Michael Jackson overdose death
From Drug Rehab Wiki
On June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson died of a drug overdose due to a powerful anaesthetic, Propofol.
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Autopsy & Toxicology Reports
The autopsy report shows that Jackson was in average good health for a 50-year-old man at the time of his death. Weighing in at 136 pounds and measuring 5’9”, Jackson’s BMI and body shape match up with what is considered to be in healthy range. His heart was strong and displayed no traces of plaque buildup, and all his major organs including his kidneys were in good condition. According to the Associated Press, the toxicology screening conducted shortly after his death showed no traces of alcohol or other substances aside from the sedatives administered to him by his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, for his chronic insomnia.
Media Portrayal
Tabloids have sensationally portrayed Jackson as a sickly man for the past several years. Jackson would not be seen in public without a handkerchief concealing his face, fully clothed from head to toe, and several bodyguards escorting him from place to place with an umbrella hovering above his head to keep out sunlight. Upon the news of his sudden death, media worldwide jumped to the conclusion that the international pop star must have contributed to his own death through drug abuse, and have kept a constant watch over his media-blitz death and funeral processions.
Plastic Surgery & Physical Health
At the time of his death, Jackson had several scars around his face, neck, abdomen, and knees from previous plastic surgery treatments and from prior medical procedures. His slightly balding hairline, eyebrows, eyes, and lips all had cosmetic tattooing and the skin around his face, neck, chest, and abdomen were depigmented. His arms were speckled with several puncture marks from regular injections of anesthesia to help Jackson with his sleep deprivation, as well as a few found around his knee and ankle believed to have been related to intravenous therapeutic procedures. The 50-year-old singer also had arthritis in his fingers and lower spine, plaque buildup within his leg arteries, and chronic inflammation in his lungs, which were not serious enough to have contributed to his death. Apart from what the tabloids tended to overemphasize, Jackson was actually in good health.
Jackson had been preparing to perform a series of comeback concerts in London prior to his sudden death, and had received thorough physical examinations to assure his ability to withstand the physical strain. The exams, as well as the autopsy report, outline Jackson as being physically capable to perform with no serious conditions that could have potentially restricted his physical state.
Coroner's Report
Last month, the Los Angeles Coroner’s office declared that Jackson’s death was a homicide due to the administering of Propofol into his system by a second individual. Normally an anesthetic used in surgical procedure, Propofol serves as a respiratory depressant and requires acute patient monitoring. The death was ruled to have been caused by Propofol intoxication, along with the drug Lidocaine, which is typically used to numb the site of injection. Because of a lack of hospital administration and monitoring and the use of proper equipment, the appropriate dosage for such heavy sedatives and subsequent resuscitation efforts were not met.
Although resuscitation efforts were made, as evidenced by Jackson’s bruising and broken ribs from the performance of CPR and traces of the resuscitation stimulant ephedrine in his system, a combination of factors during the administering of the sedatives were consequentially overlooked and subsequently irreversible. Three other sedatives known as benzodiazepines were also present within the traces of Propofol, according to the Associated Press. This is three times the amount of typical anesthesiology practices and immediately puts the patient at risk of respiratory arrest.
Despite reports of Jackson intermittently obtaining prescription drugs from multiple doctors using a variety of pseudonyms, no other substances—legal or illegal—were found within the pop star’s system. The abuse of a very powerful surgical anesthetic outside of the operating room has been ruled as the official cause of death. Common assumption denotes that these drugs, as well as other prescribed medications, are “safe” or even helpful due to the fact that they came from a medical professional. The bottom line is—regardless of what substance is being taken, where it was obtained, or who is providing it—no one is exempt from the fateful damage these drugs can cause.
