http://www.tmz.com/

Prince had OD'd on Percocet days before his death, and he ingested so much EMTs had to administer a "save shot" at the airport where his plane made an emergency landing to save his life.

Sources in Moline, Illinois tell TMZ, Prince's entourage told responders he had taken the painkiller after his Atlanta concert which triggered the emergency.

Percocet is a painkiller which contains a combination of acetaminophen and oxycodone, an opioid. It is highly addictive.

We're told Prince was taking painkillers for a hip problem. We're told he had corrective surgery for his hips around 2010.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz46ZQzsewn

[Edited 4/22/16 8:48am]

I can't bear this I wish TMZ would stop

You could at least add 'days before his death' in the title, dickhead.

Googled percocet when I saw this. It's called a "white collar heroin", and withdrawals are flu like symptoms. I sincerely hope he was just using it for his hip and this was an accidental overdose due to wanting to keep working while in pain, and not that he got addicted, kick it and withdrawals sent him back to take it again and it caused heart failure.

[Edited 4/22/16 9:13am]

I will wait 'till after the autopsy... wait for the official answer.


I am sure we will be told the truth about what happened in that elevator.... so shocking... still....

Percocet is a nasty drug. When I was prescribed it after surgery I took it for three days, switched to Ibuprofen, and flushed that crap down the toilet. I'm not buying any garbage that TMZ dishes out. This isn't going to turn into an MJ circus, not for me. I wish people would stop posting from a gossip media source, but, if they do, I won't be reading.

thedance said:

I will wait 'till after the autopsy... wait for the official answer.


I am sure we will be told the truth about what happened in that elevator.... so shocking... still....

I don't think so! What is more intimitate than the moment of death - I do not want to know what exactly happened. I don't know the US rules, but I think in Austria they wouldn't tell the public what happend and why one died! Exept the relatives do so..

R.I.P my friend - i was blessed to see u in app. 30 concerts ...

We need to stop posting stuff like this.

I find that kind of hard to believe.. if he actually was dependent on percocet wouldnt he want to sleep all the time?

netzverwalter said:

thedance said:

I will wait 'till after the autopsy... wait for the official answer.


I am sure we will be told the truth about what happened in that elevator.... so shocking... still....

I don't think so! What is more intimitate than the moment of death - I do not want to know what exactly happened. I don't know the US rules, but I think in Austria they wouldn't tell the public what happend and why one died! Exept the relatives do so..

R.I.P my friend - i was blessed to see u in app. 30 concerts ...

Remember Falco? It´s always the same...everywhere.

Scavengers, parasites. No disrespect to MJ and Whitney but I don't think this was on that level whatever it was. They want to make the tie-in so bad, that Harvey Levin who runs TMZ is insufferable. Fox News was eating it up and Harvey kept saying things like he wanted to make sure all of his sources were good but he kept dropping nasty hints, saying but not saying. I think it is sad if even a little bit of what they are saying is true but they are castign so many aspersions...just trying to see what will stick.

The ONLY good thing TMZ has done so far is call out Justin Beiber for making a stupid comment by tweet that disrespected Prince, whether intentional or not. Just when I was actually starting to enjoy JB's music again...

purplethunder3121 said:

Percocet is a nasty drug. When I was prescribed it after surgery I took it for three days, switched to Ibuprofen, and flushed that crap down the toilet. I'm not buying any garbage that TMZ dishes out. This isn't going to turn into an MJ circus, not for me. I wish people would stop posting from a gossip media source, but, if they do, I won't be reading.

Was prescribed that stuff after a tooth extraction. Took it for one day and down the toilet as well. I dealt with the pain. I think whatever the autopsy results are, it will be a shocker for everyone. I'm just bracing myself.

purplethunder3121 said:

Percocet is a nasty drug. When I was prescribed it after surgery I took it for three days, switched to Ibuprofen, and flushed that crap down the toilet. I'm not buying any garbage that TMZ dishes out. This isn't going to turn into an MJ circus, not for me. I wish people would stop posting from a gossip media source, but, if they do, I won't be reading.

TMZ may be a bunch of parasitic low lifes, however, they are rarely (if ever) wrong when it comes to reporting serious shit like this. Tabloidy gossip - sure, but not stories like this. They will disgustingly stop at nothing to get the true story and report it first.

I took percocet when I had a back injury and it was literally the ONLY thing that allowed me to move, I'm thankful for it.

It doesn't tarnish him in any way to say this happened.

4everyours said:

Just to provide some extensively trained medical perspective here, but of course without knowing all of the specifics of this case. However, this whole thing doesn't sound right. Percocet is an oral agent and if he left ATL pretty soon after the end of the concert, he would had had to taken the whole freaking bottle, or at least quite a bit to have had such an effect on him. But, also, when a patient comes to the ED and one of their issues is a decreased level of consciousness and they may have taken even the prescribed amount of pain meds like this, it is very common to give them a dose of Narcan, reversal agent, just to see if that helps "wake them up". It has no real side effects so it is used very commonly just to see if it helps with the situation. But there are other reasons someone might be weak and/or have a decreased level of consciousness. Furthermore, in regards to his ultimate death, can't believe I am even having to write that, ugh, again, if someone does OD on narcotics, they die from respiratory suppression which then builds up carbon dioxide in our blood which then results in respiratory arrest and death. So, that is why people who die like that are usually in bed or some kind of sedentary place. But to die in an elevator seems to me like what we call "sudden death" which is usually more related to cardiac arrhythmias, pulmonary embolus (blood clot in lung), or heart attack. But narcotic OD in someone able to go to the elevator just doesn't pass my sniff test. Now, maybe he was taking these meds and then had been taking a bunch of over the counter stuff and some weird cross reaction occurred which caused a fatal heart arrhythmia, but pure OD, not on board with that. Now, as a fan who is truly devastated and heart broken over all of this, I have to say, WTF? I want to know who the dipshits were that were at PP and when did they get there or where they there all night, etc. ? And if he had been sick, then why in the fuck are they leaving him alone? Ok, that is my grief stricken fan rant!! But the other stuff above, I hope this stuff I wrote was clear and maybe helps someone have a better perspective on things.

Im going to say something you probably won't agree with. It is HIGHLY LIKELY HIGHLY PROBABLE that Prince was addicted to Percocet. The sole reason being his alleged medical issue regarding his hip surgery. If the pain was that bad, you are DAMN RIGHT he would seek whatever to numb that pain. He probably did take a high dose of it because he wanted the pain to go away.

Many people on here and other forums have said countless times, Prince was facing torturous pain due to this hip issue and people just shrugged it off "Tee hee hee he's spritely, he's never been better"

I think it is very likely Prince likely had to deal with the last 5 years with a increasingly high dose of pain medication. He was just coping, like we all would be if we were in his shoes.

4everyours said:

Just to provide some extensively trained medical perspective here, but of course without knowing all of the specifics of this case. However, this whole thing doesn't sound right. Percocet is an oral agent and if he left ATL pretty soon after the end of the concert, he would had had to taken the whole freaking bottle, or at least quite a bit to have had such an effect on him. But, also, when a patient comes to the ED and one of their issues is a decreased level of consciousness and they may have taken even the prescribed amount of pain meds like this, it is very common to give them a dose of Narcan, reversal agent, just to see if that helps "wake them up". It has no real side effects so it is used very commonly just to see if it helps with the situation. But there are other reasons someone might be weak and/or have a decreased level of consciousness. Furthermore, in regards to his ultimate death, can't believe I am even having to write that, ugh, again, if someone does OD on narcotics, they die from respiratory suppression which then builds up carbon dioxide in our blood which then results in respiratory arrest and death. So, that is why people who die like that are usually in bed or some kind of sedentary place. But to die in an elevator seems to me like what we call "sudden death" which is usually more related to cardiac arrhythmias, pulmonary embolus (blood clot in lung), or heart attack. But narcotic OD in someone able to go to the elevator just doesn't pass my sniff test. Now, maybe he was taking these meds and then had been taking a bunch of over the counter stuff and some weird cross reaction occurred which caused a fatal heart arrhythmia, but pure OD, not on board with that. Now, as a fan who is truly devastated and heart broken over all of this, I have to say, WTF? I want to know who the dipshits were that were at PP and when did they get there or where they there all night, etc. ? And if he had been sick, then why in the fuck are they leaving him alone? Ok, that is my grief stricken fan rant!! But the other stuff above, I hope this stuff I wrote was clear and maybe helps someone have a better perspective on things.

I have not seen any reports that claims he DIED from an OD of some sort.

I hate big Pharma.

JustErin said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Percocet is a nasty drug. When I was prescribed it after surgery I took it for three days, switched to Ibuprofen, and flushed that crap down the toilet. I'm not buying any garbage that TMZ dishes out. This isn't going to turn into an MJ circus, not for me. I wish people would stop posting from a gossip media source, but, if they do, I won't be reading.

TMZ may be a bunch of parasitic low lifes, however, they are rarely (if ever) wrong when it comes to reporting serious shit like this. Tabloidy gossip - sure, but not stories like this. They will disgustingly stop at nothing to get the true story and report it first.

I took percocet when I had a back injury and it was literally the ONLY thing that allowed me to move, I'm thankful for it.

It doesn't tarnish him in any way to say this happened.

It's true. They're not making up stories like The Enquirer or Star or whatever does. They will dig and dig to find the truth, whether it's a court document, a toxicology report, an autopsy, a text message, a 911 call. You will find the truth on there, whether you like it or not. The truth is the truth, no matter where you hear it.

Prince using drugs in the past isn't new. I don't believe he was a drug addict, or even struggled with it (like MJ did for decades), but he used X a lot when that chick Ingrid was in his brain and on his jock. (Remember the story about him seeing the devil?) He drank a bit in the mid-90s, and even made reference to it in "The Holy River". "Have another glass of Port, and forget this".

With the surgery in 2010, there's no doubt he had some pain relievers in his midst to help him, as anyone would need, to cope with the pain and recovery. What he was using in recent weeks, we don't know. But it's possible. TMZ will find the truth in these things, as painful as it might seem. Prince was everything everyone says - genius, etc - but he was still a middle aged man who faced any physical struggle anyone else could. Through all our mourning, let's not forget (yet we're painfully reminded) that he was incredibly human too, like you and me.

I don't know what happened and I hate speculating, but the memoirs and his crying in a few concerts recently (or saying that songs got to him) point at the fact that he knew what was going to happen. so not an overdose.

Anyway, we'll find out soon, and whatever happened won't change anything.

This is supposedly the last picture of Prince leaving a pharmacy the day before he passed.

It's true that some - not all doctors (as mine was not this way at all) - push medication but I'm not quite understanding the blatant refusal from some to place accountability on Prince. We all know full and well that Prince did not do ANYTHING he did not want to do...and whatever he wanted to do, he did. If there was ever a person who surrounded himself in yes-men it was him.

I'm utterly devastated by his death. I believe the OD story. I don't know why he died but I do feel strongly that Prince was doing exactly what he wanted or felt he had to do - on his own accord.

It's all so terribly sad.

nonames said:

I don't know what happened and I hate speculating, but the memoirs and his crying in a few concerts recently (or saying that songs got to him) point at the fact that he knew what was going to happen. so not an overdose.

Anyway, we'll find out soon, and whatever happened won't change anything.

I agree with this. Along with his strange comment at the last concert: "Wait a few days before you waste any prayers..." it seems like he knew his time was coming. For all we know, he could have been dying and knew he only had a short time left but kept it as hidden as possible. Whatever he was allegedly doing with the Percocet is just a piece of the puzzle. Yes TMZ has broken legit stories before but on the same hand they've also reported inaccurate info before too. I will wait until the official autopsy comes out.

I just hope some of the Nelson's are on duty to keep folks from trying to take pics of his body. I wouldnt be able to get pass that. I do not want them to disrepect Prince like that.

[Edited 4/22/16 11:50am]

lrn36 said:

This is supposedly the last picture of Prince leaving a pharmacy the day before he passed.

He looked thin

lrn36 said:

This is supposedly the last picture of Prince leaving a pharmacy the day before he passed.

Looks like someone drove him there.

nursev said:

JustErin said:

It's true that some - not all doctors (as mine was not this way at all) - push medication but I'm not quite understanding the blatant refusal from some to place accountability on Prince. We all know full and well that Prince did not do ANYTHING he did not want to do...and whatever he wanted to do, he did. If there was ever a person who surrounded himself in yes-men it was him.

I'm utterly devastated by his death. I believe the OD story. I don't know why he died but I do feel strongly that Prince was doing exactly what he wanted or felt he had to do - on his own accord.

It's all so terribly sad.

Given what we at least thought we knew about him as a person, I for one need more than TMZ.


Regardless, my opinion of him as a person will never change no matter what. He was human.