Experts: Prince toxicology report shows very high drug level
Summary and Analysis…
This story confirms a report that was released six weeks after Prince’s death that blamed fentanyl but provides specific figures on fentanyl levels found in Prince’s blood, liver and stomach.
The article also says the lead prosecutor in the county where Prince dies is reviewing the data to determine if anyone should be charged.
This is, unfortunately, another high-profile example of the serious problem of drugs with defined medical purposes “sieving” over to illicit uses. A problem we have also seen with methadone and Suboxone.
Excerpted from AP
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A toxicology report from Prince’s autopsy, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, shows he had what multiple experts called an “exceedingly high” concentration of fentanyl in his body when he died.
Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21, 2016. Public data released six weeks after his death showed he died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin.
A confidential toxicology report obtained by the AP provides some insight into just how much fentanyl was in his system. Experts who are not connected to the Prince investigation said the numbers leave no doubt that fentanyl killed him.
“The amount in his blood is exceedingly high, even for somebody who is a chronic pain patient on fentanyl patches,” said Dr. Lewis Nelson, chairman of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He called the fentanyl concentrations “a pretty clear smoking gun.”
