “full value” of the deceased lives, along with money for pain, suffering and expenses. The suit requests a jury trial.

Nancy Benoit’s parents, Maureen and Paul Toffoloni of Florida, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Newnan. The Toffoloni’s handle Nancy and Daniel Benoit’s estate.

Earlier this year, Astin pleaded guilty to writing 175 illegal prescriptions for 19 patients, including two that died of drug overdoses. Federal prosecutors argued that Astin illegally prescribed drugs such as Percocet, Oxycontin, Xanax and Lorcet to professional wrestlers who eventually became addicted to them.

Here's a great version of CBC's "The Fifth Estate" where Bob McKeown examines Stampede Wrestling and Chris Benoit...

Benoit's Doctor Gets 10 Years

((HT: AJC))

The personal doctor to a professional wrestler who killed himself, his wife and their 7-year-old son was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for illegally prescribing painkillers and other drugs to patients.

Dr. Phil Astin, 54, had pleaded guilty January 29 to a 175-count federal indictment. Prosecutors said Astin prescribed painkillers and other drugs to known addicts for years. They said at least two of Astin’s patients died because of his lax oversight of what medicines they were taking.

The indictment was unclear about whether Chris Benoit, a wrestler for Stamford, Conn.-based World Wrestling Entertainment, or his wife were among 19 patients included in the investigation. They were not among the two patients prosecutors said died because of Astin’s actions.

“I take full responsibility,” Astin told the judge Tuesday. “I am sorry I hurt so many lives. I was thinking that I was looking after my patients.”

U.S. District Judge Jack Camp said there was no doubt Astin tried to help hundreds of patients at his western Georgia clinic. But the judge said he could not overlook the fact that at least two patients died as a result of Astin’s misconduct.

“The fact that two people did die outweighs other conditions that I must consider,” Camp said.

A federal investigation found Astin wrote prescriptions without conducting physical exams and sometimes gave patients as many as four simultaneous prescriptions for Percocet. He also prescribed “cocktails” of drugs like Percocet, Oxycontin, Vicodin and Adderall.

“Medical doctors know that after a period of time, if the prescriptions are not working, you get them off,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Horn said during the hearing.

Investigators cited one case in which an unidentified female patient began receiving a combination of drugs that included Xanax from Astin in 2002. She died in June 2007, the same month authorities discovered the bodies of wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and son in their suburban Atlanta home.

Police said Benoit strangled his wife and son and then hanged himself. A medical examiner couldn’t say whether the steroids Astin prescribed for Benoit played a role in the deaths.

Astin’s sentence was lighter than the recommended 11 to 13 years in jail. More than 50 of the counts against Astin each carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Here's coverage from our friends at Fox5 in Atlanta...
Patty Pan has the lead...