The mother of 32-year-old West Marin resident Adam Emmott, who died last year from a prescription drug overdose, has added the Coastal Health Alliance and its executive director, Steven Siegel, to the list of defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit. 

Kris Teplin filed the suit in Marin Superior Court against her son’s physician, Dr. Wendi Joiner, on Dec. 31. According to attorneys, the case is now expected to move to federal court, since the health clinic—a federally qualified health center—is entitled to have the federal government serve as a defendant in its stead. 

Under federal law, physicians and staff with the Coastal Health Alliance are considered federal employees and are immune from personal liability for medical malpractice claims; they may not testify in court proceedings without approval from the United States Department of Health and Human Services. 

Attorneys from the Department of Justice would defend the case once it is filed in federal court.

Ms. Teplin’s suit followed the California Medical Board’s suspension of  Dr. Joiner’s license after a 2014 drunk driving arrest and 2015 conviction. Ms. Teplin amended her complaint on Feb. 25 to include the health clinic and Mr. Siegel on grounds that they “knew or should have known” that Dr. Joiner herself struggled with substance-abuse issues and was therefore unfit to care for her patients.

At the time of her 2014 drunk-driving arrest, Dr. Joiner was found with three handles of whiskey and over 100 pills. She was arrested a year later for possession of codeine, hydrocodone, amphetamine, carisoprodol, fentanyl and morphine. She has pled not guilty to four felony and two misdemeanor counts, and last month surrendered her medical license.

“It’s very unfortunate,” said Doron Weinberg, a San Francisco attorney representing her in criminal and medical board matters. “But [surrendering her license] was in her best interest.” 

Ms. Teplin could not be reached for comment, but in her suit she claims compensatory damages in excess of $25,000 for lost future financial support and lost comfort, society and protection in the absence of her son, who was found deceased at her home on Jan. 11, 2015. Eight controlled substances were detected in his blood, including a large amount of fentanyl, a synthetic opiate hundreds of times more potent than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The suit alleges that Dr. Joiner and the health clinic were aware of Mr. Emmott’s medical history of substance abuse but nonetheless continued to prescribe opiates “in large quantities and inappropriate dosages.” It charges Dr. Joiner with worsening Mr. Emmott’s addiction and contends that the health clinic “knew or should have known” that Dr. Joiner was “not competent” to properly provide care for him. In a hand-written note attached to the suit, Ms. Teplin alleged that she called Mr. Siegel in 2014 to tell him that Dr. Joiner was aware that her son had falsified M.R.I. reports in order to obtain opiates and that she was still prescribing him drugs. “[Mr. Siegel] told me he would get back to me,” she wrote. “He never did.” 

Mr. Siegel told the Light that he could not comment on the suit. Ms. Teplin’s attorney, David Fiol, also declined to comment. Officials for the San Rafael-based Marin Community Clinics—where Dr. Joiner became medical director following her departure from the health alliance in January 2015—have denied knowledge of her substance-abuse and legal problems.