Jackson Family: Daily Demerol Injection Caused Michael's Death

tmz.com:

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.

Read the whole story: tmz.com

Comments

[llisa]

Demerol? Why was he taking that? I had one dose of it after knee replacement surgery and opted to live with the pain (and it was PAIN) rather than feel like that stuff make me feel.

I had no further pain reliever whatsoever, even during thrice daily physical therapy.

If Jackson was in pain enough to need that, shouldn't he have been in the hospital?

[Paris]

Demerol?!!. Demerol is no longer used for pain control due to its terrible side effects porfile and toxic metabolites that accumulate. Treating someone with demerol for pain without a damn good reason why there no alternatives is tantamount to neglgence . His personal doc had better have some pretty good documentation.

[delta7777]

.
anyone with the least bit of street smarts know that use of sedative narcotics
such as demerol, morphine, heroin, etc. can be, and is, generally combined
with the use of a central stimulant of the amphetamin­e/cocaine/­derivative
class (speed) to counteract the sedative effect of the narcotic drug.
The combination is generally referred to as a "speedball".
All of these drugs are very readily available "on the street."
Drugs of the amphetmine­/cocaine/d­erivative class are notoriously
correlated with unpredictable sudden cardiac arrest, as well as their
even more well known causal effect on hyperactivity, weight loss,
ideational abnormalities, sexual stimulant effect, impulsivity,
and inability to concentrate and coherently follow through
over any length of time on a plan.
Without making any conclusions, the symptoms
are consistent with this problem, which at its root
is a serious medical problem, not a personality disorder.
.
.

[conniec]

Call me jaded and crass, but the first thing I thought of when his family immediately said they thought MJ was using and that those around him were "enablers", was that they'd end up suing someone over his death. With MJ so deep in debt, that means the family won't end up with any of his money. But, if it can be proven that a doctor or someone else might be negligent - well, CHA-CHING - it's Fat City.

Hmmm... Does this make me a "glass is half empty" kind of gal?

[antirightwing]

Let's stop the collective hysteria over MJ. There are more serious things on Earth and it continues to turn. All the hype and hypocrisy over a seriously messed up person who dodged a prison sentence.

[Furby]

Did you get lost and wind up in here by accident?

[sasson]

I kind of think that it is strange that a family memeber is so quickly throwing out drug use. Not to be conspiracy minded, but as he was often at odds with his family, are they laying the groundwork for challenging his will. It's been a while since I took the bar exam, but are they laying the ground work to establish that he lacked testamentary capacity? The family would most likely benefit far more if he was intestate.

[kylennblack]

It was the alleged demerol and not the years of anorexia, extreme plastic surgeries, skin bleaching and chronic exterme painkiller addiction? Okaaaaay.

[Steamboater]

Demerol's been around a long tme and morphine addicts have a history of being razor thin. Jackson's been anorexic too for years and the combination of both severely affect the heart. Who are the doctor 's who supplied him with morphine? Now they'll claim pain as their excuse but there's certianly other treatments. The doctors, the family, everyone around Jackson knew he was addicted and no one said, "No" I won't enable you or help you to get drugs any more. Not even those hired to help him get ready for these forthcoming concerts had the sense to say he's not ready and can't go into this kind rigourous training in his condition and isn't even ready to do one cencert as well as 50. It's the same story with a lot of these famous people who have died from drug use. It's not that anyone was afraid of Jackson's rages at being told no etc; they wre afraid of being cut off financially.

[MsLilyBe]

People often forget that dancers are athletes and do often live in terrible pain. A dancer's career is often very short. How many other athletes do we see working into their 50's?

I'm sure Michael's knees, back and hips were all trouble spots as they are for many other dancers.

Having said all this it's not a big leap for me to believe that he was taking some kind of daily pain med. It's also not a big leap to believe that a doctor (like so many other people in MJ's life) was exploiting this weakness for monetary gain.

I feel bad for MJ, his kids and his family and I hope there is a resolution soon for them.

L

[justice11]

I remember when I was in a car accident years ago, was like 18, they were giving me a shot every four hours. I remember I had it timed so I could get it on the dot. My mother had to tell the doctor to stop giving it to me, I was getting addicted!!

[shaaronie]

Years ago, I had major surgery and was given injections of demerol. I recall waking up and my family telling me that they had visited me days ago but I couldn't even remember it. Each time they gave me a shot when I was conscious, I would lose whole days at a time. I asked the nurse to stop the injections as I would rather have the pain than to be that out of it. Horrible, horrible stuff. Poor Michael.

[Mattie]

I use demerol injections for migraines, after the shot, I sleep for about 10 hours, I remember everything, I need a ride home from the clinic, but that's about it. I get an injection every 6 to 8 weeks, for me it's the only thing that helps a truly bad migraine, I have other medications I try first, but it's a life saver for me

[Clare53]

No good doctor would prescribe Demerol for migraines. It works just fine for the pain, but narcotics cause rebound headaches. They can come back worse and more often.

[suregena]

He sang about Demerol in the song "Morphine" off Blood on the Dancefloor.

[marlainWA]

I had a shot of that before my back surgery when pain was at its worst in the hospital. That is strong stuff. I heard the nickname for it is dirty demerol because it is highly addicting and that's why they don't prescribe it.

[krmla]

They don't prescribe it anymore because a toxic metabolite accumulates in the blood and can lead to seizures and even temporary psychosis. However demerol is a highly effective drug, mostly in people who for some reason or another don't respond as well to morphine and other strong narcotics. It's no more addictive than morphine and at the right dose, once daily shouldn't be all that harmful. Could exacerbate existing heart probs, though I suppose

[Mattie]

they do prescribe it, I get it for migraines.

[MJinCanada]

I had a shot of Demerol and a tranquilizer before dental surgery. Nap time!

My son had a milder dose when they had to do an endoscopy to retrieve a coin he accidentally swallowed. (How does a 16 year old swallow a dollar coin? He was holding it in his teeth while fishing for more change and a friend made him laugh.)

[Ron]

Its been stated in the press his use and possible abuse of Demerol in the past, and an enabling Dr would provided the overuse of this drug (if thats the case) could be facing some serious
questions and possible charges and may be another case of drug abuse taking another superstar much too early from us.

[Madmac]

D @mn. Can't you b s artists in the media and the filth that often come out of the woodwork in times like this let it go? Let the man finally rest! Enough of the "folks who want to get their story out" You guys helped him into an early grave. If you were so d@mn concerned about his health, why couldn't you say this garbage when he was still among the living