Prince Had Oxycodone in Bottles Labeled 'Kirk Johnson'

Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg explains why in court documents
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 17, 2017 12:59 PM CDT
Prince Had Oxycodone in Bottles Labeled 'Kirk Johnson'
In this June 1, 2006, file photo, drummer Kirk Johnson speaks at a news conference during the first rehearsal by members of the new band The Truth in Minneapolis. Johnson was a longtime drummer for Prince and estate manager at Paisley Park.   (Jeff Wheeler)

A doctor who saw Prince in the days before he died had prescribed the painkiller oxycodone under the name of Prince's friend to protect the musician's privacy, according to court documents unsealed Monday. The documents show authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince's associates, and Prince's email accounts to try to determine how he got the fentanyl. The documents reveal nothing about how the pop superstar got that synthetic drug, but do shed light on Prince's struggle with addiction to prescription opioids in the days before he died. A search of Prince's home yielded numerous pills in various containers. Some were in prescription bottles for Kirk Johnson, Prince's longtime friend and associate, reports the AP.

Some of the drugs in Prince's bedroom were in a suitcase with the name "Peter Bravestrong" on it. Police believe Bravestrong was an alias Prince used when he traveled. Just six days before his April 21 death, Prince fell ill on a plane and made an emergency stop in Illinois as he was returning home from a concert in Atlanta. First responders revived him with two doses of a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. One affidavit says Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, a family doctor who saw Prince on April 7, 2016, and again on April 20, acknowledged to authorities that he prescribed oxycodone for Prince the same day as the emergency landing "but put the prescription in Kirk Johnson's name for Prince's privacy." In addition to the dozens of pills recovered, authorities also found a pamphlet for an addiction recovery center in California. (More Prince stories.)

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