Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

Although the exact cause of Michael Jackson's death remains unknown, Brian Oxman - who has served as the family's attorney for more than 20 years - suspects prescription drug abuse may have played a role.

"I don't know what caused Michael's death, and I don't want to speculate as to what the causes are," Oxmon tells Usmagazine.com. "I only know that I warned them there was the misuse of prescription medications by people who were enabling him; his handlers, folks who should never have been permitted to allow him to use those medications in the manner I observed."

"So is that the cause of it? I don't know," he continues. "People die from various and sundry causes - they have congenital malformations of the heart, they have difficulty with various infections. I don't know what Michael Jackson's death is a result of."

Look back at Michael Jackson's life

Oxmon says Jackson, 50, "had no particular health concerns except that he had broken his leg many years ago, and it hurt him."

"He had cracked a vertebrae in his back and he took painkillers to try to ease the pain," he says. "And now we find ourselves here. I don't know if the two are connected. I had warned that the misuse of medications would result in this, and I am heartbroken that we are here."

Oxmon declined to elaborate on the types of medications Jackson was taking "because it is something which is private to Michael, and we'll have to wait for the toxicology reports before we jump to any kind of conclusions. I only know that I warned that his day may come. And lo and behold, here we are."

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An autopsy is planned for Friday, but results may not be final until toxicology tests can be completed, which could take several days and sometimes weeks. Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator Jerry McKibben said if a cause can be determined by the autopsy, they will announce the results.

"We will have to wait to see what the toxicology reports have to say, what the coroners report has to say," Oxmon says. "When that happens, I will be very vocal. It could very well be he died from natural causes, in which case, my gosh, the tragedy becomes even greater."

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Jackson was set to headline 50 sold-out shows, billed "This Is It," at London's O2 Arena beginning in July -- his final London performances.

Oxman did not know if Jackson had been examined before the tour, but "he has been in good health," he says.

As he rehearsed for the concerts, "He had been making his very best efforts to be pain-free, but it's been very difficult to him," Oxmon says.

"But I was not aware, and I don't think any of the family members were aware, of any kind of specific condition which was causing him any kind of medical or physical difficulty," he continues. "I don't know what the extent of his exercise routine was. But I do know that he was making good progress toward getting ready to perform at the show."

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Jackson Family -- Demerol Shot Caused Death


A close member of Michael Jackson's family has told us Jackson received a daily injection of a synthetic narcotic similar to morphine -- Demerol -- and yesterday he received a shot at 11:30 AM.

Family members are saying the dosage was "too much" and that's what caused his death.

Story developing...




Jackson Family Feared Morphine OD

Members of Michael Jackson's family told us the singer was given a "heavy dose of morphine" prior to his death, and family members were alarmed.

We're told Joe Jackson recently wanted to put Michael in a rehab facility in Palmdale, California for what he considered an "addiction" to morphine and prescription drugs.

Family members say they felt he was unable to perform for his upcoming concerts because of his drug use.

Members of the upcoming tour tell TMZ Jackson was generally lethargic and very late for rehearsals.

There are reports Jackson OD'd yesterday on Demerol, a drug similar to morphine.

Interestingly, Jackson wrote a song called "Morphine" in 1997. One of the lyrics -- "Demerol. Demerol. Oh God he's taking Demerol."





Jackson's Death -- Demerol OD?


There are reports ... Michael Jackson may have died after getting a Demerol injection.

The Sun is reporting shortly after the injection, Jackson's breathing got "slower and slower until it stopped."

We cannot confirm this story. We can say, however, that after Jackson was badly burned during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, he became addicted to painkillers and ended up at the Betty Ford Clinic. As for the painkillers, there are reports he was given Demerol.

In addition, during the child molestation trial, cops seized syringes and drugs, including Demerol.

Message edited 6/26/2009 10:28:22 AM.

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

Michael Jackson Doctor -- MIA

We've learned law enforcement is looking for a doctor who lived at Michael Jackson's home -- and the doctor is nowhere to be found.

Law enforcement sources tell us a BMW belonging to the doctor was towed from Jackson's home last night.

Cops are looking to interview the doc.

A law enforcement source says the doctor gave Jackson an injection before he died.

Jackson reportedly may have OD'd on Demerol. As we first reported, family members were concerned that Jackson was taking too much morphine.

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

Hmm....this is starting to sound awfully shady...

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

Drugs and Alcohol: Jackson Family Attempted Vegas Intervention

As far back as 2006, members of Michael Jackson's family were terrified that his escalating dependence on prescription drugs had become a danger to his life – and attempted an intervention in Las Vegas.

"The family believes Michael is addicted," a family insider told PEOPLE. "There was an intervention in Las Vegas. Janet was on the phone, but Randy, Jackie and Rebbie were there in person," the source said, referring to several of Michael's eight siblings.

"Michael got p---ed off. He said he wasn't on drugs. But they didn't believe him."

Jackson suffered cardiac arrest at his rented home in Los Angeles Thursday and was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PST. His autopsy will be conducted by the Los Angeles County Coroner Friday, although some tests, including a toxicology report, could take days or weeks to complete.

At the time of the Vegas intervention, another source close to the family blamed a Jackson aide for supplying the superstar with drugs from prescriptions acquired from multiple doctors.

"[The aide] has contacts wherever they are," said the source. In addition to consuming alcohol, Jackson takes "straight morphine, Demerol and opiates like Oxycontin. He also takes Valium and Xanax," said the insider.

"Michael is a clinically functioning addict and these are the most dangerous," the source continued. "They stop and start. These are the ones that OD ... It could happen any minute."

After Jackson's death Thursday, family attorney Brian Oxman, who huddled with the grieving family at the hospital, raised the possibility that the drug abuse remained a critical factor in Jackson's life. "If you think that the case of Anna Nicole Smith was an abuse, it is nothing in comparison to what we have seen in Michael Jackson's life," Oxman told CNN.

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Michael Jackson's Autopsy Has Begun

The Los Angeles County Coroner has started the autopsy on Michael Jackson.

Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran is performing the autopsy. The Dr. was a star witness in the O.J. Simpson case.

UPDATE: We're told some members of the Jackson family are headed to the coroner's office.

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

So I guess sometime today we will find out what really happened? How quickly do you get autopsy results????

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

Final Days: The Mystery of Michael Jackson's Death

It should have been the opportunity of a lifetime for a Michael Jackson fan: a behind-the-scenes invitation to a rehearsal for the superstar's upcoming concert tour in the United Kingdom.

But when the fan got to the stage, she was horrified. "He is a skeleton," she wrote Monday in an email to other Jackson fans. Worse, she said, was seeing her idol surrounded by people she deemed too frightened to say anything. "I have to say: He may die."

Three days later, Jackson, 50, collapsed in his rented Holmby Hills mansion – with his personal physician on the premises. His heart stopped; he wasn't breathing. An ambulance raced him to a hospital just minutes away from his house, but despite another hour of frantic resuscitation efforts, the world had lost one of the most successful artists in music history. The Los Angeles County Coroner will conduct an autopsy, with some results expected as early as Friday, although the findings of other possible tests could take longer.

Some in the entertainment world are utterly shocked at the sudden demise of seasoned entertainer who was, by all accounts, focused on one thing alone: getting ready for a series of 10 comeback shows at London's 02 Arena set to launch next month. Jackson rehearsed at the Staples Center on June 24 in Los Angeles, the day before with "great energy," Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich tells PEOPLE. "He wasn't giving it full out. But vocally he had started to really project. I thought he was in great form," who was at the rehearsal.

Jackson had even signed on The Incredible Hulk's Lou Ferrigno as his personal trainer, although the two hadn't worked out together in two weeks.

Yet while many in the entertainment world expressed sadness and shock, a different, more unsettling reaction came from several people close to Jackson and his family, who describe Jackson as unavoidably thin and fragile.

Filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller, who visited Jackson in April, was shocked by his weight loss. "I hugged him and it was like hugging bones," he tells PEOPLE. "After seeing him, I never thought he would complete the tour."

Says Dr. Firpo Carr, a friend and confidante of Jackson's, "I sensed something was wrong and, quite honestly, I wasn't terribly surprised when I got the news. I would get word from people in his camp that things weren't quite right."

A source close to the singer who didn't want to be identified adds: "Michael hasn't been feeling well. All last week he'd stopped coming out of his house to see his fans. He was doing that every day."

As part of his preparations for the high-stakes UK concert tour, Jackson had been training – hard. He has put in 10-hour rehearsals, a witness says, for the sort of stage spectacle fans had come to expect. Promoters insisted the 50-year-old entertainer was physically ready for the rigors of a full tour. But there was concern among some in his inner circle that Jackson might push too hard: "They didn't want him to overtax himself," family friend Kevin McLin tells PEOPLE. "You look back in history, he never completed all the dates of his shows because he gave so much in each performance – he would go non-stop for two hours."

And on Thursday, even before UCLA doctors declared Jackson dead, family attorney Brian Oxman, who huddled with the grieving family at the hospital, raised the specter of possible abuse of drugs prescribed for the singer's long history of physical ailments. "If you think that the case of Anna Nicole Smith was an abuse, it is nothing in comparison to what we have seen in Michael Jackson's life," Oxman told CNN.

According to the fan at Jackson's rehearsal who tried to raise the alarm among those who adored him, the combination of risk factors seemed dangerously close to claiming its victim.

"We all love Michael really much. We all want to see his shows. We all think about how we will be [in the] first row," the fan wrote earlier in the week. "How will you do all of these things if during the third concert he faints on stage, and if his heart stops during his way to the hospital? How will you feel when you will talk with other fans and will say: We knew he was too skinny to perform?"

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Michael Jackson's Missing Doctor ID'd

The doctor who was with Michael Jackson at the time of his death has been identified as a cardiologist from Houston, Texas.

KHOU in Houston reports the man is Dr. Conrad Robert Murray, who had been living with Jackson in his rented mansion. We're told Murray attempted to revive Michael until paramedics showed up at the scene.

The station reports the car that was towed from Michael's house last night was registered to Murray's sister. Law enforcement is looking for the doctor so they can question him.





Emergency Workers Felt Jackson Dead at Scene

When EMTs arrived at Michael Jackson's home yesterday, the medics wanted to pronounce him dead on the scene -- but Michael's personal doctor refused to let them "call it" -- this according to sources close to the situation.

When EMTs arrived there was evidence someone had been performing CPR on Michael for "quite some time." There was evidence of Lidocaine -- an old-school drug that can be used to treat disturbances in the heart's rhythm. Medics took over performing CPR but determined Jackson was lifeless -- and wanted to call the coroner to pick up the body.

We're told Jackson was flat-lined when EMTs arrived.

But our sources say M.J.'s doc demanded EMTs continue performing CPR anyway, and demanded that they take Michael to the hospital.

Once they arrived at UCLA, we're told Jackson's doc continued to personally administer CPR -- even though it was clear Jackson was already gone.





Jackson's Missing Doc To Speak with Cops

We have just learned Dr. Conrad Robert Murray -- the guy who was with Jackson when he collapsed -- is now in Los Angeles.

He is preparing to speak with law enforcement officials regarding Michael Jackson's death.

Story developing ...

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Lisa Marie Presley: Michael Jackson "Knew" He Would Dying Young

Lisa Marie Presley, who was married to Michael Jackson for 20 months following their 1994 wedding, posted the following statement (titled "He Knew") on her MySpace blog one day after the singer's death:

Look back at Michael Jackson's life.

"Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general.

"I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Father's Death.....

"At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, 'I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did.'....

"I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that.....

"14 years later I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the Cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears.....

"A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened.....

Revisit Michael Jackson’s most unforgettable moments.

"The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his Autopsy.....

"All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted.....

"I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once.....

"Our relationship was not 'a sham' as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship, yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a 'Normal life' found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.....

"I wanted to 'save him' I wanted to save him from the inevitable, which is what has just happened.....

"His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then.....

"At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself. ....

"He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated.....

"When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad.....

See Us' photo tribute to stars who have died too soon.

"Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions.....

"I became very ill and emotionally/spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him. ....

"I was in over my head while trying.....

"I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision.....

"The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.....

"After the Divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret.....

"Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation.....

"At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.....

"As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.....

"Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him.....

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"He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together.....

"I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now.....

"He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be.....

"I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is.....

"The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right.....

"I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening....."

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

Wait, the attorney isn't willing to speculate, but then speculates?

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death

I'm starting to think this may turn into another Anna Nicole case.
Issuing so many meds that weren't needed.
I just find it strange that the dr disappeared for a little while.

Re: Jackson Family Attorney: Prescription Drugs May Have Caused Death