Thanks KZ, good information. I myself am a witness, and have attended the same conventions as Prince. The biggest problem most witnesses face isn't so much that blood is needed, since surgery has come such a long way, but frequently doctors (generally very old school docs) do not want to perform the surgery unless we will sign a consent that says if blood is NEEDED that we will accept it. (went through this with my husband's knee replacement) Usually the patient needs a volume or liquids, not so much the blood, and this can be handled with a variety of substitutes, such as ringer's solution. We go for all that stuff. We believe in the Bible--not miracle cures, we need and use doctors just like everyone else with the exception of blood.
As for autologous transfusions, if the blood has left the body to be cleansed and returned to the body without being store outside the body, most witnesses that I know would go for this--we did That is a matter of how each person feels morally about it. The bible is pretty clear about taking in blood (such as a donor's), and using is for various things once is has left the body, but with so many bloodless alternatives, there is rarely a conflict, and with the connections and money Prince had, I doubt this would have been an issue. There are endless reason he may not have wanted surgery.
As for the drugs, whether prince was in pain before during or after his hip problems, any of those times can create a drug addict. Prince may have been a drug addict for many years, maybe even before becoming a Christian and could never break free. Drug addiction certainly isn't considered Christian's conduct, but there is a huge area that is covered, such as, are these necessary? maybe they were, maybe not, - was he an addict that just couldn't bear to ask for help? There are many, many things I do (and probably everyone) that aren't consistent with good Christian behavior, and I thank every person on this earth, outside this earth, and within my congregation that understands that we aren't perfect and our duty is to love our neighbor as ourselves and try to refrain from judging.