Family files lawsuit against telehealth company they say contributed to WSU student’s suicide

The family of a Washington State University freshman who died by suicide nearly three years ago has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a telehealth company he used to receive a prescription for the anti-depressants they say contributed to his death.

The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court on Wednesday, alleges that 19-year-old Luke Tyler received a prescription for an anti-depressant medication from a provider on the platform Him and Hers without proper consultation and despite Luke’s disclosed history of undiagnosed depression.

The lawsuit alleges the company’s “dangerous, profit-driven scheme resulted in Luke’s death” and alleges the company, and its providers, acted negligently.

The lawsuit seeks an amount of money to be proven at trial.

A spokesperson for Him and Hers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The lawsuit also names Theta Chi, and alleges the fraternity’s “pledge traditions, coupled with unsafe, unreasonable lack of proper management, policies, and oversight, including at its fraternity houses, have resulted in students dying and suffering serious injuries for decades.”

Tyler was found dead in his dorm room on Jan. 22, 2023. Following his death, the Whitman County coroner ruled it a suicide, and said a combination of alcohol and anti-anxiety medications contributed to his death.

Tyler’s family says fraternal hazing also contributed to his death.

Born in Redmond, Tyler was in his first year at WSU. He wanted to study kinesiology with plans to become a physical therapist.

The lawsuit describes him as a beloved son and brother who was known for “his compassion, determination, and generous hugs.” Tyler was active in his church, was a body builder and “loved being on the water, including teaching kids to sail, and lifeguarding, crabbing, and kayaking with friends and family.”

According to the lawsuit, in August 2022, Tyler clicked on a social media ad for the platform Him and Hers, which connects users with licensed health care providers for online consultation.

Tyler messaged a provider and told them that he had previously engaged in self-harm and was “looking for a healthier way to cope.” Less than an hour later, and without speaking to Tyler via phone or video, the Texas-based provider prescribed Tyler with a 90-day supply for an antidepressant.

According to the lawsuit, the medication is known to increase the risk of suicide among adolescents. The prescription was set to automatically refill every three months.

About a month later, Tyler messaged the provider and told them that while he did not feel much of a difference, he has “been more irritable lately.” According to the lawsuit, the provider doubled Tyler’s dosage and prescribed him an additional 90-day supply, again without talking to Tyler via phone or video, despite Tyler possessing most of the pills from his first prescription.

According to the lawsuit, Tyler again messaged Hims in November and wrote that “the meds seemed to make my conditions worse” and asked how to cancel the subscription.

A provider responded, “Since you have been off the medications you should not need to taper” and did not inquire further.

According to the lawsuit, Tyler was subjected to increasing amounts of hazing at the same time, which included fighting fellow pledges, drinking an entire bottle of alcohol and licking syrup off of the floor of the fraternity, which “deepened Luke’s emotional and mental distress.”

“On January 22, 2023, the night before ‘Hell Week’ was supposed to begin for his fraternity’s pledge class, Luke took much of what remained of his Hims-prescribed and Hims-shipped pills and died by suicide,” the lawsuit alleges.

Following his death, a toxicology report measured the level of bupropion in Tyler’s system as 11,000 ng/mL, according to the lawsuit. A toxic level of bupropion is 400 ng/ml.

According to the lawsuit, providers on the platform have “churned out Hims’ prescriptions to Hims’ subscribers” with either “no, or at a minimum, wholly inadequate, oversight, supervision, or accountability.”

The lawsuit states that Hims did not “meet the acceptable standard of care and, in fact, did not qualify as ‘Telemedicine’ in Washington at the time of Tyler’s death.

In February 2024, Washington State University enacted a three-year suspension of the Theta Chi fraternity that Tyler pledged to, following an investigation that determined new members were hazed in fall 2022 and the fraternity furnished alcohol to minors in January 2023 – the same month Tyler died by suicide.

The lawsuit alleges the fraternity’s anti-hazing policies have “proven inadequate and unsafe over a period of many years.”