Prompted by leaks, the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office in Minnesota released the long-awaited autopsy report on Prince Thursday, declaring the cause was accidental fentanyl toxicity.
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The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office in Anoka County, Minnesota, had been investigating the legendary singer’s death since he was discovered in an elevator in his home and studio on April 21. It is also partly responsible for a recent surge in overdose deaths in some parts of the country. The National Institute on Drug Abuse put out a fentanyl warning-citing the drug’s superior potency that makes it a good medication post-surgery and for severe pain, the same potency that makes it a good target for abuse in Chicago, Detroit and other big cities. The report is silent on whether it was prescribed by a doctor or obtained illegally. “Street names for the drug include Apache, China girl, China white, dance fever, friend, goodfella, jackpot, murder 8, TNT, as well as Tango and Cash”. The drug has many legitimate uses, but is tightly controlled because of its risks.
Prince died less than a week after his private plane made an emergency, middle-of-the-night landing in IL, so he could be treated for a suspected opioid overdose following a pair of concert performances in Atlanta, sources told the Star Tribune. The full autopsy report and results of the toxicology test are yet to be revealed but a police source reportedly told the Mirror: “The test results beg more questions than they give answers”.
According to USA federal law, illegally distributing fentanyl to someone who then dies from it is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years. If it’s latter, someone could face criminal charges carrying years, or even decades, in prison. The DEA and US Attorney’s Office are able to augment this local investigation with federal resources and expertise about prescription drug diversion.
April 20: Schulenberg visits Prince again.
The doctor’s lawyer has declined to comment on the case.
An attorney for a California doctor and his son who were called to help Prince before he died says his clients did not give the superstar musician any drugs. Dr. Howard Kornfeld, who couldn’t immediately travel to Minnesota, sent his pre-med student son to meet with Prince and a Minnesota doctor, the newspaper reported. Kornfeld can not clear his schedule to fly to Minnesota immediately, so he sends his son, Andrew, on an overnight flight, with a drug used to help with opioid addiction treatment.
Mr Mauzy has refused to identify that doctor.
Law enforcement authorities can access information about a person’s prescription history in the system if they get a search warrant.
The next book from Michael Lewis (Moneyball, The Big Short) will be a story of when minds work, and when they don’t.
The Louvre museum in Paris says it will be closed Friday to remove artworks from rooms threatened by rising water from the Seine River.
Fans should stay tuned for more news.
Floods have inundated parts of France, Germany and Belgium this week, killing six people and trapping thousands in homes or cars as rivers burst their banks from Paris to Germany’s southern state of Bavaria. The Kornfelds “were simply trying to help”, he said.
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Tattle’s guessing that Blake Shelton is fully supportive of her effort.
