The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office reported, “Prince died of an accidental opioid overdose after he self-administered fentanyl.”

Something about that statement does not compute. How does one accidentally overdose when the drug is self administered, and why would he do it in an elevator fully dressed and wearing shoes and a hat?  That sounds more in line with a sudden death episode than a drug overdose, not that he was not taking pills, lots of pills because clearly he was, and the news is not that shocking.

But here’s the thing. When interviewed his personal cook told a tale about Prince not being able to eat because he had sores in his mouth, and if he did eat the food came right back up. Consequently, Prince was very thin, something he attributed to lack of appetite. Couple that with his doctor saying Prince had a low body temperature, low pulse, fatigue, and was fighting the effects of the flu, and what you have is the classic symptoms of ‘Addison’s Disease’.

Undoubtedly, drug usage factored into Prince’s sudden death, but in the mad dash to get his body to the crematorium, was he checked for anything else? It could be he succumbed to ‘Addisonian Crisis’, and maybe, he was taking opioids not so much for pain but because it made him feel better because he was at death’s door.

I guess, I just don’t know enough about drugs in general and fentanyl and opioids in particular, and how they can trigger a sudden death episode in a elevator wearing a hat. It’s the mention of the hat that bothers me. Who wears a hat to a sudden death episode? However, I do know a thing or two about ‘Addison’s Disease’ and ‘Addisonian Crisis’; without medical intervention and a cortisone injection and sodium/potassium infusion, one loses consciousness, goes into shock, and dies rather suddenly where he stands.

Of course, it’s supposition on my part, but it would be a sad thing indeed if a talented entertainer could have been saved by a simple prescription for cortisone. As for the opioid usage, isn’t that what rehab is for? Damn! I wish he hadn’t been wearing the hat. The hat haunts me.