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Tuesday, Apr 18 2017

Full Issue

Documents Reveal Details Of Prince's Addiction But Don't Answer How He Got Opioids

A year after the musician died of a fentanyl overdose, shining a spotlight on the national crisis, many questions remain.

Court documents unsealed in the investigation into Prince鈥檚 death paint a picture of a man struggling with an addiction to prescription opioids and withdrawal, with various pills stashed in bottles around the pop superstar鈥檚 suburban Minneapolis studio and estate. But the search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday shed no new light on how Prince got the fentanyl that killed him. (Forliti, 4/18)

Before his death, Prince abused opioid pain pills, suffered withdrawal symptoms and received at least one opioid prescription under his bodyguard鈥檚 name, according to search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday. Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21. Nearly a year after his accidental overdose death at his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still don鈥檛 know how he got the fentanyl that killed him. The newly unsealed documents give the clearest picture yet of Prince鈥檚 struggle with opioid painkillers. (Johnson, 4/18)

At the time of Prince鈥檚 death, his Paisley Park home and recording compound in Minnesota were strewn with 鈥渁 sizable amount鈥 of narcotic painkillers for which he did not have prescriptions, including some hidden in over-the-counter vitamin and aspirin bottles and others issued in the name of a close aide, according to newly released court documents related to the investigation into the accidental opioid overdose that killed Prince last year. (Coscarelli and Kovaleski, 4/17)

Investigators鈥 records say Prince got his painkillers through others, most recently with the help of a local doctor, Michael Schulenberg, who had started treating Prince in the month before his death. (Pearce, 4/17)

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