American singer-songwriter Prince was one of the world’s most prolific and adored musicians of his time. The star was renowned for his astounding contribution to music which led him to have an incredibly successful career that spanned over 40 years.
But on the morning of April 21 2016, Prince, who created more than 30 albums and won seven Grammy Awards, was found dead in his Minnesota home.
Fans around the globe were left in mourning after they heard the unexpected and tragic news of the superstar’s death.
Five years on from his tragic passing, we take a look back at Prince’s autopsy and the cause of the singer’s death.
Prince was aged 57 when he was discovered alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate.
Details from the public data that was released six weeks after his death showed the singer died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin.
Obtained by the Associated Press, a toxicology report from Prince’s autopsy gave details from multiple experts which confirmed he had an “exceedingly high” concentration of fentanyl in his body.
Other experts who were not associated with the investigation at the time believe the numbers were so high it left no doubt that fentanyl was the cause of the star’s death.
Dr Lewis Nelson, a chairman of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey medical school, said: “The amount in his blood is exceedingly high, even for somebody who is a chronic pain patient on fentanyl patches.”
The report from Prince’s autopsy gave further details on the concentration of fentanyl in the Grammy award winner’s blood which happened to be 67.8 micrograms per litre.
Fatalities have been documented in people with blood levels ranging from three to 58 micrograms per litre, the report said.
The report also suggested that there was a high-level concentration of fentanyl in Prince’s stomach and liver.
The level of fentanyl in Prince’s liver was 450 micrograms per kilogram which was a large amount.
President of the American College of Medical Toxicology, Dr Charles McKay, said the findings from the report implies Prince took the drug orally, giving the drug time to circulate in his system before he passed away.
Medical experts and health professionals have said there is no “lethal level” at which fentanyl can kill and those who take prescription opioids for a long period of time will eventually build a tolerance to the drug.
A year after the singer’s death, a search warrant was released which allowed authorities to access his home.
Authorities discovered numerous bottles of tablets in various containers around the Purple Rain singer’s home.
A lab report also discovered the pills tested positive for fentanyl, but the sources of the drugs had not been determined.
In 2018, the lead prosecutor in the county where Prince died said he was reviewing law enforcement reports and will finalise a decision on whether anyone should be charged for the singer’s death.
Though prosecutors later discovered that no criminal charges would be bought forward for the singer’s death, in August 2018, family members of Prince decided to sue the star’s doctor as Michael Schulenberg as they believed he played a “substantial part” in his death.
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According to ABC, the lawsuit read at the time: “He failed to appropriately evaluate, diagnose, treat and counsel Prince for his recognisable 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.”
However earlier this year, reports surrounding the singer’s death emerged once more as the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the music mogul’s family members had been quietly dismissed.
Family members had reached settlements with defendants including the Minnesota doctor who saw Prince in the weeks before his death and the Illinois hospital that treated him for an opioid overdose seven days before he passed away.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
