While fans eagerly await to hear an official cause of death ruling on the legendary Prince, Dr. Drew Pinsky is weighing in with his theory.
The Celebrity Rehab host believes the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer may have been the victim of an “accidental overdose,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After news of the singer’s death broke, TMZ reported that Prince had been treated for an overdose to Percoset just six days prior.
His plane made an emergency landing and the star was administered a “save shot,” typically given to counteract effects of opiates such as the aforementioned prescription painkiller.
Prince had a history of hip problems and was believed to be taking Percoset to relieve symptoms.
After the plane incident occurred, reps for the artist told press that Prince had been battling the flu, and his worsening symptoms are what necessitated the landing.
Dr. Drew, for one, doesn’t buy it.
“They don’t land planes for the flu,” he said.
He speculates that Prince had taken a “combination of oral opiates and Benzodiazepines,” which he says is “extraordinarily dangerous.”
While perilous, Drew affirms that physicians prescribe the cocktail “all the time.”
He goes on to explain that the potentially lethal combo “stops you from breathing and you die.”
“It’s easy for that to happen with that combination even as prescribed,” he confirmed.
However, Drew postulates that Prince didn’t have a problem with addiction, but that the overdose was likely an accident.
“Although opiates figure into this story, it doesn’t really sound like an addiction story,” he said.
“Even if it ends up being drugs that caused him to stop breathing, I would put it more in the accident category than the addiction category,” he continued.
“But still, an otherwise healthy middle-aged man with hip pain should not be on opiates chronically. Period.”
Drew’s statements bring to mind the accidental overdose and death of another music legend, Michael Jackson.
in 2011, Dr. Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after administering a fatal dose of Propofol to the late pop star.
Could history be repeating itself?
We hope not.
The idea that another beloved icon who touched so many was taken too early due to a negligent physician saddens and angers us beyond belief.
