Where Does Wrestler Benoit's Doctor's Liability End?

It's been a bad couple of days for the medical profession. Turns out even doctors aren't immune to the terrorist bug. And the sad story of Chris Benoit, the steroid-pumping wrestler who murdered his wife and child before hanging himself on a weight machine, has now swept in Benoit's former physician, Dr. Phil Astin.

A few days back, feds raided Astin's office. Now, Astin has been indicted for drug distribution. Findlaw has a copy of the complaint, including seven counts of Controlled Substances Act violations, here.

Dr. Astin has had some trouble before, relating to loss of privileges, lying, and domestic violence. But the latest federal charges may have the most bite. As indicated in a DEA Agent's affidavit now available thanks to the Smoking Gun, Dr. Astin prescribed Benoit a 10-month supply of steroids every three weeks. Either Benoit was prone to lose his drugs, or he was taking slightly more than the appropriate dose. There are certainly medically appropriate uses for anabolic steroids, such as treating the "wasting" that sometimes results from cancer or AIDS. But it will be quite a surprise if it turns out that someone with Benoit's physique suffered from such a condition.

Legally, Dr. Astin's criminal troubles may pale in comparison to his potential civil liability. The question is whether Dr. Astin may be on the hook for the death of Benoit's family or Benoit himself. By violating criminal statutes for drug distribution, Dr. Astin may have been negligent-per-se, or at least committed an unreasonable act which represented a depature from the standard of care. The hard part in a civil case would be demonstrating proximate cause. That is to say, would Benoit's intervening criminal actions (murder and suicide) supersede Astin's unreasonable and illegal distribution of steroirds? Are violent reactions from over-presecription sufficiently foreseeable to allow recovery from a doctor? Are the links between steroids and so-called "roid rage" sufficiently proven?

You can read some comments by supposed friends and patients of Dr. Astin here.

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