Soap star Hunter Tylo is continuing with her malpractice suit against the therapist who was treating her 19-year-old son, Michael Tylo II, who drowned last year at the family home. A judge in the case ruled against Tylo’s move to include her deceased son as a party in the legal action on Friday. Young Michael drowned last October in the family pool while his parent and siblings were out for the day. An autopsy revealed that the teen had a seizure near the pool, fell in and drowned.

A Las Vegas judge has dismissed a portion of a lawsuit filed by actress Hunter Tylo against a therapist who was counseling her 19-year-old son, Michael Tylo II, prior to his drowning last October.

The Bold and the Beautiful star filed the suit in the form of a Jan. 24 amendment to an April 2006 malpractice lawsuit filed against Henderson, Nev., therapist Shanna Downing, who was working with several members of the Tylo family in 2004 and 2005.

Downing countered the wrongful death lawsuit with a motion to exclude Michael Tylo II as a party in the legal action, and Tylo was required to respond to Downing’s motion by Feb. 11, but she missed the filing deadline.

“To date, no opposition has been filed,” court papers state.

While the judge agreed to dismiss Michael Tylo II as a party in the wrongful death action, his estate remains a party in the earlier malpractice lawsuit, set for trial in the fall.

Downing’s attorney, Michael Shannon, had no comment. Tylo attorney Patricia Vaccarino was unavailable for comment.

[From People]

In the malpractice suit, Hunter states that her son had a seizure disorder which his therapist, Shanna Downing, failed to diagnose properly and treat. Hunter Tylo says in her filing that her son’s seizures should have been treated with medication, and that if Downing had been doing her job, Michael would be alive today. The actress plans on continuing the suit in her name instead of her son’s.

According to court papers filed by Downing, she counseled Michael II because he was having “conflicts” with his parents, who were going through a divorce. Downing claimed that the seizures were brought on by stress and could be cured with acupuncture and behavioral therapy.

It’s hard to say which side will prevail here- but either way, it must be very difficult for the family.

Picture Note by Celebitchy: Hunter Tylo is shown at the Daytime Emmy Awards on 6/15/07, thanks to PRPhotos. Yes she has had a lot of work done, not all of it enhancing her appearance, but this is about her son’s tragic death. Keep that in mind in the comments.