June 29, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon
Michael Jackson’s sudden death last week
was not completely unexpected to those familiar with the singer’s history of
mysterious ailments and struggles with pain.
A series of accidents, frequent plastic surgery, and the intensity of
his performing meant that Jackson
was constantly in pain.
In 1984, Jackson’s hair was ignited by a pyrotechnic
sequence while he was filming in a Pepsi commercial, causing him to be
hospitalized for days and introducing him to painkillers. In a 1993 interview
with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson
said he had been diagnosed with lupus and vitiglio, a skin ailment that causes
white patches on the skin. Jackson
also underwent numerous plastic surgeries, most notably the narrowing of his
nose.
Jackson’s spiritual advisor, Dr. Deepak Chopra, said he had been concerned
that Jackson
was abusing painkillers. "The problem has been going on for a long time,
but we didn't know what to do,” Chopra said. “There were attempts at
intervention, and it didn't succeed." During his 1993 trial on child
molestation charges, Jackson himself called his drug use an addiction.
Jackson’s performer perfectionism caused additional physical ailments. In 1990, he was hospitalized with chest pains
and in 1993 he canceled a performance due to dehydration. In 1995, he collapsed
on stage and was hospitalized.
Recently Jackson was preparing to mount a comeback
with a staggering schedule of 50 shows.
A 50-show run would be challenging even for an athlete in his prime; Jackson was 50 years old and
had become noticeably, even skeletally, thin. "He was working hard,
setting the example, overseeing the choreography," said Johnny
Caswell. But re-starting such an active
schedule is very hard. "You can never stop," said Jodi Moccia, a
choreographer who works with the cast of "Mamma Mia!" "Once you
stop, those muscles don't come back like they usually do."
Police have spoken with Dr. Conrad Murray,
a cardiologist who was living at Jackson’s
house. Dr. Murray was hired by the concert company to attend to Jackson's medical
needs. The morning of his death, Jackson reportedly
received a Demerol injection. The injection may have been too strong; because
reports are that the singer stopped breathing (a symptom consistent with
Demerol overdose). A police source, however, said 'No red flag' was raised when
police detectives interviewed Dr. Murray. The toxicology report will take 4-6
weeks to complete.
