A frantic effort to get Prince help for an apparent battle with painkillers was launched hours before he died.

The night before he died, Prince’s representatives made a desperate call to Dr. Howard Kornfeld, who specializes in treating people who are addicted to pain medication.

“He set into motion a plan to deal with what he felt was a life-saving mission,” said William Mauzy, the attorney for Kornfeld. “That mission was to get Prince to a doctor, in Minnesota, on Thursday morning.”

Unable to travel from California immediately, Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew, who works at his father’s treatment facility, on an overnight flight to Minneapolis.

Andrew Kornfeld arrived at the Paisley Park on April 28 with two of Prince’s associates. They anxiously searched for the singer and discovered him unresponsive.

“One of the staff members started screaming,” Mauzy said. “Andrew heard the screams and went to the elevator, where he saw that Prince was unconscious.”

Andrew Kornfeld called 911, telling the dispatcher, “The person is dead here, and people are just distraught.”

Michael Padden, a former lawyer for two of Prince’s dead siblings, said they revealed the icon battled an addiction to Percocet decades before his sudden death. He said half-brother Duane Nelson told him he used to get the drug for Prince to help him come down after shows, but he was adamant he was not just a recreational user.

“Duane told me he would get him Percocet,” Padden said. “He mentioned it to me in the context of how stressful it was for him having to fulfill that need and how hard it was for him.”

CNN could not independently confirm the lawyer’s account, as both siblings are deceased.

Duane Nelson worked for Prince at Paisley Park, but he was fired at some point and ended up suing his half-brother. Padden said another half-sibling, Lorna Nelson, confirmed the musician’s drug use but was not involved in getting drugs for him.

– CNN