An Oregon man, aged 58, who administered a prescription sedative to a group of preteen girls by lacing their fruit smoothies during a sleepover party, has settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit related to the unsettling event. The settlement was reached last month between Michael Meyden, his former wife, and the father of one of the victims, according to Clackamas County court documents. The exact amount of the settlement remains undisclosed, and future court proceedings have been called off.
The lawsuit, filed in November 2024, sought $2.4 million in damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and battery. Earlier in the same year, Meyden had pleaded guilty to three felony charges of causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, related to the drugging incident.
In June 2024, Circuit Court Judge Ann Lininger sentenced Meyden to two years in a state correctional facility. The sleepover incident occurred on August 23, 2023, at Meyden’s residence in Lake Oswego, Oregon. According to the complaint, Meyden, through his daughter, invited the plaintiff and two other minor children to his home. During the sleepover, Meyden prepared mango smoothies for the children and insisted they drink them.
Meyden later confessed to spiking the smoothies with Temazepam, a Schedule IV controlled substance typically used to treat insomnia. The complaint states that shortly after consuming the smoothie, the plaintiff and two other children became drowsy and fell asleep. One child, who had not consumed the smoothie, noticed Meyden’s odd behavior and one of the other children appearing very ill.
The child who did not consume the spiked smoothie contacted her parents and family friends repeatedly, requesting to be picked up. After being collected by a family friend, her parents returned to Meyden’s home to retrieve the other two children and took them to the hospital. Both girls tested positive for benzodiazepine. One of the girls reportedly told police that she felt “woozy, hot, and clumsy” before falling into a deep sleep after drinking Meyden’s smoothie.
The same child also reported to the police that she saw Meyden enter the basement where the children were sleeping. She pretended to be asleep and observed Meyden moving one of the sleeping children and checking her breathing.
During Meyden’s sentencing hearing, one of the victims expressed her anguish, stating, “My life has become a living hell because of you and your actions. I want you to think of yourself as the monster you are.” Another victim called him a “rotten old man” who had harmed children.