Prince’s Family Reportedly Suing The Doctor Who Prescribed The Late Singer Pain Killers

Prince’s family is holding the doctor that prescribed pain medication to the late singer responsible for his fatal overdose in 2016.

People reports that the family of the iconic singer also blames Dr. Michael Schulenberg for not recognizing Prince’s opiate addiction. They believe that if he had treated the condition, it would have prevented the singer’s death. The lawsuit was filed this week in Hennepin County.

“Schulenberg and others had 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 papers filed in the lawsuit claim.

Four months ago, the singer’s family said they were going to sue the Illinois hospital that revived the “Purple Rain” singer from an opioid overdose just a week before his death. On April 21, 2016, Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator inside his Minnesota estate. The Grammy award winner was just 57-years-old at the time of his death.

This new lawsuit is meant to replace the lawsuit filed in April, according to the attorney that represents Prince’s siblings.

Family of Prince files suit against doctor who they allege failed to treat his addiction and provided him with narcotics without a proper prescription, @ABC has learned. https://t.co/XIK71n3hr3 pic.twitter.com/5HOaPWqhjA

— ABC News (@ABC) August 24, 2018

“Prince lived in Minnesota all his life and passed away here, so we always thought his family’s lawsuit belonged in Minnesota,” John Goetz, the family’s attorney, said in a statement given to the press.

Dr. Schulenberg denies the claims put forth in the lawsuit. However, the doctor has had to pay $30,000 to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and undergo two years of monitoring. But Carver County Attorney Mark Metz has revealed that the opioids Prince overdosed on in Illinois, and a week later resulting in his death, were thought to have been purchased on the black market. This revelation is not enough to produce criminal charges in the matter of the singer’s untimely demise.

“We simply do not have sufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime related to Prince’s death,” Metz said in a recent press conference.

ABC News has posted a copy of the lawsuit on their website. A segment from it lays out the family’s accusations against Schulenberg.

“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. These departures from the standard of acceptable medical practice had a substantial part in bringing about Prince’s death.”

“We understand this situation has been difficult on everyone close to Mr. Nelson and his fans across the globe,” Schulenberg said in a statement released to the media. “Be that as it may, Dr. Schulenberg stands behind the care that Mr. Nelson received.”