‘Kryptonite’ guitarist’s family says doctor fed opioid addiction

ATLANTA — The family of a longtime guitarist for 3 Doors Down is accusing an Alabama doctor of fueling the rocker’s opioid addiction before he died of a drug overdose.

Matthew Roberts, 38, was found dead in August 2016 in the hallway of a hotel outside Milwaukee, where he was to perform in a charity concert.

In a lawsuit filed recently in Alabama, Roberts’ family said Dr. Richard Snellgrove began prescribing high levels of opioids to the musician in 2006. The prescriptions continued for years, with one break when Roberts sought help at an Arizona rehabilitation center, until days before his death.

“It’s unfortunate that Mr. Roberts passed away, but Mr. Roberts passed away because of his abuse of his prescriptions in addition to using other drugs that weren’t associated with his prescriptions,” said Dennis Knizley, who is defending Snellgrove in a separate federal criminal case that arose from the death. “It was definitely unfortunate, but it’s certainly not at the hands of Dr. Snellgrove.”

In the criminal case, Snellgrove faces charges of distributing medications for no legitimate medical need, according to court records in U.S. District Court in Alabama’s southern district.

Fentanyl is “the drug at the center” of the criminal case, prosecutors wrote in court documents.

In Alabama, prosecutors cited Snellgrove’s own medical records in outlining one reason they said he was prescribing patches containing fentanyl for Roberts: The musician “was in the studio producing a new album and playing the guitar and his hand pain is increasing, but he has to do the job,” prosecutors wrote in court records.

A trial date in the criminal case has been set for May, Knizley said.

“We fully anticipate the case to be tried to a jury,” the lawyer said. “He has done nothing but engage in proper medical care for this patients and all the other patients that he’s seen.”