A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Aaron Carter’s two-year-old son, alleging that doctors and pharmacies played a role in the late singer’s death.
Carter was found dead in the bathtub of his California home in November 2022. His death was later ruled to be accidental and it was determined that he had drowned after taking prescription pills and inhaling a gas used in spray cleaners.
The singer and younger brother of Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter was 34.
But in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by fiancée Melanie Martin on behalf of their son Princeton Lyric Carter, it was claimed that doctors and the Walgreens pharmacy should have realised that it would be a mistake to supply opioids to Carter knowing his psychiatric history.
The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, alleges that improperly prescribing and dispensing medications that affected his judgment and mental health contributed to his death.
— (Suzanne Cordeiro/Shutterstock)
Doctors prescribed hydrocodone, oxycodone and alprazolam to Carter without any kind of medical justification and knowing Carter’s mental health and psychiatric condition,” the lawsuit seeking unspecified damages claims.
Carter’s fiancée, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of their toddler son, previously said that the singer’s autopsy report that was released in April left her with “more questions.”
According to US Weekly, Martin and Carter began dating on and off in 2020. They became engaged in June of that year and Martin later gave birth to their son, Prince Lyric Carter, in November 2021.
Carter then announced on Twitter in February 2022 that he and Martin had to “part ways”.
Per the autopsy report, Carter was found with the sedative alprazolam, often sold under the brand name Xanax, in his system. Also discovered in his system was the compressed gas difluoroethane, which the report said “can induce feelings of euphoria when inhaled”.
The autopsy was performed the day after Carter’s death, but the results were withheld for toxicology tests, which often take months.
However, Martin later told TMZ that “the results of the autopsy are not closure for me”.
She continued: “It claims death is by drowning but also adds he was wearing a t-shirt and necklace in the bathtub which doesn’t make sense, why would he be in a bathtub with clothes on?”
In recent years, Carter had suffered from substance abuse and was involved in a series of drug-related arrests.
The day after his death, Nick paid tribute to his brother during the Backstreet Boys gig in London’s O2 Arena.
The singer gained recognition after opening for the Backstreet Boys on their 1997 tour when he was just 10 years old.
His self-titled debut album was released later that year and his second record, Aaron’s Party (Come and Get It), went triple platinum following its release in 2000.
