Prince Had ‘Exceedingly High’ Level Of Fentanyl At Time Of Death, Says Toxicology Report
The toxicology report from Prince's autopsy confirms that the singer had an excessive amount of Fentanyl in his system at the time of his death.
The legendary singer was found dead in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota in April 2016.
'Exceedingly High' Amount Of Fentanyl In Prince's Body
The report released almost two years after Prince's death. Details obtained by the Associated Press revealed that the "Purple Rain" hitmaker had "exceedingly high" traces of the opioid fentanyl in his system.
A few weeks after his passing shocked his fans around the world, the medical examiner confirmed that the 57-year-old died due to an accidental overdose of Fentanyl, an opioid often used as pain medication and is known to be 50-100 times as potent as morphine and 30-50 times more powerful than heroin.
However, the newly obtained toxicology report sheds light on how much of the opioid was found in his system when he died.
Findings Of The Toxicology Report
"The amount in his blood is exceedingly high, even for somebody who is a chronic pain patient on fentanyl patches," said Dr. Lewis Nelson, chairman of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
Nelson added that the high Fentanyl concentration found in Prince's system is at 67.8 micrograms per liter and was "a pretty clear smoking gun" to claim his life. A Fentanyl level in the range of 3 to 58 micrograms per liter of blood has proven to be fatal in many cases.
Moreover, the toxicology report pointed out a Fentanyl amount exceeding 69 micrograms per kilogram suggest "overdose or fatal toxicity cases" and the concentration of the opioid found in Prince's liver was 450 micrograms per kilogram.
Prince apparently consumed the drug orally as several bottles of the opioid were recovered from his estate following his death. According to the doctor's lawyer William Mauzy, Prince's team had reached out to Howard Kornfeld, a prominent California-based addiction and pain management specialist a day prior to the music icon's overdose, saying that they had a medical emergency.
However, by the time Kornfeld sent his son to Paisley Park to discuss the treatment options, it was already too late.
Fentanyl has also caused the death of singer Tom Petty, who died on Oct. 2, 2017, at the age of 66. The opioid is also responsible for the death of 21-year-old rapper Lil Peep.
