The opioid epidemic is one that statistics have shown to have no boundaries. It has and is still affecting people in all walks of life. From the elite to those who are homeless there are countless lives lost daily and families suffering because of it. Many cases revealed doctors who wrote countless prescriptions for patients who show true signs of addiction. Instead of giving an alternative medication and advice to seek help for their addiction they’re were handed another script. Such is the case with renowned singer/musician, Prince, who died two years ago from an accidental overdose.
Prince’s family is now going after Dr. Michael Schulenberg for failure to treat the singer’s opiate addiction. They insist he turned a blind eye to it and continued to prescribe the drug that clearly was robbing his life.
The family’s lawyer, John Goez, assisted his family in filing the suit at the Hennepin County District Court. They are suing the doctor for $50,000 for unspecified damages.
A week before Prince’s death he received treatment at Trinity Medical Center when his plane made an emergency landing because he was unconscious due to prescription pills.
“Prince lived in Minnesota all his life and passed away here, so we always thought his family’s lawsuit belonged in Minnesota,” Goetz said in a statement regarding where the lawsuit is in progress.
“This case has no merit,” said Peterson and that Schulenburg was giving the medical care that Prince was in need of.
Authorities disagree and are insist that he was failed to be properly evaluated, diagnosed or receive counsel about his opiate addiction. The family believes that his doctor’s lack of ethics made way for his addiction to continue and ultimately lead to his death by overdose.
The lawsuit states that “These departures from the standard of acceptable medical practice had a substantial part in bringing about Prince’s death.”
Prince’s brothers and sisters aren’t only suing Dr Schulenberg but Iowa Health System, UnityPoint Health, Walgreens and North Memorial Healthcare. The suit provides details that he had visited all of these facilities during the weeks prior to his death and no one chose to address his addiction. They concur that had someone properly treated him his death could’ve been prevented. However, the main focus is still Prince’s doctor who saw him twice the week before he died and admitted to writing prescriptions under the name of the singer’s bodyguard to protect his privacy.
