What Broke Michael Jackson’s Heart

What Broke Michael Jackson's Heart

The first news shock wave regarding Michael Jackson’s death on Thursday, June 25 cited cardiac arrest as the pop legend’s cause of death. Sudden cardiac death, according to the American College of Cardiology, is defined as, “the sudden cessation of cardiac activity so that the victim becomes unresponsive, with no normal breathing and no signs of circulation.” In these cases, there are often no warning signs and death is swift and sudden.


Still, in the aftermath of the international superstar’s untimely demise it’s difficult to determine exactly what killed MJ.


What we Know:
Jackson recently underwent a lengthy physical examination prior to beginning the prep for the London tour. He received a clean bill of health.

Jackson was in the midst of preparing for a comeback tour and perform a harrowing 50-night show schedule to begin in July in London.


Jackson’s personal physician was called to the residence on Wednesday night after the King of Pop complained of not feeling well. On Thursday the doctor’s car was towed and impounded by Los Angeles police, with one investigator stating the car may contain “medications pertinent to the investigation.”

Jackson was undernourished and in frail condition. He reportedly used diuretics to control his weight, which was a little over 100 pounds at the time of his death. Jackson’s body mass index would have only been 14.3 when he died, meaning Jackson was 29 pounds under what would be considered the lowest healthy weight for a man of his 5’ 10” height.

The UCLA Medical Center is only six minutes away from Jackson’s Los Angeles home. Paramedics arrived at the Jackson’s residence and attempted to resuscitate him for 42 minutes before transporting him to the medical center where doctor’s continued their attempts for another hour.

He regularly used prescription medications and painkillers. The celebrity website TMZ.com, quotes a close member of Jackon’s family as saying on Friday, that the singer took a daily injection of Demerol — and received a shot on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. TMZ quotes the unidentified source as saying the injection was “too much” and caused his death. Demerol is a narcotic pain reliever similar to morphine.

Brian Oxman, a former attorney for the Jackson family who was with the family in the hospital emergency room on Thursday, stated he had been concerned about medications the pop star was taking. “I talked to this family about it, I warned them. I said that Michael is overmedicating and that I did not want to see this kind of a case develop,” Oxman told CNN’s “American Morning” on Friday.

Jackson’s personal physician is being sought for questioning.

Today’s autopsy will provide more accurate information as to the icon’s cause of death, but fans should anticipate days —possibly weeks of post-autopsy investigation before an official cause of death will be declared. –roz edward

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