'Young and the Restless' Star Kristoff St. John's Ex-Wife Weighing Legal Options Against Hospital

Mia St. John says she is considering her legal options against a mental health hospital that she [...]

Mia St. John says she is considering her legal options against a mental health hospital that she says did not properly treat her late ex-husband, The Young and the Restless star Kristoff St. John.

The professional boxer told The Blast on March 20 that she holds the mental health facility partially responsible for Kristoff's death, alleging doctors did not properly recognize the severity of his mental illness and addiction.

Mia, who was married to Kristoff from 1991-1995, told the news outlet that she was involved in getting him hospitalized in January after he threatened suicide and was self-medicating with alcohol. She said an intervention was staged with some of his co-stars, but it didn't help right away. Ultimately, however, the actor agreed to get help and was hospitalized.

Upon arriving at Las Encinas Mental Health Facility in Pasadena, Mia said the family asked for Kristoff to be placed on a 5250 hold, which allows someone with certain mental health disorders to be involuntarily held for up to two weeks. However, when she checked in on him on Feb. 1, she was informed that he was released, news that she said made the family was "extremely upset" because they were under the impression he was being kept on a 14-day hold.

As previously reported, Kristoff was placed on a 72-hour hold for "threatening to hurt himself and alcohol abuse," according to the coroner. Investigators also said he had a history with bipolar disorder and suicidal threats.

Following his release from Las Encinas, Mia said Kristoff went missing in action, but ultimately checked in with St. John over the phone. She said she knew he was in "bad shape" when he told her that their late son, Julian, who died by suicide in 2014, was knocking at the door of his home to "take me on a walk."

After Julian died by suicide at a mental health facility in Long Beach in 2014, Kristoff and Mia successfully sued the facility for negligence.

Mia said Kristoff's depression worsened around the anniversary of their son's death.

She said she hopes to use any legal action taken against the hospital as a platform for facilities to better recognize addiction as a mental illness, instead of releasing patients before they are ready to survive on their own.

Mia and the rest of the family are adamant that despite the fact the medical examiner listed Kristoff's official cause of death as heart disease, they believe he died as a result of his addiction and abuse of alcohol.

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