Newly Unsealed Documents Highlight Prince's Struggle with Opioids

Before his death, Prince abused opioid pain pills, suffered withdrawal symptoms and received at least one opioid prescription under his bodyguard's name, according to search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday. Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21. Nearly a year after his accidental overdose death at his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still don't know how he got the fentanyl that killed him. The newly unsealed documents give the clearest picture yet of Prince's struggle with opioid painkillers. What Do Authorities Say Happened? Investigators heard plenty from the people at Paisley Park when Prince's body was discovered. They told investigators that Prince was recently "going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication." When authorities later checked a database set up to monitor who's getting prescriptions for controlled substances, they found nothing for Prince. But there was a prescription for the opioid painkiller oxycodone written for Kirk Johnson, Prince's bodyguard. The prescription was dated April 14, 2016, the same day Prince was revived with an anti-overdose drug after falling ill on a plane. Dr. Michael Schulenberg, who wrote the prescription, told authorities he put the prescription in Johnson's name to protect Prince's privacy, according to a detective's affidavit. Schulenberg's attorney, Amy Conners, said in a stat...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Patient Care News Source Type: news