Authorities are reportedly investigating two doctors in an effort to find out how Prince was prescribed the powerful opiates that eventually led to his death.
Prince died at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota on 21 April (16) after a self-administered overdose of the opiate Fentanyl.
Now, the FBI, the DEA and the Carver County District Attorney’s Office are trying to discover how he acquired the drug, which has a high risk for addiction and dependence.
According to TMZ.com, authorities are investigating Prince’s primary physician Dr. Michael Schulenberg and renowned addiction specialist Dr. Howard Kornfeld, to determine if either of them crossed the legal line by writing prescriptions to the star.
It was previously claimed the Purple Rain hitmaker had been addicted to the painkiller Percocet because of problems with his hips. He had been in need of a double hip replacement, according to British newspaper the Daily Mirror, but had refused it as he was worried it would require a blood transfusion, which would have conflicted with his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness.
TMZ.com report Dr. Schulenberg was at Prince’s home when his body was found, apparently planning to give the singer some test results, while Dr. Kornfeld had been approached by Prince’s team about meeting with the star to help with his addiction to painkillers.
Kornfeld could not attend immediately, so sent his son Andrew instead, who took with him the opioid addiction treatment buprenorphine. However, when Andrew arrived at the Paisley Park compound, the musician was nowhere to be found, and he and two of Prince’s employees eventually found him unresponsive in an elevator.
A lawyer for Andrew says none of the buprenorphine was used.
TMZ.com add the investigation could take several months and, if state charges are filed, the case will not go to the grand jury but will fall to the District Attorney instead.
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