Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Counterfeit Fentanyl-Filled Drugs Reportedly Found At Prince's Estate
Just like the pills found at Prince鈥檚 home, the聽fentanyl-filled pills that the Drug Enforcement Administration has been finding look just like聽run-of-the-mill prescription pills. 鈥淭he counterfeit pills often closely resemble the authentic medications they were designed to mimic, and the presence of fentanyl is only detected upon laboratory analysis,鈥 a DEA聽report聽warned last month. (Contrera, 8/22)
Pills marked as hydrocodone that were seized from Paisley Park after Prince鈥檚 overdose death actually contained fentanyl, the powerful opioid that killed him, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. The musician, who weighed only 112 pounds at the time of his death April 21, had so much of the drug in his system, autopsy results later showed, that it would have killed anyone, regardless of size, the source said. (Montemayor, 8/20)
Drugs collected from Prince's Paisley Park estate after his body was discovered April 21 were counterfeit pills that contained聽fentanyl, the powerful painkiller that an autopsy report said聽caused his death. Nearly two dozen pills found in one Aleve bottle were falsely labeled聽"Watson 385," an聽official told聽the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. (Blas, 8/21)
