Northern California-based addiction specialist Dr.Howard Kornfeld was first contacted by Prince representatives on April 20, one day before the singer’s body was discovered at his home, attorney William Mauzy told reporters.
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Dr Howard Kornfeld was called on Wednesday 20 April and told that Prince “was dealing with a grave medical emergency”, a lawyer representing the Kornfeld family has said to the Star Tribune.
According to Mauzy, Andrew Kornfeld told him that two staffers “screamed” when they saw Prince’s body and “were in too much shock” to call 911, the Mirror reported.
Mauzy said Dr. Kornfeld, the elder, wanted to get Prince “stabilized in Minnesota and convince him to come to Recovery Without Walls in Mill Valley”. He turned the drug over to authorities investigating Prince’s death, Mauzy said.
Now, the US attorney’s office and the DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY have joined the CARVER COUNTY Sheriff’s office in the investigation. Unable to attend himself, Kornfled sent his son Andrew to outline a treatment programme that his father would implement at a later date.
Mauzy says he was retained after Andrew Kornfeld was questioned by investigators, and feared he could face charges in connection with Prince’s death.
As for the drugs in the backpack. even if Andrew’s dad prescribed the drug for Prince, our DEA sources say it’s illegal for anyone to take the drugs across state lines and deliver drugs in states where the doctor is not board certified.
The 57-year-old Prince was found dead on April 21 at his Paisley Park home-studio complex in a Minneapolis suburb.
“It is my belief that the [Minnesota law] providing immunity for people who make a 911 emergency call – to receive immunity for any medications, any controlled substances on the scene – will provide statutory immunity to Andrew”, Mauzy speculated, referring to state Good Samaritan laws that protect individuals from being prosecuted for possession of controlled substances if they were seeking help for someone in an emergency.
A final cause of death is pending further testing, and may still be weeks away. Prescription opioid medication was found at the scene, a law enforcement source told Reuters.
Andrew Kornfeld is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he studied neuroscience and psychology.
The day before Prince died, his representatives reached out to a nationally recognized opioid addiction expert from Marin County to help the music icon kick a life-threatening dependence to prescription pain killers.
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Reportedly, Andrew Kornfeld, who’s listed as a practice consultant on the treatment center’s website but not a doctor, arrived at Prince’s compound with a small amount of buprenorphine and was going to begin creating a treatment plan, however, he never had the chance to administer any of the drug.
