Weeks after the autopsy was performed, law enforcement officials have confirmed that Prince died of an accidental opioid overdose.
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The medical examiner’s office believes the death toll will likely climb even higher as toxicology results can take up to three months to report. The cause of death was declared to be accidental fentanyl toxicity. Studies showed that more than 28,000 people died from opioids, which include heroin and painkillers, in 2014, and 4.3 million people were taking pain medication for nonmedical purposes that year.
Prince – who had used a cane to help him get around for many years – had long needed a double hip replacement but reportedly turned it down on numerous occasions but he was anxious it would require a blood transfusion, which would have conflicted with his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness.
And this is important … there were several reports Prince had either AIDS or HIV, but the report says there were no “other significant conditions” that led to his death … clearly refuting the stories.
Fentanyl is a synthetic drug that has legitimate medical uses.
Dr Michael Todd Schulenberg, a family practitioner, treated Prince twice in the weeks before his death and told investigators he prescribed medications for the singer.
If a street dealer was the source, identifying that person will not be easy.
The drug is 25 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Last year, federal officials issued an alert that said incidents of overdoses with fentanyl were “occurring at an alarming rate throughout the United States”.
On April 15, on his way home after performing in Atlanta, Prince’s plane made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois.
Dr Schulenberg saw Prince on 7 April and 20 April – the day before his death – according to the warrant. The Associated Press and other media reported, based on anonymous sources, that he was found unconscious on the plane, and first responders gave him a shot of Narcan, an antidote used in suspected opioid overdoses.
Friends have now admitted that Prince was struggling with drugs and were in the process of getting him to see an addiction specialist.
The entertainer was found with opioid medication at the time of his death, according to a law enforcement source.
April 23: Prince is cremated and a private funeral service is held at Paisley Park.
The doctor sent his son, Andrew Kornfield, to meet the singer in Minneapolis after it became apparent Prince needed immediate help.
It was not immediately clear whether Prince had a prescription for the drug and, if not, how he obtained it. Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator. The Kornfelds “were simply trying to help and remain saddened by Prince’s death”, he said.
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It’s unclear whether Andrew Kornfeld is the subject of a separate investigation.
