Carter, 34, was found dead at his home in Lancaster, Calif. in November 2022 after losing consciousness and drowning in his bathtub
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NEED TO KNOW
- Aaron Carter’s family has settled their wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles psychiatry clinic that prescribed the singer Xanax prior to his 2022 death
- The lawsuit alleges Carter was overprescribed and given “excessively high and unreasonably frequent amounts” by two doctors and two pharmacies
- Carter, 34, was found dead at his home in Lancaster, Calif. in November 2022 after losing consciousness and drowning in his bathtub
Aaron Carter's family and the Los Angeles psychiatry clinic that prescribed the singer Xanax prior to his 2022 death have reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Court documents filed in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, May 12 and obtained by PEOPLE, state that Amen Clinics and one of its psychiatrists, Dr. John Faber, will pay a "confidential sum" as a "full and final resolution" in the lawsuit.
The court documents state that the settlement's value is "within the ballpark" of damages sought by Carter's family, which was less than $325,000.
The late singer's family alleged in the suit that two doctors and two pharmacies "overprescribed" and gave him "excessively high and unreasonably frequent amounts" of Xanax, according to Rolling Stone.
The defendants claimed in documents obtained by PEOPLE that they complied with the standard of care for prescriptions. Instead, they argued that Carter's "death was due to inhaling difluoroethane gas ('huffing')" and was not caused by any alleged negligence on their part.
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Carter, 34, was found dead at his home in Lancaster, California on Nov. 5, 2022. Police sources told PEOPLE at the time that a house sitter found Carter in his bathtub and that prescription pills and drug paraphernalia were in his bedroom.
At the time, insiders believed Carter likely lost consciousness and drowned.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner later ruled that he drowned after inhaling difluoroethane and taking alprazolam. Difluoroethane is a gas often used in cans of compressed air, which can be huffed to produce a high, while alprazolam is the generic form of brand-name Xanax.
The report, obtained by PEOPLE, states Carter was "incapacitated while in the bathtub" as the drugs took effect, slipping beneath the water's surface and ultimately drowning.
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The wrongful death lawsuit — which was filed on behalf of Carter's now 4-year-old son, Princeton Lyric, by his mother and Carter's on-and-off fiancée, Melanie Martin — also names dentist Jason Mirabile, Walgreens, and Santa Monica Medical Plaza Pharmacy as defendants.
They have not settled and are scheduled to go to trial in October, per Rolling Stone.
Aaron rose to fame in 1997 with his self-titled debut album, followed by Aaron's Party (Come Get It) (2000), Oh Aaron (2001) and Another Earthquake! (2002).
The youngest brother of Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter released early hits like "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)," "That's How I Beat Shaq" and his cover of The Strangeloves' "I Want Candy."
During his career, he opened on tour for the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears before his first solo tour in 2000.
In the years before his death, he pivoted to rap and shared his fifth studio album LØVË in 2018.
Aaron also had an acting career, appearing as himself in shows such as Lizzie McGuire and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. He also appeared in series including 7th Heaven, and the movies Fat Albert (2004), Popstar (2005) and Supercross (2005).
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