CHRIS CORNELL's Former Doctor Denies Overprescribing Drugs To SOUNDGARDEN Singer

According to The Blast, late SOUNDGARDEN singer Chris Cornell's doctor has denied he had anything to do with the rocker's tragic death, claiming Cornell was well advised about the dangers of the anti-anxiety medication he was prescribed.

Dr. Robert Koblin responded to the lawsuit filed against him by Cornell's widow Vicky. Last November, Vicky sued the doctor for malpractice, accusing the physician of over-prescribing drugs that eventually caused her husband to commit suicide. Vicky and her two children, also named in the suit, are seeking unspecified damages.

Koblin says Cornell was "well aware" of the risks with taking the anti-anxiety meds, and argues he's covered by a malpractice law that protects doctors when a death occurs as as result of a patient's ongoing disease or condition. The doctor also claims Cornell asked "not to be informed" of all the risks associated with taking anti-anxiety medication, and that he did everything in his professional capacity to help the singer.

Koblin is asking that the wrongful death suit be dismissed.

In the lawsuit, Vicky claims that Koblin prescribed 940 doses of the anti-anxiety drug Lorazepam, a.k.a. Ativan, as well as Oxycodone during the last 20 months of Chris's life, without examining him, performing lab studies or doing anything else to determine if her husband was in danger.

According to the claim, "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."

Chris was pronounced dead in the early morning hours of May 18, 2017 after being found unresponsive in his Detroit hotel room after a SOUNDGARDEN show the previous evening. The 52-year-old had sedatives and an anxiety drug in his system, but died by hanging himself. According to the medical examiner, the drugs didn't contribute to the cause of death.