New reports claim Prince’s increasing reliance on pain medication may have led to a drug overdose, as a white Arizona sheriff tweeted a passive-aggressive response to the singer’s death.
Prince’s Atlanta concert could have tipped the scales for the singer. He may have been forced to take more Percocet to relieve pain from illness after the April 14 show.
TMZ reports Prince allegedly overdosed on Percocet in the days leading to up his death. When his plane made an emergency landing at Quad City International Airport in Moline, Illinois April 15, medical responders gave him a “save shot” to alleviate symptoms at a local hospital. The singer supposedly took the pills after his Atlanta concert, the last show he gave publicly.
Prince was reportedly taking the prescription medication for a hip problem. He had hip surgery around 2010. In the week leading up to his death, Prince went to Walgreens near his home in Minnesota four times. He was last photographed leaving the drug store Wednesday night.
According to The Guardian, the alleged overdose that triggered the emergency landing hasn’t been confirmed. The Grammy-winner was reportedly gravely ill, yet he declined a longer stay at an Illinois hospital.
Less than a week later, Prince died April 21 at the age of 57. He was found unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park home in Minneapolis.
An autopsy began at 9 a.m. Friday at the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office. Dr. A. Quinn Strobl, chief medical examiner, told Fox 9 that determining a cause of death could take “several days.” Full toxicology scan results will “likely take weeks.”
Amid many celebrities mourning the loss of The Purple One, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona took the moment to celebrate drug rehab in his jails.
He then deleted the tweet and put the following in its place, patting himself on the back.
Condolences to Prince family. He allegedly was treated for a drug overdose days ago. I celebrated 20 yrs of drug rehab in my jails today.
— Joe Arpaio (@RealSheriffJoe) April 22, 2016
Drugs are killing our nation!
— Joe Arpaio (@RealSheriffJoe) April 22, 2016
