Oxycodone prescribed to Prince’s friend: Document

A doctor who saw Prince in the days before he died had prescribed oxycodone under the name of Prince’s friend to protect the musician’s privacy, according to an affidavit unsealed Monday.

However, Minnesota defence attorney Joe Tamburino, who is not associated with the Prince case, says prosecutors are unlikely to pursue charges against the doctor. Tamburino says the allegations are likely a low priority — because Prince died of fentanyl.

The document is one of several affidavits and search warrants unsealed in Carver County District Court as the year-long investigation into Prince’s death continues.

The documents don’t say where Prince got the fentanyl that killed him, which was obtained illegally and not by prescription. But they do shed some light on Prince’s struggle with addiction in the days before he died. Oxycodone was not listed as a cause of Prince’s death.

Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park home on April 21. Autopsy results showed he died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a synthetic drug 50 times more powerful than heroin.

According to the search warrants, authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince’s associates, and Prince’s email accounts to try to determine how he got the fentanyl.

A search of Prince’s home yielded numerous pills in various containers. Some were in prescription bottles that were under the name Kirk Johnson, Prince’s longtime friend and associate. Some pills in other bottles were marked as if they were a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone — but at least one of those tested positive for fentanyl, meaning it was counterfeit.

The documents suggest Prince was struggling with an addiction to prescription opioids.