MJ Death Preventable? Guidelines Needed in Entertainment Industry

Reports are coming out that MJ’s personal physician was with him when he died, shortly after taking a dose of Demerol, a narcotic painkiller. They also say his breathing slowed and then stopped. IF this is true, then his death should have been preventable with proper CPR, intubation, and the administration of the antidote to narcotic overdoses, Narcan. Yet the 911 call said that the doctor was “pumping” MJ (cardiac compressions? CPR?) on the bed. His doctor, a cardiologist would know that CPR must be done on a hard surface, not a bed. It is not clear if the CPR was done on the floor or bed.

Updates as of June 30 say his doctor was a cardiologist who found him in his room with a weak pulse, but was not involved in giving MJ injections of Demerol.  The autopsy picture with broken ribs and three shots of epinephrine into the heart suggest the cardiologist was skilled and aggressive at attempting the resuscitation. If he had already stopped breathing and his pulse was nearly gone, that is why the result was death. He was probably too far gone.

Something is not right with this picture, if it is true. First why was he taking Demerol at such a high dose he would go into respiratory failure (or in combination with other drugs that potentiate it)? Second, why could a licensed physician, especially a cardiologist, not handle respiratory failure from an overdose?  Unless the one or more drugs he was addicted to caused his heart to be damaged and he went into cardiac arrest. If it was simply an overdose in the presence of a trained cardiologist, this is very troubling and if true will likely lead to criminal charges.

Updates reveal MJ was addicted to Oxycontin (a potent narcotic) and Demerol (another narcotic).  The autopsy revealed MJ was severely cachetic (wasted from not eating) and probably this damaged his heart as it does in the condition anorexia nervosa. The autopsy revealed extensive needle marks on thighs, arms, etc. consistent with the addictions. Therefore, it is likely MJ died due to a combination of self-starvation, starvation due to drug addiction, and multiple drug addiction.

MJ destroyed himself, but could not have done this without the help of others! Enough is enough!  Elvis P., Nicole Smith, John Balucci, etc. etc.  The businesses involved with supermodels made a rule last year after many deaths from anorexia nervosa that supermodels could not go on runways or work if their weight was below a certain amount per height.  This  prevents the industry from enabling them to kill themselves through anorexia nervosa. This gives the supermodels a penalty for unrealistically trying to get excessively skinny to the point of it being life-threatening.

We need to do the same thing in the entertainment industry. How many actors and actresses, singers, etc. have gone on stage exceedingly drunk, stoned, and severely emaciated? Until the industry makes a rule that they will bar them from appearing on stage like this, bar them from performing when they are severely underweight, bar them from performing if they are heavily addicted, then we will continue to see such tragedies. The doctors and others who enable these poor troubled souls to do this to themselves should have severe punishments.

Also, if MJ was obsessive compulsive about doing everything perfectly and depressed about living in a bubble, why did his doctors not refer him to competent psychiatric help? Physicians failed him! The entertainment industry needs to be more proactive, and make rules requiring evaluations if there are questions. After all, there are many professions where drug addiction or physical incapacity can cause one to lose their professional license - doctors and airline pilots for example.

There needs to be an investigation into overuse and inappropriate use of drugs by celebrities, as well as the conduct of their  physicians. It seems clear that a rich person can shop around and get any drug they want in any quantity. This has to be a crime. It has to be stopped or we will continue to lose people like Elvis Presley, Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson, and many others.