Benoit killed his wife and small son before committing suicide two years ago, and the lawsuit blames the drugs prescribed by Dr. Phil Astin for the deaths.

The suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Newnan, Ga., claims Astin should have monitored effects the drugs, including depressants and pain-killers, had on Benoit’s behavior.

Maureen Toffoloni, Nancy Benoit’s mother and administrator of her estate, also targets drug distributors identified only as X, Y, and Z. It asks for recovery of funeral and other expenses as well as unspecified damages.

Astin was sentenced to 10 years in prison May 12 for illegally prescribing drugs to patients.

A 175-count indictment against Astin referred to the 19 patients only by their initials. Federal prosecutors would not confirm that the initials CB and NB referred to the Benoits, but Assistant U.S. Attorney John Horn, who prosecuted Astin, said it had been established that both abused prescription drugs and both were among Astin’s patients.

A federal investigation found Astin wrote prescriptions to addicts without conducting physical exams and sometimes gave them as many as four simultaneous prescriptions and “cocktails” of drugs such as Percocet, Oxycontin, Vicodin and Adderall. Horn said it was likely there were far more patient addicts than the 19 listed in the indictment.

In addition to the prison sentence, Astin has lost his medical license and practice and was represented by a public defender in the criminal case. It is unclear what damages he would be able to pay.

Toffoloni’s lawyer, Richard Paul Decker of Atlanta, could not be reached immediately for comment Thursday.

Benoit, a wrestler for Stamford, Conn.-based World Wrestling Entertainment, his wife and son were found dead in June 2007 in their suburban Atlanta home. Police said Benoit strangled the two and then hanged himself. A medical examiner couldn’t say whether the steroids Astin prescribed for Benoit played a role in the deaths.