Counterfeit pain pills likely came to Prince illegally

The confiscated pills were marked as hydrocodone, a commonly prescribed drug for moderate pain relief, but in fact contained fentanyl, an intensely powerful painkiller for which Prince had no prescription.

Prince was found lifeless in an elevator in his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota on April 21, according to CNN.

Speaking to People, Ben Levinson, an addiction expert and founder of Origins Behavior Healthcare, reportedly said that mislabeling bottles of pills is common in the trade of illegal prescription drugs.

A spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) added to the publication that officials “haven’t assigned a time limit” on their investigation and said it would be “ongoing and thorough”.

Police are looking deeper into the death of Prince, photographed at the 57th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 8, 2015, in the hopes of finding out whether a fatal mix of drugs may have been the cause. A judge excluded 29 would-be heirs in July, bolstering the claims of his sister and surviving half-siblings.

Fentanyl has been responsible for a surge in overdose deaths in some parts of the US. “How he got them”. When made into counterfeit pills, users don’t always know they’re taking fentanyl, increasing the risk of fatal overdose. “But that’s where it would start”, Tamburino said. “Authorities also found a prescription bottle in someone else’s name that contained 10 oxycodone pills, the official said, without revealing who was listed on the prescription”.

“There’s a big, big black market for counterfeit drugs”.

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