There will be no criminal charges filed concerning Prince’s April 2016 death, announced in news conference on the April 19th.
Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose after taking counterfeit Vicodin pills laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opiod about 30 to 50 times stronger than heroin. According to Carver County attorney Mark Metz, Prince had no idea he was taking a counterfeit pill that could kill him.
There is no evidence showing how Prince obtained the pills or where they originated from, Metz said at the news conference. Because of that, there will be no criminal charges filed in the case.
This comes nearly two years after the legendary artist was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park, his home and recording studio. According to toxicology reports, he had an exceedingly high dosage of fentanyl in his system, reportedly a concentration in his liver of 450 micrograms per kilogram.
Minnesota physician Dr. Michael Schulenberg, who saw Prince twice before his death, has agreed to pay $30,000 to the United States to settle civil allegations that he prescribed drugs to another person with the knowledge that his patient would take them.
Dr. Schulenberg prescribed the painkiller Percocet to Prince, but put the prescription in the name of Kirk Johnson, the former drummer and longtime friend, of Prince, said Metz. Metz added that the doctor did so to protect Prince’s privacy.
The day before he died, Prince’s team had called an opioid addiction specialist in California seeking help for him, according to an attorney working for the specialist in 2016.
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