The king of pop and the heartthrob to a million Micheal Jackson died on June 26, 2009. But how did Micheal Jackson die? The question obviously surfaced right after the news was all over and each and every one wanted to know the answer as soon as possible. The main reason was the prescription drug overdose. Leaving millions in tears Micheal Jackson’s body was rest in peace in Staples Centre. Memorials were being held and special tributes were being given to the singer who not only entertained the world with his music but also had set a precedent for those coming behind. Being a black singer and reaching the miles he paved way for other black singers to reach the same heights.
His star studded and flashy life was no surprise to anyone. Each person who followed him knew the kind of life he was spending which can be dreamt by anyone. Nonetheless it brings the person at the pressure of keeping that stardom as well. He was going through the same pressure. With reasons unknown the star was going through trouble sleeping. His last reported activity was that concert he was rehearsing for with continuous complaints of being unable to sleep. His desperate attempts to get some real rests were all failing. He was constantly looking for drugs that would help in sleep. Finally it was the unfortunate day of June 26, 2009 that in order to help him sleep his physician Dr. Murray gave him a series of drugs which would help him get some rest. But who knew that it would be the last day in his life never waking up again. As soon as he was seen unresponsive he was rushed to the hospital where he was declared ■■■■ after giving the reason of his death being a cardiac arrest.
What does the investigation reveal in Micheal Jackson’s death?
The story does not end here because in every case where the reason of death is not very obvious there is a series of investigation starting from the autopsy of the body. It consists of different examinations and tests in the ■■■■ body which helps in understanding what the particular person had gone through causing his death. Similar tests were run onto the body of Jackson as well. His body before giving for burial his investigations were not complete. It was then August 28, 2009 that the death of Micheal Jackson was declared not to be medical rather a ■■■■■■■■. It was attributed to the fact that he had been given propofol for sleep. Propofol is a sedative which suspends the consciousness of the person and his memory is also shortly lost. It is used as an anaesthetic meant for people to go in an unconscious state before surgical procedures. The reason of death was overdose of prescription drugs and the culprit found behind this was his physician Dr. Murray. He was prosecuted and sent to jail for giving the drug to Micheal Jackson leading to his death.
Everyone now knew how did Micheal Jackson die? His physician was given a sentence of four years of jail time. This did bring the untimely death of the star to justice but left so many questions behind. The fans even after years of his death are still mesmerized by his songs. No one can also disregard his efforts of becoming a star from an underprivileged background and then reaching the heights.
Micheal Jackson’s autopsy?
His cause of death in the beginning was said to be due to cardiac failure. This is why the first thing his body was to undergo was an autopsy. This was conducted by the L. A County Coroner’s office. However the question was risen by many that why did the county conduct the autopsy while it never did that before on any other body. There were reportedly two autopsies being conducted. The first one was to find the exact cause of death and the second one was to upon the request of Jackson’s family. Both contained the same results that the reason of his death stands to be the sedatives found in his body mainly propofol.
What other drugs was Micheal Jackson taking?
Another aspects to the question how did Micheal Jackson die? Is the drugs he was on for his lack of sleep. We already know that propofol was majorly found in his body. Apart from this drug there are numerous other drugs which came out in the autopsy report.
• The blood report had nordiazepam, diazepam, lidocaine, midazolam, lorazepam and propofol.
• His urine samples contained ephedrine, lidocaine, midazolam and propofol
• His liver had lidocaine and propofol
• His eyes’ vitreous humour had traces of propofol.
• Stomach also had licodaine and propofol.
The effect of propofol is so powerful that it starts its sedative effects in only 40 seconds. Food and Drug Administration FDA has approved it to be used by trained anesthologist for surgical procedures. In case of Jackson he did not have any prescriptions for the drug in the first place and the bottles found at the scene did not have any name of patient or doctor at all.
Benzodiazepines is a group of medicines having diazepam (Valium), midazolam, lorazepam and nordiazepam. These were found in his body. These group is mostly used either to induce sedation or sleep while lidocaine is used as a local anaesthesia. These were the drugs found in the autopsy but there were many other drugs recovered from the death scene.
• Antidepressants Trazadone
• Sleep aid Temazapam
• Treating seizure and panic attacks, Clonazepam
• For treatment of vitiligo which reduces melanin in the skin, Hydroquinone
• Vitiligo treatment by lightening the skin, Benoquin
• Using Flumazenil for reversing benzodiazepines overdose effects.
• Muscle relaxant, Zanaflex (tizanidine)
• Corticosteroids, Prednisone
• Enlarged prostrate treated by Flomax
• Antibiotics Amoxiline
• Antibiotics Azythromycine
• Bayer aspirin, caffeine and a stimulant Ephidrine.
What other question does Micheal Jackson’s death leave?
These were too much for a person to take which shows the troubling health problems Micheal Jackson would be going through. Also in this regard another question comes up that how much of surgeries he had gone through to reach this appearance.
Micheal Jackson’s plastic surgeries are known to everyone. There have been number of surgeries he has gone through. No one knows the exact number but about his nose he has two nose jobs which he admitted. His treating doctors said that his cheeks had implants, surgery of eyelids and has chin had a cleft added. Autopsy also reveals tattoos on his body. They were permanent and did not have any tributes what so ever to military or mom. The dark tattoos were on his hairline, lips and eyebrows and even permanent eyeliner. His natural hair were curly and short also sparse. This why he also had enhanced his hair. The last seeing of micheal jackson was having straight hair but that attributed to his use of wigs.
There certainly were not one but several other factors which had contributed to his death. So when we say how did micheal jackson die? The answer should not be limited to his drug overdose only.
The autopsy also revealed that he was also suffering from a lung disease called respiratory bronchiolitis which is commonly seen among smokers which effected his lung functionality. But how is that related to how Micheal Jackson died although this wasn’t the cause of the death. The drugs he was taking as sedatives propofol has an effect on the lungs as well by reducing its functionality. The sedative effect was also enhanced by the intake of benzodiazepines. The reports never said that diminished lung functionality was the reason of death but this had greatly impacted the heart functionality and respiration.
Keeping all these factors in mind it can easily be considered that his death was a ■■■■■■■■ and his physician Dr. Murray was sentenced on the basis of involuntary manslaughter. The reports from autopsy ruled out any chances of suicide that Jackson himself injected the propofol because there was no medical need for the drug. Secondly the drug administration was not handled professionally. His doctor treated him at home rather at the hospital. If the drug was to be administered then it should have been done in a set up where his body activities were to be monitored so the effect under sedation would
What is the history of Micheal Jackson drug intake?
Celebrities have great impact on people’s lives. They bring that hope and inspiration in their fans which they cannot find elsewhere. Same goes for Micheal Jackson as well. His music had created ripples and had brought many people under one roof and his other remarkable work would be to nullify racism as well. The hope he had given to people was undeniably one if his great feats. However his tragic death had left many people wondering as well that how did Micheal Jackson die? But apart from this question the amount of shock and grief was more than ever. Not only his fans but everyone who knew him wanted yo know the answer as well as to what had caused his death because he seemed otherwise healthy.
Nevertheless there is always a chain of events that gets set in motion maybe long before when the actual incident takes place. In case of Jackson it was not just the prescription drug overdose that took his life but a series of maltreatments and wrong choices that led this star to have his life ended. It is no secret that these stars get into drugs from one means or the other. For Micheal Jackson all this stated in January 1984 when he was shooting for a Pepsi commercial. Due to an accident he got third degree burn in his head which got him into excruciating pain. This led him to take Percocet (an opioid oxycodone combined with paracetamol) and Darvocet (now banned by FDA). He got plenty of them during his scalp treatment and also Demerol (opioid pain medication). This started his drug dependence which went on for years. All if this had gotten worse for the singer when he was facing financial problems as well which forced him to go for a series of performances in London in 2009. His health problems led him to depend more on Dr. Murray who was also not financially stable. He was never the right choice for Micheal Jackson especially considering the health problems to deal with. Although we still cannot entirely blame Murray for his death. Even before his physician had administered him with propofol a drug that killed him he already had taken the drug in a dose which was not very convincing. The doctors he got in contact with previously had fulfilled his wish to take the drug for his sleep problems and he also had the wrong idea that he is immune to the dangerous risks. So it wasn’t entirely the negligence on part if Dr. Murray but Jackson’s own disregard for a healthy lifestyle which led to a preventable loss. Many people assume that the star sometimes get the treatment which is absolutely not necessary for them rather proves to be havoc when it comes to their survival.
Micheal Jackson’s death and the legal questions
There were many legal questions which raised after the death of Micheal Jackson. The jury looked at the whole case analyzed it and asked a series of questions from the concert promoter AEG Live. They were the last company Jackson was working with and he had to go for the performances because he needed to give a comeback and the company wanted him to perform at any cost. The legal battle is summarized below by summarizing all the speculations.
Micheal’s search for a peaceful night sleep was so desperate that he was ready to do anything for it. Before his death he was signed by the AEG Live to have his comeback concerts all over the England called ‘this is it’. He was convinced with the idea that the only drug that would help in sleep was propofol. His doctor before Dr. Murray and attending nurse both refused to administer the drug at home because it needed monitoring in specialised settings. However it was Dr Murray who fulfilled his desire by doing so every night and to add to the misery he would leave Jackson alone in his room like he did the night he died with no monitoring at all.
Later revelations found that it was not Micheal himself who had hired Dr Murray rather the contractor AEG Live. Although the concert promoter denied all the allegation that even before the contract was signed the physician was already working for Micheal. The mail records all well proved that Dr Murray’s salary was actually being paid by AEG Live. This had put the contractor in thick soup because Dr Murray had his specialised training in putting catheter in arteries or veins related heart problems. Jackson did not have any known heart problem rather long standing sleep issues. Dr Murray was not specialised in anaesthetics. He still had injected him the now infamous propofol every night with no supervision at all. So he was a wrong choice for his treatment but in case of doctor like Murray who was sunk in debt his job security became more important than what was right to do.
The doctor was in quite debt and his children were already not getting full support. This certainly had brought him to notion that his job was more important than anything. The contract he had with the concert promoter that if the concert gets delayed or cancelled he will no more be attending Jackson. This is why Jackson’s family had blamed the promoter for not checking the background of doctor that his incompetency lead to the singer’s death. The contract and the financial woes led the doctor to put the company’s interest first than the health of his patient. The contractor did argue that while hiring the doctor they could never have guessed what kind of treatment was being given to Micheal Jackson. They also asserted that Micheal Jackson already use to abuse the prescription drugs and kept this private. So it wasn’t that he was at once given the drug dose and he died.
What were the losses by the concert promoter?
Although the concert promoter AEG Live did have millions of dollars loss due to the untimely death if Micheal Jackson but that loss is nothing compared to the one suffered by the mother and children who lost their son and father. There were many warning signs arising before the death of the star which people around him noticed and reported but AEG Live did not put an ear to it. Even when Jackson’s health was deteriorating under Dr Murray’s supervision. He was reported to have forgotten song lyrics, having seen things, talking to himself and repeating the same thing over and over again. There had been many people who reported it to the concert promoter that his health is getting worse mentally and physically so needs to be checked as soon as possible. Instead of taking the necessary measures to help Jackson in his falling condition they met the doctor and asked him to make sure that he does not miss rehearsals. They decided to continue with the show rather to focus on his health first.
Now that it was proven AEG Live was the one responsible for the death of the start the court had allowed the heirs to sue the promoters for the damage charges. However the family never did that. The lawyer of concert promoter asserted that even if he wasn’t over dosed of the drug his health condition had brought him near to death. That was to happen in near future anyways. Plus they also didn’t admit the fact that Jackson was really able to bring that much money out of their tour that his death had stopped.
what was concluded of the judical trials?
The death of pop icon had not only saddened millions of his fans around the world but also started a series of judicial battle between his family, the concert promoters and his physician. Dr. Murray was deprived of practicing and was sentenced to four years of imprisonment. Although the family blamed AEG Live for the death of Micheal Jackson for they should have been vigilant of the signs he was showing related to his health. The jury evicted the concert promoter of the blames and cleared them by not liable to give any penalties.
How did propofol kill Michael Jackson
It is clear uphill now that death of the pop start was due to the intoxication caused by propofol. This drug is from the anaesthetic class which is used before the surgical procedure to induce unconsciousness into patients. This is a powerful drug with which the patient does go unconsciousness but there is much danger posed to the patient as well. The ability of person to respite can be suspended upon manhandling. The fatality is caused by effecting the breathing of the patient and then leading to death. The impact on the patient is inevitable because it has many of side effects as well.
The mechanism of action for this drug is unknown but it is said to have its effect on the brain receptors namely GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid). It is linked to have the sleeping effect on humans. Due to the side effects and fatality of the drug FDA is now reviewing it to be banned as a source of bringing in unconsciousness among the patients. In few cases it was being reported that when the drug was induced the patients even before going to unconscious state their breathing was stopped and the patient would die. This shows the strong effect of these drugs.
What were the drug propofol effects on Micheal Jackson?
It was reportedly said that it wasn’t just few days before his death that he was taking propofol. He had been taking this drug from long ago and had also convinced various of the doctors that this was the only drug that was able to induce sleep to him. He also was of the notion that its side effects didn’t effect him much.
He was unfortunately wrong in thinking so because this drug has the euphoric effects which means that they induced hallucinations among the people taking it. In this state whatever the person was imagining would be seen by him in real and he will also speak his mind literally. All of this was happening to Michael Jackson as well while he was rehearsing for the concert before his death. The intoxication is pretty heavy for the person to bear with it.
This is one drug which cannot be administered at home and need specialised hands. The person dealing with it can face any situation at any time so the physician needs to be ready for the emergency situation all the time. The person needs to be monitored all the time. His pulse and breathing needs to be observed all the time because the effects of the drug cannot be reversed which is called rescuing. In this situation a person has to be ready all the time and so only specialized people can handle it. In case of the star he wanted to sleep but this drug had actually induced anaesthesia effect rather sleep.
There is a list of drugs mentioned which the singer was already taking. It is obvious then with all these drugs and then propofol the effects would have been adverse and irreversible. This would have contributed to the death of singer and legend Micheal Jackson.
The last days of Micheal Jackson
Micheal Jackson was preparing for a comeback. He was booked by the concert promoter AEG Live which had his shows all sold out across London. It was named ‘This is it’. A documentary which was also underway with the concert rehearsals. Many people around him started noticing his odd behavior because he was reported to have seeing things, repeating what he said over and over again and even forgetting the song lyrics. Days before his death he was asked by his doctor to take some necessary rest and miss the rehearsals for two days. When he had conducted his final rehearsal and was in full spirit. He was himself looking forward to make a ■■■■■■■ comeback.
Upon coming back to his house he complained of fatigue and asked the doctor to administer proprfol. The doctor fearing the over dose gave dosages of Valium instead to help him sleep. Finally upon the singer’s insisting he gave him propofol. The doctor reported to have gone for taking a bathroom tour when he came back he saw Jackson not breathing. First aid given didn’t work. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced ■■■■.
Micheal Jackson’s legacy
Micheal Jackson in his life had spent his time and money on charities as well. At present there is a charitable organization by the name of Micheal Jackson Legacy which is continuing to work for the underprivileged with the same passion as Jackson himself was. This program includes giving home to needy people in Haiti. This one unfortunate place where young girls get pregnant in unfavourable circumstances which lead them to throw away their new borns into garbage. Everland Haiti Rescue Home takes them in to provide the quality of life they deserve. Another brilliant program is Sponsor a Child though which many children can be saved from going into the wilderness of ignorance and bring a hope to their coming future.
Woodland Acre is a land dedicated to the memory of late Micheal Jackson. With a bench placed in between fans can leave tributes for him and it also sends out a message that his love for nature and trees will never go away even after his death.
Conclusion
Micheal Jackson had it impact at every age with his powerful music bringing together people from all races. Be its his songs or the unique dances his splendid performances had earned him the stardom which spread all across the region. People had followed and copied his moves like crazy putting him at the top of the star’s list. His sudden death however left many wondering how did Micheal Jackson die? The investigations did not leave any stone unturned to answer the question. They provided all the evidences to declare it a ■■■■■■■■. His drug intoxication had a history to follow where his addiction had started years ago. His health and career all going downhill had made a combine effect in putting him under a pressure that deprived him of his sleep as well. This desperate attempt to fall asleep had led him to never wake up back again. However the lesson he left for the world was divine that any one from any race or background can achieve his desired success with hard work and dedication.
Frequently asked questions
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What were micheal Jackson’s last words?
The person to interact with was micheal Jackson’s doctor Dr Murray to whom he asked for ‘some milk’ the name he had for his drug propofol. His dedication towards his work can be judged by the last words he had, ‘And I dont want them to cancel it, but they will have to cancel it’. -
Where was Micheal Jackson buried?
Micheal Jackson was buried with all the ceremonies and memorials at Forest Lawn California, United States. -
How was Micheal Jackson buried?
The star was laid to rest in a gold cased coffin which was encased in a block made out of concrete. This was done by the family that he stays there undisturbed. Due to the allegations of child abuse he was taken away from the tributes. -
Was Micheal Jackson a child prodigy?
Micheal had started singing in the stage with his five elder brothers in a band they named as Jackson Five in which he stole the show with his amazing dance moves and his incredible singing talent