Official says Prince died of opioid overdose
June 02, 2016 22:56
A law-enforcement official on Thursday said that tests show Pop icon Prince died of an opioid overdose, AP has reported.
The 57-year-old singer was found dead April 21 at his Minneapolis-area estate.
The official, who is close to the investigation, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The findings confirm suspicions that opioids played a role in the musician's death. After he died, a law enforcement official told the AP that investigators were examining whether an overdose was to blame and whether a doctor had prescribed him drugs in the preceding weeks.
Prince's death came less than a week after his plane made an emergency stop in Moline, Illinois, for medical treatment as he was returning from an Atlanta concert. The official said Prince was found unconscious on the plane and that first responders gave him a shot of Narcan, an antidote used in suspected opioid overdoses.
At least two doctors' names have come up in the death investigation being conducted by the Carver County Sheriff's Office, the US Attorney's Office in Minnesota and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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. The medications were not specified in a search warrant for the Minnesota hospital that employed Schulenberg at the time.
Schulenberg saw Prince on April 7 and April 20 the day before his death, according to the warrant. Schulenberg's attorney has declined to comment on the case.
Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a California addiction specialist, was asked by Prince's representatives on April 20 to help the singer.
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