Music legend Prince died one day before he was scheduled to meet a doctor who specializes in addiction treatment for a “life-saving mission”, the doctor’s lawyer said at a news conference on Wednesday.
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The California specialist, Dr. Howard Kornfeld, immediately had his son take a red eye flight to the Twin Cities to see the artist.
William Mauzy told reporters Wednesday that representatives of Prince reached out to Dr. Howard Kornfeld the day before Prince died and that Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew Kornfeld, to meet with Prince because the doctor couldn’t immediately fly to Minnesota.
The next morning, Prince representatives met him at the hotel and brought him to Paisley Park, where Kornfeld was to meet with Prince before taking him to the Minnesota doctor for evaluation and treatment pending a decision to travel to California. Mauzy says it was Andrew Kornfeld who called 911 when Prince’s unresponsive body was found in an elevator at Paisley Park, Prince’s suburban Minneapolis compound.
“Dr. Kornfeld was never able to meet Prince, never talked to Prince, and sadly, was not able to arrive in time to help Prince”, he said.
“Dr. Kornfeld felt that his mission was a lifesaving mission, so certainly he felt it to be urgent”, Mauzy said.
Within days of Prince’s death, sources told the Star Tribune that his use of painkillers, which were found at the scene, had become the focus of the investigation.
On Tuesday, police released call records from 2011 that suggested Prince was unable to control a cocaine habit.
After he was first contacted by Prince’s representatives, Howard Kornfeld requested that a Twin Cities physician check on Prince and stabilize him, sources said.
“The US Attorney’s Office and DEA are joining the Carver County Sheriff’s investigation”.
The attorney also says Andrew Kornfeld never meant to give the buprenorphine directly to Prince, but rather to a doctor who had planned to evaluate Prince.
At least two experts on treating addiction have questioned whether Kornfeld responded appropriately when he was called to help Prince. The trio finally found Prince, unresponsive, inside an elevator, Mauzy said. Mauzy says he is representing the Kornfeld family.
According to the newspaper’s account, Prince representatives called Dr. Howard Kornfeld on April 20.
It was Korneld who called 911, Mauzy said.
Officials have yet to publicly comment on what killed Prince.
The autopsy of the late singer was completed on April 22, said the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office, but results are still pending.
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A law enforcement source told CNN that a health scare that caused the unscheduled landing of his airplane about a week before his death was likely the result of a reaction to the pain medication, a law enforcement source said.
