Family of Slipknot’s Paul Gray Wins Settlement in Overdose Lawsuit
Slipknot bassist Paul Gray died of a drug overdose in May of 2010 and now almost one decade later, the legal matters appear to have come to an end for the family. A wrongful death lawsuit was levied against Gray's doctor, Daniel Baldi as well as the doctor's former employers and a hospital company named UnityPoint-Des Moines resulting in a settlement.
The case was set to go to trial Monday (Jan. 22), but was settled over the weekend, though the details of the settlement have not been disclosed per the Des Moines Register. Gray's widow, Brenna Gray, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2010, but it was dismissed because she had waited too long. However, the couple's daughter, October Gray, had not been born at the time of the musician's death and a wrongful death lawsuit was later filed on her behalf.
Gray's body was discovered in a hotel room with a hypodermic needle next to him as well as a variety of pills. An autopsy later determined he died from a morphine overdose and had major heart issues. Dr. Baldi comes into play as he was treating Gray both for pain and addiction, though he had not prescribed any of the medication that the bassist had died from.
In 2012, Slipknot collectively released a statement regarding Gray's death and his connection with Dr. Baldi, stating, "As the loss of our brother Paul Gray is still very fresh for us in the Slipknot family, this new development has us all in a state of anger and sadness. The fact that this person took advantage of our brother’s illness while he was in a position to help others has outraged everyone in our family. We can only hope that justice will be served so this can NEVER happen to anyone else ever again! Our thoughts go out to the families of the other victims. We plan to cooperate as much as we possibly can to ensure this tragedy is never repeated, and to make sure this man pays for what he has done."
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