Generic drugs online

Source: Sky News

Date: 27-Jun-2009

Author: Pete Norman

A medical charity believes Michael Jackson's death may have been down to a deadly drug cocktail similar to the one taken by Heath Ledger.

If the toxicology results match what the news reports are saying, this is ever so reminiscent of Heath Ledger's death," Battle Against Tranquillisers (Bat) spokeswoman Una Corbett told Sky News Online.

Reports say Jackson may have taken three powerful painkillers in a potentially fatal cocktail, including injections of the narcotics Demerol, Dilaudid and Vicodin.

Other drugs linked to the singer include anti-anxiety drugs Xanax and Zoloft, muscle relaxant Soma and anti-depressant Seroxat.

"That is exactly what Heath died from - a mixture of painkillers and benzodiazepines," Ms Corbett explained.

Actor Ledger died from an accidental overdose from the combined effects of ingesting oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine.

They are generic names for the narcotic painkiller OxyContin, the anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom.

Painkiller abuse normally starts as pure pleasure and it grows into an addiction as people discover it helps blot out things that they don’t want to think about.

Una Corbett, spokeswoman for charity Battle Against Tranquillisers

According to Bat's Ms Corbett, consuming any combination of opiate-based painkillers and benzodiazepines is especially risky, along with alcohol, for the respiratory system.

"The reason taking any of those together is so dangerous is that they all suppress breathing," Corbett said.

In the emergency call made from Jackson's rented mansion, the audiotape reveals that the unconscious singer was on a bed and his personal doctor was attempting heart massage.

"Sir, we have a gentleman here that needs help and he's not breathing. He's not breathing and we're trying to pump him," an unidentified Jackson aide said.

In addition to painkillers and sleeping pills, 5ft 11in-tall Jackson - who weighed less than 9st - was reportedly linked to anti-acid reflux pills Prilosec, commonly used to treat stomach ulcers and eating disorders like anorexia.

Craig Harvey, of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroners, confirmed that Friday's autopsy on Jackson took about three hours but complete toxicology tests may take up to six weeks.

Ledger in The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger died on January 22 last year and the official medical examiner's report was released two weeks later.

Mr Harvey also revealed there was no suspicious injuries to Jackson's body, but police have tried to clamp down on releasing too many details.

"The Los Angeles Police Department has requested that a security hold be placed on the investigation of Mr Jackson, so there is an extremely limited amount of information that we will be able to discuss about the case,'' Mr Harvey said.

Jackson's body had been padlocked in a morgue fridge unit to prevent sensational death photos being taken prior to the release of the body to his family late Friday.

Reports say Jackson received an injection of Demerol less than an hour before collapsing unconscious on Thursday.

Details are also emerging of the physical toll taken on the singer's strained body after years of prescription drug use - he was in rehab in the early 1990s - and one news outlet says he was addicted to morphine-like Demerol for 20 years.

Jackson's Friend Chopra Slams Some Doctors

America's People magazine revealed that the Jackson family made a 2006 "intervention" in Las Vegas, said by an insider at the time to involve alcohol, straight morphine, Demerol and opiates such as Oxycontin, as well as Valium and Xanax.

"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," it added.

Sky News understands the claims refer to a female entourage member, disliked by his family, who is nicknamed "The Enforcer".

"[The aide] has contacts wherever they are," the source said about the drug procurement.

Physician Dr Deepak Chopra has now revealed that Jackson also asked him for a narcotic prescription in 2005, after his acquittal of child molestation charges.

"It suddenly dawned on me that he was probably taking these and that he had probably a number of doctors who were giving him these prescriptions, so I confronted him with that," Dr Chopra said.

"At first, he denied it. Then, he said he was in a lot of pain."

Ms Corbett added: "Painkiller abuse normally starts as pure pleasure and it grows into an addiction as people discover it helps block out things that they don't want to think about."