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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, April 20, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 280 ~ 28 of 43
and weeks to come,” Metz said. “But suspicions and innuendo are categorically insufficient to support any criminal charges.”
The U.S. attorney’s office also said Thursday it had no credible evidence that would lead to federal criminal charges. A law enforcement official close to the investigation told The Associated Press that the federal investigation is now inactive unless new information emerges. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the federal case remains open.
But federal authorities announced that Schulenberg had agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a civil viola- tion from the allegation that he illegally prescribed the opioid oxycodone for Prince in Johnson’s name. Schulenberg admitted to no facts or liability in the settlement, which includes stricter monitoring of his prescribing practices, and authorities said he is not the target of a criminal investigation.
Oxycodone, the generic name for the active ingredient in OxyContin, was not listed as a cause of Prince’s death. But it is part of a family of painkillers driving the nation’s addiction and overdose epidemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 2 million Americans abused or were addicted to prescription opioids, including oxycodone, in 2014.
A confidential toxicology report obtained by the AP in March showed high concentrations of fentanyl in the singer’s blood, liver and stomach. The concentration of fentanyl in Prince’s blood alone was 67.8 micrograms per liter, which outside experts called “exceedingly high.”
Prince did not have a prescription for fentanyl.
Metz said several pills were found at the Paisley Park complex after Prince died, and some were later determined to be counterfeit.
The underground market for counterfeit prescription pain pills is brisk and can be highly anonymous, said Carol Falkowski, CEO of Drug Abuse Dialogues, a Minnesota-based drug abuse training and consult- ing organization. Buyers often don’t know who they’re dealing with or what’s in the drugs they purchase, she said.
The likelihood of people buying pain pills on the street or online that turn out to be counterfeits laced with fentanyl is “extremely high,” said Traci Green, a Boston University Medical Center epidemiologist who focuses on the opioid epidemic.
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Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski and Doug Glass in Minneapolis, Ryan J. Foley in Des Moines, Iowa, and Tammy Webber in Chicago contributed this report.
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Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com . More of her work at: https://apnews.com/search/ amy%20forliti .
At trial, experts debate drug Cosby gave to his accuser By MICHAEL R. SISAK, Associated Press
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — It’s long been one of the most enduring mysteries of Bill Cosby’s sexual as- sault case: What drug did he give his chief accuser on the night she says he molested her?
Cosby has insisted he handed 1 1⁄2 tablets of the over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine Benadryl to Andrea Constand to help her relax before their sexual encounter at his home outside Philadelphia more than a dozen years ago. Constand testified he gave her three small blue pills that left her incapacitated and unable to resist as he molested her.
A pair of drug experts — one for the prosecution, one for the defense — testified at the TV star’s retrial Thursday that paralysis isn’t known to be a side effect of Benadryl, though its active ingredient can cause drowsiness and muscle weakness, among other side effects.
And Cosby’s expert, Harry Milman, said he doesn’t know of any small blue pill that could have produced the symptoms that Constand described.
The “Cosby Show” star has previously acknowledged under oath he gave quaaludes — a powerful sedative and 1970s-era party drug that’s been banned in the U.S. for more than 35 years — to women he wanted