Did Counterfeit Pills Kill Prince?
The recent, unexpected death of the “Prince of Funk”, Prince, is now causing lawyers, politicians, and many others to focus their sites on a growing issue: counterfeit protection for medication. At the time of his death, Prince weighed a mere 112 pounds, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Prince took a dose of the opioid fentanyl that was so powerful it would have “killed anyone, regardless of their size.” However, investigators have revealed that counterfeit drugs were found inside Prince’s home that appeared to be a blend of acetaminophen and hydrocodone from Watson Laboratories, but instead, the pills contained fentanyl. This revelation has led investigators to believe that it is likely that Prince unwittingly took the fentanyl that caused his death. Investigators speculate that Prince took the drug for the first time in the 24 hours before he died.
Although Prince has become the most high-profile casualty of fentanyl disguised as other medications, the “new national crisis of deadly counterfeit pills” has been plaguing the United States for a few years now. Many synthetic drugs like fentanyl have been flooding the U.S. market in recent years partly because companies in China have begun to figure out ways to alter the chemical composition of the drug in a way that allows them to circumvent Chinese export laws and American import laws. Before Prince’s death, the DEA alerted law enforcement around the country of the epidemic with a document titled “Counterfeit Prescription Pills Containing Fentanyls: A Global Threat.” With the death of Prince, it has become apparent to many that anti-counterfeiting enforcement has become an essential component to the health and safety of the American people.
For more information on this topic, please visit our Anti-Counterfeiting Enforcement and Trademark Piracy service page, which is part of our Trademarks practice.
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SOURCE:
http://qz.com/763035/counterfeit-pills-potentially-from-china-may-have-killed-prince/
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