Prince Death Update: 'Purple Rain' Singer Was Going To Start Treatment Plan For Pain Medication? [VIDEO]
While there is mounting evidence that music icon Prince may have been addicted to pain medication before his death, some are still skeptical.
As professionals try to get to the bottom of Prince's death last month, there is some indication that he may have been an addict for pain pills. A new story from The New York Times details the process of discovering the singer's addiction, with some of his friends enlisting the help of Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a specialist in pain medication addiction.
William J. Mauzy, the Kornfeld family lawyer, spoke this week about how Dr. Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew, to Prince's home to discuss a treatment plan. But shortly after he arrived, Andrew would become one of the people who found the entertainer lifeless in the elevator.
"The hope was to get him stabilized in Minnesota and convince him to come to Recovery Without Walls in Mill Valley," Mauzy said. "That was the plan."
Those closest to him may have had suspicions of Prince at least dealt with pain issues from years of touring. Alan Leeds, the musician's former tour manager and president of Paisley Park Records, spoke on this:
"There wasn't a tour we did where he wasn't sometimes performing in pain," he said. "He was that kind of old school, the-show-must-go-on guy, so the idea of him medicating himself in order to perform isn't strange to me."
However, The New York Times reports that Prince's fellow worshippers at the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in Minnesota did not see much truth in reports that he was addicted to medication.
One source close to Prince (who wished to remain anonymous) said that he had been taking painkillers before having hip surgery, after which point he was prescribed more medication.
Prince died at the age of 57, leaving behind a huge collection of hits and indelible mark on the music industry at large.
