The Star Tribune of Minneapolis has published a detailed account of what it calls a "frantic" attempt by Prince's associates to call in a well-known Marin County addiction specialist to treat the entertainment superstar just before he died.
The Star Tribune account comes mainly from William Mauzy, an attorney the paper says represents Dr. Howard Kornfeld, who operates the Recovery Without Walls addiction treatment center in Mill Valley.
The paper reports that Prince's staff called Kornfeld on April 20 and asked him to travel to the entertainer's compound in the Twin Cities suburb of Chanhassen because the entertainer "was dealing with a grave medical emergency."
The account continues:
Kornfeld ... could not clear his schedule to meet with Prince the next day, April 21, but he planned to fly out the following day.
So he sent his son, Andrew Kornfeld, who works with him, to Minnesota, with plans for him to go to Paisley Park to explain how the confidential treatment would work, Mauzy said.
“The plan was to quickly evaluate his health and devise a treatment plan,” Mauzy said, speaking on behalf of the Kornfelds. “… The doctor was planning on a lifesaving mission.”
The younger Kornfeld reportedly took an overnight flight and arrived at Prince's Paisley Park estate about 9:30 a.m. on April 21, the Star Tribune account says. But he arrived too late to help, the paper says:
When Andrew Kornfeld arrived at Paisley Park at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Prince’s representatives could not find him, Mauzy said. Andrew Kornfeld was one of three people at Paisley Park when the musician’s body was found in an elevator a few minutes later — and it was Andrew Kornfeld who called 911.
Mauzy said that Andrew Kornfeld told him that the others “screamed” when they found Prince and “were in too much shock” to call 911.
Unfamiliar with Paisley Park, Andrew Kornfeld simply told the dispatcher, “We’re at Prince’s house.”
Asked again to give an address, he said simply: “The people are just distraught. … We’re in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and we are at the home of Prince.”
Emergency responders arrived within five minutes. Prince was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m., 19 minutes after responders arrived.
Howard Kornfeld's Recovery Without Walls practice has drawn widespread attention for its use of buprenorphine, an opioid drug, for the treatment of chronic pain. The drug is considered safer and less addictive than other opioid pain treatments, reportedly because it doesn't create the euphoric effect other drugs do.