Yesterday we reported on Dr. Daniel Baldi, an Iowa doctor who has been charged with eight counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of several of his patients, including former Slipknot bassist Paul ‘The Pig’ Gray.

According to court documents, Baldi – who is currently being held on a bail of $US 16,000 and refuting the charges with a plea of ‘not guilty’ – unintentionally caused Gray’s death by overdose by writing prescriptions for narcotics, stating that he “continually wrote high dose prescription narcotics to a known drug addict from Dec. 27, 2005, until [Gray’s] death.

The former founding member of the award-winning masked nine-piece collective was found dead in a hotel room aged 38, along with a hypodermic needle and pills scattered around his suite. An autopsy later revealed that Gray showed signs of ‘significant heart disease’ and had died of an accidental overdose of morphine and fentanyl, drugs prescribed to him by Dr. Baldi.

Slipknot have now responded to the charges levelled at Dr. Baldi. In a statement on their Facebook page, the Iowa band write:

“As the loss of our brother Paul Gray is still very fresh for us in the Slipknot family, this new development has us all in a state of anger and sadness. The fact that this person took advantage of our brother’s illness while he was in a position to help others has outraged everyone in our family.

We can only hope that justice will be served so this can NEVER happen to anyone else ever again! Our thoughts go out to the families of the other victims. We plan to cooperate as much as we possibly can to ensure this tragedy is never repeated, and to make sure this man pays for what he has done.”

As the Des Moines Register points out, Slipknot’s Clown, real name Shawn Crahan, already helped out with the investigation – along with Paul Gray’s widow Brenna, telling press that “none of it is going to bring back our brother Paul.”

The percussionist went on to elaborate about the nature of addiction saying “this epidemic of this sort of activity is becoming more and more… evident. It truly is becoming a problem amongst people. And it trickles all the way down to the youth. And awareness needs to be brought about.”

Crahan clarified that he was referring to “not only substance abuse but the ability to acquire substances, to get chemicals and the efficiency of it.”

Dr. Baldi’s preliminary hearing is set for September 15, and his attorney Guy Cook has already sought a ‘not guilty plea’, saying Baldi, “vigorously denies doing anything wrong. He has done his best to treat a very difficult patient population,” said Mr. Cook. “These are patients who, because of their chronic severe pain or chronic addictive situations, can die regardless of the best medical care.”

In related news, Slipknot’s percussionist Chris Fehn aka #3, spoke to Tone Deaf about the band’s current greatest hits compilation and Knotfest music festival, while Corey Taylor and Jim Root’s other band, Stone Sour, are headed to Australia early next year – appearing as part of the massive bill for Soundwave 2013 – which last night announced that it has sold out in Adelaide, leaving Perth as the only state with tickets left.

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