Prince’s Family Officially Files a Lawsuit Against Former Physician

The late rock legend Prince, who died two years ago of a fentanyl overdose, is still heavily missed. Today, the family of the Minnesota icon has officially filed a lawsuit against the musician’s former physician. According to Pitchfork, the suit, which was filed in Minnesota district court this past Friday, alleges that Dr. Michael T. Schulenberg, the physician who treated him twice before his death, failed to treat Prince as he was suffering from opioid addiction properly. 

“He failed to appropriately evaluate, diagnose, treat and counsel Prince for his recognizable opioid addiction, and further failed to take appropriate and reasonable steps to prevent the foreseeably fatal result of that addiction,” reads the lawsuit. “These departures from the standard of acceptable medical practice had a substantial part in bringing about Prince’s death.”

Schulenberg isn’t the only one that the lawsuit names, which also includes his former employer, North Memorial Health, as well as Walgreens Co. and UnityPoint Health as defendants. 

The physician and others had, according to the lawsuit, “an opportunity and duty during the weeks before Prince’s death to diagnose and treat Prince’s opioid addiction and to prevent his death. They failed to do so.”

The reason why Walgreens is named in the suit is that Prince allegedly received his prescription medication from two Walgreens locations in Bloomington and Minnetonka before his death on April 21, 2016. Schulenberg was an employee at North Memorial when Prince allegedly received his health care services.

The current lawsuit will replace a previously filed one that the family issued in Illinois court. The old lawsuit was filed against the Illinois hospital the “Purple Rain” star was treated after the plane he was on made an emergency landing just days before he died as well as the Walgreens locations. Now, according to their attorney John Goetz, the family intends to dismiss it and move forward with the new lawsuit in Minnesota.

“Prince lived in Minnesota all his life and passed away here, so we always thought his family’s lawsuit belonged in Minnesota,” attorney John Goetz said in a statement. He said they now have sufficient legal grounds to pursue the lawsuit in Prince’s home state.

Paul Peterson, Dr. Schulenberg’s attorney, has said that the suit is without merit. “We understand this situation has been difficult on everyone close to Mr. Nelson [Prince] and his fans across the globe,” Peterson said in a statement to ABC News. “Be that as it may, Dr. Schulenberg stands behind the care that Mr. Nelson received. We intend to defend this case.”