(Editor’s note: I’ve updated this story with a quote from CNN that was just released.)
It has recently been discovered that some of the drugs collected from Prince’s Paisley Park estate, after his body was discovered April 21, were counterfeit pills which contained fentanyl (a powerful painkiller)- and that they ultimately caused his death (other new information released reports he was wearing a black shirt and pants, both on backward, and his socks were inside-out).
From CNN:
“The revelation gives more insight into what may have caused Prince’s overdose. There are two likely possibilities: Either a pharmaceutical manufacturer mislabeled the pills, or the pills were illegally manufactured and obtained illegally.
However, according to the Star Tribune, investigators are working under the theory that the pop star did not know the pills contained fentanyl. Prince died on April 21 from an accidental overdose of fentanyl, according to the Medical Examiner.”
While the 57-year-old musician only weighed 112 pounds, the quantity of the drug found in his body would have killed anyone. The autopsy results also revealed the presence of lidocaine, alprazolam, and Percocet.
From USA Today:
“Prince did not have a prescription for fentanyl, an opioid many times more powerful than morphine, according to the Star Tribune, which added that investigators are leaning toward the theory that he took the pills without knowing they contained fentanyl.”
Although many people don’t know this, we are dealing with what some are calling a new national crisis of deadly counterfeit pills and it is possible that Prince may have been given some.
From the Star Tribune:
“Illicit fentanyl has traditionally been mixed with or sold as heroin — as was the case in a series of overdose deaths in north-central Minnesota and North Dakota earlier this year. But the Drug Enforcement Administration said drug traffickers have since expanded the illicit fentanyl market by producing counterfeit pills that contain the opioid.
And while the 2006 raid of a single Mexican drug lab halted an earlier surge in fentanyl-linked overdose deaths, authorities say China-sourced fentanyl and precursor chemicals are now being sold to criminals running clandestine pill-press operations across North America.”
But many more pills were seized from his Paisley Park home, “Tablets were found in a dressing room, but the vast majority were in aspirin and vitamin C bottles tucked inside a suitcase and bags — including one Prince often carried. Some pills that were analyzed contained fentanyl, lidocaine, and U-47700, a synthetic drug more powerful than morphine. A prescription bottle in someone else’s name held 10 oxycodone pills.”
It does seem that he wasn’t a long time abuser of fentanyl, leading to the belief that he didn’t know the pills were counterfeit, because in tests ordered by doctors- before his death- there isn’t any fentanyl in his system; this would mean that he likely took the fatal dose less than 24 hours before his death.
We will keep you updated as new information comes in.
We still miss you, Prince. RIP
Source: Star Tribune and USA Today
