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Doctor who treated Prince agrees to pay $30,000 fine after fatal overdose

Doctor denies prescribing opiates for use by singer

Emily Shugerman
New York
Thursday 19 April 2018 16:11 BST
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The doctor accused of illegally prescribing painkillers to pop star Prince a week before he died of an opioid overdose has agreed to settle a federal civil violation.

Minnesota doctor Michael Todd Schulenberg – who, according to one federal search warrant, examined Prince one day before his death – agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a violation stemming from the Controlled Substances Act, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.

The news came as state prosecutors prepared to announce whether they would file any criminal charges in Prince's 2016 death.

The "Purple Rain" singer died at his private, Minnesota estate at the age of 57, after overdosing on fentanyl – an illegal opioid stronger than heroin. For the last two years, federal agents have been investigating how he obtained the drug.

Mr Schulenberg's settlement makes no mention of the Prince investigation, and a separate letter to his attorneys says he is not the target of a criminal investigation, according to the Associated Press. But previously released warrants have claimed the doctor admitted to prescribing the painkiller oxycodone for Prince, under someone else's name.

An investigation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) found that Mr Schulenberg had prescribed "controlled substances in the name of an individual, knowing that the controlled substances were intended to be used by another individual".

An attorney for Mr Schulenberg said the doctor denies prescribing opiates to any patient with the intention they be given to Prince .

"After he learned of Prince's addiction, he immediately worked to refer Prince to a treatment facility and to transfer care to a chemical dependency specialist," attorney Amy Conners said in a statement on Thursday.

She added: "Dr Schulenberg has previously disclosed all information regarding his care and treatment of Prince to his employers, law enforcement, and regulatory authorities in the course of his complete cooperation with all related investigations."

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As part of the settlement, Dr Schulenberg wil have to log all controlled substances he prescribes, allow DEA personnel to access and inspect the logs at any time, and submit copies of the logs to the DEA on a quarterly basis for two years. He will not have his DEA registration revoked.

“Doctors are trusted medical professionals and, in the midst of our opioid crisis, they must be part of the solution,” US Attorney Greg Brooker said in a statement. “As licensed professionals, doctors are held to a high level of accountability in their prescribing practices, especially when it comes to highly addictive painkillers."

Those who knew Prince in the years before his death said the iconic musician was struggling with pain, according to the Associated Press. Less than a week before his death, the singer passed out on his plane and had to be revived with naloxone – an antidote to opioid overdoses.

After his death, authorities found numerous pills around Prince's home, including some that contained fentanyl.

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