The medical examination of Prince revealed that he overdosed on the opioid fentanyl. Fentanyl is a very strong pain medication and is commonly used in patients with cancer. The report also said that it was self-administered and it was an accident. The puzzling part of this scenario is how did Prince manage to get the fentanyl? The opioid is a prescription drug but has recently been made illicitly on the streets which makes it cheaper and easier to obtain. If it is discovered that Prince overdoses on fentanyl that he obtained illegally, then the case would turn into a criminal investigation.
So how is Prince connected to the heroin epidemic that is raging across the country? The answer is simple: opioid abuse. Although Prince did not use heroin (as far as we know), he was addicted to an opioid. The day before his death, his personal assists called an eminent opioid addiction specialist seeking urgent help according to the doctor's lawyer. Prescription opioids and heroin affect the same receptors in the body that block pain. This becomes a problem when patients have to start taking an opioid for some reason and end up becoming addicted to a prescription opioid. Enough prescriptions are written for opioids in the United States each year that every adult could have their own bottle of pills. The addiction to opioids can be an expensive one. Once the doctor stops writing prescriptions for opioids and pharmacists stop filling them the patients sometimes turn to the streets. It is not uncommon for someone to be in an accident or have surgery where they are then prescribed pain medication but end up not taking it. Then sometimes they will sell their opioids to people on the streets. Due to the opioids needed a prescription it is expensive when someone is addicted to them and takes them frequently.
Like previously mentioned, heroin acts on the same pain receptor as the prescription opioids. However, heroin is much cheaper to buy on the streets than a prescription opioid and users tend to feel a similar or an even more extreme high. Therefore, addicted opioid abusers could begin to use heroin and soon become addicted to that because it is more potent and opioid users are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin. Heroin has become an epidemic in this country. EMS responders have started to carry Naloxone in their EMS bags due to the increasing number of overdoses. Naloxone is also available in pharmacies across the nation.
Prince died of an opioid addiction to fentanyl which is 25 times more potent than heroin. It is a very deadly drug if not used with caution and supervision of a doctor. Hopefully, Prince's death will help America wake up and face the fact that opioid abuse is a very serious problem in this country, and that action must be taken.
