by Jeff
If you’re anything like me, the death of Michael Jackson and early reports of how he died had a particularly acute impact on you. He was only 50 years old and presumably had access to the very best healthcare money could afford. Even with a personal physician in tow to tend to any medical need, Jackson still was unable to prevent his own death.
As the news media began reporting that Jackson had died from cardiac arrest (the sudden cessation of normal heart function), my mind raced, partly in fear that if someone so young and with an unlimited budget for his health needs could die from cardiac arrest, then maybe I could, too. After all, I’ve had my share of arrhythmia issues from time to time.
Just paging through the news articles on Google was enough to send my heart off to the races, skipping and flopping. And as I read I started wishing what you might consider an unusual wish - that there would be a dark side to Michael Jackson’s life uncovered, a cause for his death other than his heart simply refusing to beat any longer. I feel callous for having this wish, but without “self-destruction” or “accidental overdose” as a diagnosis, Jackson’s untimely death makes me feel less secure in my own health, afraid that I could leave my children fatherless on any given day, without warning.
And I really don’t like that feeling.
In the last few days I’ve gotten some of my wish granted. Reports from police sources, medical professionals, journalists, family and friends close to Jackson have been coming in the last few days describing the excesses to which Michael Jackson consumed prescription medications. He reportedly was regularly taking the painkiller Demerol, as well as OxyContin, another pain killer (that was part of the cocktail of drugs that caused the death of actor Heath Ledger) that can have serious side effects on the cardiopulmonary system. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s being reported that Michael Jackson was also taking Vistaril (a sedating allergy medicine), Soma (a pain killer and muscle relaxant) and Vicodin (the powerful pain medication the nearly took football star Brett Favre’s life). He was reportedly also taking Xanax and Zoloft for anxiety and depression and Prilosec, an OTC medication for acid reflux and heartburn.
Given that even one of the three powerful pain killing drugs listed above could result in respiratory failure (which could then lead to cardiac arrest), and if the reports are true that Michael Jackson regularly consumed this menu of prescription drugs, it seems plausible and even likely that the weeks, months or possibly years spent under the influence of these drugs was the cause of his death, and not a simple arrhythmia gone bad.
So if you’re a sufferer of benign or even some potentially harmful arrhythmias, I hope you can take some solace, as I did, in knowing that Jackson’s death was most likely caused by his own negligent overmedication.
Rest in peace, Michael Jackson.
