It’s been revealed that Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg had treated Prince on Apr 7 and then again on Apr 20, merely days before the singer’s untimely death. Authorities interviewed the doctor and will continue a thorough investigation, according to multiple sources, including NBC.
Schulenberg told the investigation team he had written several prescriptions for Prince and instructed him to retrieve them at Walgreens, which is close to the Paisley Park estate. Prince had evidently complied, as he was seen at the store with a bag several days before his death. No additional information about his prescriptions is currently available, however.
Nothing has been suggested regarding charges against the doctor, but an anonymous official revealed the investigation team wants to know if Prince’s death is related to an overdose. If so, investigators would then need to find out what medications the late singer had taken.
Prince’s death has highlighted conversations about the ongoing concerns of prescription drug addiction. For example, CNN ran a live town hall event on Wednesday evening with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta regarding the subject of addiction to opioid prescriptions. The rise in deaths related to opiod abuse has increased over 200 percent between 2000 and 2014.
As a result, the FDA approved an auto-injector with a dose of Naloxone to reverse potential opioid overdose among users. Although the toxicology results from Prince’s autopsy have not been released, some sources suggest Percocet was found in his system.