Doctor called to aid Prince is longtime pain specialist

By ERIC RISBERG and JANIE HAR
Associated Press

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (AP) – The Northern California doctor who was asked to help Prince before his death is an addiction and pain specialist who has championed the use of a semi-synthetic opiate to treat pain.

Dr. Howard Kornfeld, who operates an outpatient medical center, received publicity in 2013 in the San Francisco Bay Area for his work with buprenorphine to control pain.

Advocates of the drug say it can help addicted patients by offering pain relief with less possibility of overdose and addiction, unlike oxycodone or morphine.

Kornfeld’s attorney says Prince representatives reached out the day before the pop star died, but the doctor sent his son because he couldn’t immediately fly to Minnesota.

At least two experts on treating addiction have questioned whether Kornfeld responded appropriately when he was called to help Prince.

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