How Did Prince Die? Fentanyl The Cause Of Accidental Opioid Overdose
The official word is that Prince died from a self-administered dose of Fentanyl. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the one-page report came from the Midwest Medical Examiners Office and states that Prince, whose real name is Prince Rogers Nelson, died from an opioid overdose. He was found dead in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21, and his sudden death has shed a shocking light on the reclusive and talented artist and opioid abuse.
The news confirms what the investigators suspected while trying to piece together the shocking and heartbreaking death of the eccentric music icon. Many questioned why the musical genius neglected to leave a will, but if he was dealing with substance abuse, that would explain why his affairs were not in order. That mistake has resulted in hordes of people clamoring for a piece of the $300 million he left behind.
All about Fentanyl—the drug that killed Prince and is sweeping the U.S. https://t.co/U00vEYEMv9 pic.twitter.com/2wmfOClFAi
— People Magazine (@people) June 2, 2016
The announcement that the 57-year-old music icon was a drug addict came as a surprise to many of his fans — he didn’t drink alcohol, he was a vegan, and he didn’t allow profanity or the consumption of meat in his presence. The fact that the beloved artist was secretly battling an addiction to painkillers is still difficult to grasp.
Prince had corrective hip surgery in 2010 and he was taking Percocet for pain, which is how many opioid abusers begin their downward spiral. Days before his death, he OD’d on so much Percocet that EMTs had to administer a safe shot at the Quad City International Airport where his plane made an emergency landing to save his life.
Prince knew he was in trouble; he was smart and concerned enough to seek the help of Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a California addiction specialist who runs Recovery Without Walls, an outpatient clinic. Dr. Kornfeld was scheduled to meet with Prince on April 22 but sent his son Andrew Kornfeld ahead of him because he felt the situation was a “grave medical emergency” and he was right. The singer overdosed, and in the process of trying to assist the megastar in his fight against addiction, both Kornfeld’s are now in legal trouble.
The crackdown down on “pill mills” has unintentionally created more heroin addicts because it is more accessible and cheaper than prescription opioids. Physicians are increasingly under pressure to reduce the dosage of pain medications and the number of patients using them. Not everyone that is prescribed painkillers is an abuser, and the growing publicity over opioid abuse is a nightmare for anyone involved with pain management. The upside to opioids is increased production, quality of life, and severe pain reduction. Chronic pain sufferers may not be the main group abusing opioids, but it is the group that ultimately suffers each time a new mandate is handed down. Prince’s absence brings another round of conversations and studies about the downside of opioids.
A new study reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday highlights research conducted by assistant research professor Peter Grace and Linda Watkins at Colorado University that indicates morphine may contribute to pain over time instead of alleviating it.
Yesterday, Politico published an article about Republican Senator Rob Portman’s focus on drug addiction. He is spending $15 million on paid television and YouTube ads that include testimony from former addicts or those who have lost family members to opioids abuse.
Prince’s death follows other high-profile celebrities; Heath Ledger, Whitney Houston, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Winehouse, Cory Monteith, and countless others have been caught in the highly addictive opioid web.
[Photo by Richard Drew & Tom Gannam/AP Images]
