The most significant lawsuit involving Commonwealth Pain and Spine ended in August 2021, when a Jefferson Circuit Court jury in Louisville, Kentucky, awarded nearly $7 million to the family of Brent Slone, a paralyzed chronic pain patient who died by suicide after the clinic abruptly cut his opioid dose. The jury found the practice and two of its physicians, Dr. Stephen Kyle Young and Dr. James Jackson, liable for medical malpractice and patient abandonment. Legal observers described it as the first time a jury had held a pain clinic responsible for improperly withholding a patient’s opioid medication.1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.
What Happened to Brent Slone
Slone was left paralyzed from the waist down after a 2011 car accident that broke his pelvis and compressed his spinal cord. He became a patient at Commonwealth Pain & Spine in 2014, and his daily opioid dose stayed near 240 morphine milligram equivalents.1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.
In the summer of 2017, surgeries for bone infections and pressure sores drove his dose up during recovery, at times to 540 MME. On August 22, 2017, physicians cut it by roughly 55%, returning him to 240 MME. Slone exhausted his medication early. Between September 10 and 12, 2017, he tried repeatedly to reach the clinic and went to emergency departments looking for relief, but no bridge prescription was written. He died by suicide on September 12, 2017, at age 40.1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.
The Family’s Claims
Slone’s wife, CaSonya Richardson-Slone, sued Commonwealth Pain & Spine (filed as Commonwealth Pain Associates, PLLC) along with Dr. Young and Dr. Jackson in Jefferson Circuit Court, case number 18-CI-005283.2Jury Verdicts. Slone v. Commonwealth Pain Associates, Case No. 18-CI-005283 Attorney Hans Poppe represented the family.
Poppe argued that the doctors had “rashly” cut Slone’s dose by 55%, possibly because a nurse had copied outdated dosage information into his chart. The reduction, the plaintiffs said, left Slone without adequate pain relief for days and drove him to suicide. The case was framed as one of patient abandonment as much as prescribing error, focused on the clinic’s failure to help him during the days he was seeking a bridge prescription.1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.
How the Clinic Defended the Case
The defense told the jury the reduction was deliberate and medically appropriate. Dr. Jackson said publicly the matter was “not a taper case” and that Slone was “being established back on his safe dose.” Keeping him at 540 MME, the physicians argued, would have been a “setup for a drug overdose.”1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.
The clinic also said Slone had burned through his prescription too quickly, violating his narcotic agreement and giving his doctors grounds to refuse a refill. And the defense argued his suicide was “entirely unforeseen,” pointing to the absence of documented suicidal ideation before he died.1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.
The Verdict
The jury sided with the family, finding the clinic and both physicians at fault and returning a verdict of nearly $7 million, with $3 million earmarked for the couple’s daughter.1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.3Cambridge University Press. Physician Liability for Suicide After Negligent Tapering of Opioids Poppe later called it a “$7 million zero-offer verdict,” meaning the defense had made no settlement offer before trial.4Trial Lawyer Nation. Hans Poppe
The defense moved for a retrial. As of the most recent reporting in November 2021, the judge had not ruled on the motion, and the available record does not show the final resolution of that motion or any subsequent appeal.1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.
Why the Case Drew National Attention
The verdict landed in the middle of a national argument over how quickly patients on long-term opioids should be tapered. Kate Nicholson, president of the National Pain Advocacy Center, called it “the first case that I’ve seen that took that on and said, this is problematic, that endangering people’s health like this is problematic.”1STAT News. Her Husband Died by Suicide. She Sued His Pain Doctors.
An analysis in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics treated the Slone verdict as a rare example of physician liability for suicide after a negligent opioid taper. The authors noted the broader legal picture remains unsettled, with many jurisdictions still applying a “suicide rule” that often shields physicians from liability when a patient dies by their own hand.3Cambridge University Press. Physician Liability for Suicide After Negligent Tapering of Opioids Commentary on opioid-prescribing litigation has since pointed to the case as a marker of the liability clinics face when reductions are too aggressive or patients are cut loose mid-taper.5MedCentral. Opioid Prescribing: Courts Send Clear Anti-Kickback Message, Remain Less Clear on Dosage
A Different Case With a Similar Name
Search results sometimes surface a separate Kentucky case, Hastetter v. Commonwealth Pain Specialists, which involved a business dispute over a Management Services Agreement and ended in a nearly $2.9 million arbitration award confirmed by the Kentucky Court of Appeals in August 2024.6Findlaw. Hastetter v. Commonwealth Pain Specialists, PLLC7vLex. Hastetter v. Commonwealth Pain, 695 S.W.3d 80 Commonwealth Pain Specialists, PLLC, based in Frankfort and wholly owned by Dr. Richard A. Lingreen, appears to be a distinct legal entity from Commonwealth Pain & Spine, the Louisville-headquartered multi-state practice co-founded by Dr. Kyle Young.8Commonwealth Pain & Spine. About Us The Hastetter dispute did not involve patient care.