A fatal mix of drugs may be the cause of late pop star Prince's death, police officers suspect.
More specifically, the cops are keen on finding out whether the popular artist took a combination of Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen) and buprenorphine before he died.
Combination Drugs
Percocet is a combination of common painkiller acetaminophen and opioid oxycodone. Although acetaminophen is less potent than oxycodone, it holds a valuable role as it enhances the effects of the latter.
Oxycodone is a narcotic used to treat moderate to severe pain. This drug is administered on an around-the-clock basis rather than as-needed. Patients should never take more than what is prescribed as oxycodone can cause breathing to slow down and possibly stop.
Buprenorphine, another narcotic analgesic, focuses on the brain to alleviate pain.
Therefore, the combination of these drugs, if not used as instructed, may highly result in fatal events.
The exact cause of Prince's death has not yet been identified. However, if investigation results show that both Percocet and buprenorphine are present in the body of the singer, then the actions of his doctor Michael Todd Schulenberg and a rehabilitation doctor's son named Andrew Kornfeld may be put into question.
Prince's Controversial Visitors
On the day of Prince's death - April 20 - Schulenberg and Kornfeld were both spotted in the singer's Paisley Park home.
Schulenberg said he was there to deliver Prince's diagnostic test results. A search warrant identifying the doctor has already been issued. The said warrant, however, did not mention if the doctor was present during the time of death or if he came right after the authorities arrived.
Kornfeld's lawyer, on the other hand, said that his client was there to deliver pills to a local doctor. He was found to have buprenorphine in his bag. This led to police officers considering Kornfeld's presence as a coincidence.
Entertainment site TMZ tried to delve deeper, but to no avail.
"We reached out to Dr. Schulenberg and Andrew Kornfeld ... so far no word back," the website said.
The Story Of Prince
Prince, unlike his contemporaries in the entertainment industry, lived a fairly clean life, with no big drinking or drug scandals under his belt. However, his recent death revealed that he was not spared from a controversial health issue: painkiller addiction.
Before his death, one of Prince's private plane flights had to take a detour because the singer fainted in mid-flight. He was rushed to the emergency room in an Illinois hospital, where he was treated for opioid overdose.
