“The tests found that he died of an accidental overdose from fentanyl”, which the AP calls, “a synthetic opioid many times more potent than heroin”.
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Three investigations are now underway, one by the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, another by the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota and the third by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Some users – whether they start as recreational users or legitimate pain patients – become addicted, experiencing an inability to control how much they take, so they use much more than is prescribed or seek out street drugs on the black market.
In the weeks before Prince’s April 21 death, the musician met twice with Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, a 46-year-old family care physician who worked at a Minnetonka clinic a few miles from Prince’s Paisley Park studio and home, according to search warrant documents.
Investigators have focused on what role prescription painkillers played in Prince’s death, and if so, how he obtained them.
Prince’s fans are devastated over the iconic singer’s shocking death after he was pronounced dead on April 21.
The results raised the possibility that anyone who provided the drug illegally could face criminal charges. Last year, federal officials issued an alert that said incidents of overdoses with fentanyl were “occurring at an alarming rate throughout the United States”.
Officials said Prince was found unconscious on the plane and was given Narcan by first responders, ABC News reported.
The singer was rushed to hospital in Moline, Illinois on April 15 for the shot, which is administered to counteract the effects of opiates, after being taken ill on his private jet on the way back from a gig in Atlanta.
But there were clues that Prince may have struggled with opioid use prior to his death. The officer has chosen to remain anonymous because he has not been granted the authority to speak to the press. Schulenberg is no longer working for the health care system connected to the clinic, but the health care system won’t say why and his attorney declined to comment.
The autopsy was conducted the day after Prince’s body was found.
The drug is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the DEA. “That’s foolish. No one ever saw Prince and said, ‘He looks high.’ It wasn’t what he was about”.
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The diminutive rocker was found dead on the same day a California addiction specialist sent his son to meet with Prince.
