Prince Update: Fentanyl Found In Singer’s Mislabeled Pain Pills

Prince had painkillers labeled as hydrocodone in his Paisley Park estate that actually contained fentanyl – the stronger narcotic that the singer is said to have overdosed on.

Prince’s Mislabeled Fentanyl Pills

It is believed that Prince did not know that his painkillers were mislabeled. Hydrocodone is the opioid that is found in Vicodin, a commonly prescribed painkiller. Fentanyl is far more powerful, 100 times more powerful than even morphine. The amount of Fentanyl in Prince’s system would have killed anyone, a source told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

A statement released by the DEA last month warned of the increase in counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl, leading to overdose deaths.

“Hundreds of thousands of counterfeit prescription pills, many containing deadly amounts of fentanyl and fentanyl-related compounds, have made their way into the U.S. drug market,” the statement said. “Law enforcement nationwide report higher fentanyl availability, seizures, and known overdose deaths than at any other time since the drug’s creation in 1959.”

Prince was found dead at his compound in Chanhassen, Minnesota on the morning of April 21. An autopsy revealed that Prince died of a fentanyl overdose and that he also had lidocaine, alprazolam and Percocet in his system at the time of his death. A week prior to his death, the “Purple Rain” singer had suffered an opioid overdose mid-flight and was treated with overdose antidote naloxone following an emergency landing in Illinois.