Prince was supposed to be encouraged to get help by doctors specialized in addiction treatments on April 21, the day of his death. The specialized doctor, Howard Kornfeld, contacted by Prince’s representatives the day before, could not leave right away to Minnesota so he sent his son Andrew Kornfeld.
The 20-year-old pre-med student was sent to talk to Prince about addiction to prescription painkillers. He then tried to convince him to join Recovery Without Walls, an outpatient addiction clinic in California, according to his family’s attorney William Mauzy during a press conference on Wednesday.
At the moment of Kornfeld’s arrival, the singer could not be found by his staff members, and when he was finally located, Prince was unconscious in an elevator in Paisley Park. The pre-med student was the one who made the 911 call and Prince was later declared dead by the paramedics at the scene.
“Andrew’s purpose in being there was to describe the Recovery Without Walls program to familiarize Prince with that,” Mauzy explained. “Prince could go there for pain management or any addiction issues. This is something that Andrew has done for years,” he added.
Kornfeld graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz and has been working since at the recovery center as a practice consultant. He as well often served as a spokesman for the program and convinced patients about the benefits of getting help and participating in the program.
Dr. Kornfeld was scheduled to arrive to Minnesota the next day. The specialized doctor was contacted by Prince representatives after the Purple-Rain-singer was reportedly administered a “save shot” after suffering an alleged overdose while flying home to Minneapolis.
Taken into custody
According to the attorney, Prince was scheduled to meet with a Minnesota doctor referred by Dr. Kornfeld while he arrived next day. Prince missed the morning appointment and was later when the 20-year-old Kornfeld appeared at Paisley Park.
Kornfeld was carrying a starter dose of buprenorphine when Prince was found, a drug used to treat opiate addiction, but this was not injected at any time by the visiting member of Recovery Without Walls, according to Mauzy. The drug that Kornfeld was carrying is considered a controlled substance, similar to narcotics like Percocet, as reported by People Magazine.
Mauzy commented that those present at the scene were taken into custody and interviewed due to it was a criminal investigation according to the authorities. The medication Kornfeld was carrying was allegedly to give to the Minnesota doctor Prince was supposed to meet.
The pills were taken into possession by the Carver County Sheriff and it is likely, according to Mauzy, that the pre-med student will be provided with immunity due to the good samaritan law, which offers immunity to the 911 caller for any controlled substance found at the scene.
Source: The Washington Post