Attorney Blames Prescription Meds

(CBS/AP)  While it won't be clear for a while what caused the death of pop star Michael Jackson, a family attorney's comments Thursday pointed towards a problem with prescription drugs.

"I have warned of the use of prescription medication and people who have enabled the use of those medications," Brian Oxman, the family attorney, told CBS News anchor Harry Smith (see video below). "I do not know how much he has taken, I don't know what his current situation is in the last couple of weeks. Over the last several years I have said to family members that he is overmedicated.

A report on the entertainment Web site TMZ.com says Jackson family members feared a "heavy dose of morphine" prior to his death caused an overdose.

Oxman said that he's been the family's attorney for 20 years. But in 2005, Oxman disassociated himself from the defense team in Jackson's molestation case after a spat with another attorney.

At the time, CBS News legal correspondent Andrew Cohen wrote, "You get the clear sense that Oxman became the 'lawyer who wouldn't leave' the case, so much so that a written 'notice' had to be filed to ensure that he wouldn't be hanging around the courthouse for the next few months."

Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson's brother, gave a press conference in Los Angeles Thursday afternoon. He said that his brother died at 2:26 p.m. local time, and it is believed that Jackson suffered cardiac arrest in his home, but that the cause of death is unknown until they received the results of an autopsy.

Jackson's personal physician tried to resuscitate him at his home, as did the paramedics, Jermaine Jackson said. Then at the hospital, doctors tried to revive him for more than an hour, but were unsuccessful.

More Michael Jackson coverage:
Pop Legend's Life Had Ups And Downs
Throngs Of Fans Pay Tribute To Jackson
Jackson's Health Woes Took Center Stage
From Tokyo To Rio, Fans Mourn King Of Pop
Family Attorney Blames Prescription Meds
A Collection Of CBS Videos Of Michael Jackson
The Death Of Michael Jackson, Full Coverage

The coroner's office received Jackson's body Thursday evening. They anticipate performing the autopsy Friday morning, but the final cause of death will not be conclusive because they need time to conduct toxicology and tissue studies.

Over Jackson's chart-topping music career, his health has commanded as much publicity as his hit songs.

Plastic surgery, mysterious hospitalizations and reports of pill popping have long plagued the King of Pop.

Jackson's unexpected death at age 50 during a comeback attempt stunned the world despite a history of health problems - some real and others rumored - that have been fodder for tabloids and gossip columns speculating wildly about his woes.

In the early 1990s, Jackson's dermatologist revealed the singer had a skin disorder known as vitiligo, which leads to white patches on the skin. Over the years, Jackson underwent numerous plastic surgeries, including a nose job.

Jackson was also widely reported to be addicted to painkillers from pain he developed after he was burned while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984.

To watch Brian Oxman's full interview with Harry Smith click below.

Watch CBS Videos Online

[PrincessMABS]

I am deeply saddened that we will never have the opportunity of seeing the much awaited comeback concert tour of MJ next month in London... It is also brutally insensitive of some pepole to come up with amazingly unbelievable BAD comments STILL about Michael.. Let us please refrain from commenting undesirable remarks. I know for a fact that we all have the Freedom to express our opinions and bur FREEDOM IS LIMITED WHEN OTHERS ARE AFFECTED. Let us show our compassion to his FAMILY and FRIENDS and his Million of ADMIRERS around the globe including myself. MANILA grieves as well and Thanks MJ for saring his performance with US when he had the HIStory concert tour here in MANILA back in 1996. We will always remember MJ as a musical genius a one hell of a performer and a compassionate man. MOONWALK YOUR WAY TO HEAVEN Michael.. I pray for the eteral repose of your soul. RIP....

[CarolMajeshort]

?DON?T STOP TILL YOU GET ENOUGH?. In the movie "Almost Famous" about 15 mins in as the kid (hero) goes to interview the rock band, him mum yells out "DON'T TAKE DRUGS". That movie clip is never very far from my consciousness and is often provoked by stories like this as it has taken on a medical meaning in my head supplanting the recreational one. I've become a bit of a zealot (a health Nazi my brother in law calls me) but the damage these things can do distress?s me. We avoid them in my house and use LLLT (Low Level Laser Therapy) for our back and neck pain, creaky arthritis joints and sports injuries. It's is much safer and improves healing (rather than making injuries worse like some pain relieving drugs do). If you don?t know what I'm talking about you can look it up here http://www.thorlaser.com It's not improved my moon walking but it?s much safer and improves healing rather than making injuries worse like some pain relieving drugs do. Anyways MJ you ROCKED MY WORLD in this life, no doubt YOU WANNA BE STARTIN' SOMETHIN' in the next.

[Lapteline]

As I am a citizen of the World and a translator/interpreter who has never been to the USA yet. I see things from a totally different point of view.

[jfc15009]

And a time for every purpose under heaven. RIP Michael.

[ey200]

OJ was acquitted also...did not mean he was innocent. Money can get you out of a lot of trouble.

[ibsteve2u]

OJ - assuming he did it - only killed one person...those heroes of the right? Bush, Cheney, & PNAC, LLP? How many tens of thousands did they kill?

Ya'll keep on preaching that moralistic crap...and when you die, remember to tell St. Peter - or whoever you meet - that you never were very good at math.

[ez64holidays]

Hello all, first and foremost, I would like to say R.I.P. Michael Jackson. I have been looking at this message board and I can't believe a lot of the things I'm seeing on here. I respect everyone's opinion however, I think a great majority of those opinions lack any kind of standing. Many of these opinions are just ignorant messages. Yes it is true that two other well known stars died this week, and I am in no way trying to belittle them when I express my thoughts, (R.I.P Ed and Farrah). That being said, I think it is very distasteful for people on this message board to compare news coverage of the celebrity deaths this week. I believe the main reason there is more coverage on Michael than Farrah or Ed is because of the difference in circumstances. Farrah and Ed were both sufferering from Terminal illnesses, and like it or not, the media helped to establish a sentiment of expectancy when discussing the end of life for those two celebrities. The "shock factor" as one may call it, was CLEARLY not the same as in the death of Jackson. No one knew he was going to die as soon as he did, it happened so suddenly, and that is what I think explains the intense media coverage. The main point is, three well renowned people died this week and comparing/arguing about how media coverage should've been distributed has no significance. Peace!

[yoyoinla]

am so tired of reading about what he supposedly did to young boys. Does the word ACQUITTED mean anything to you endurob? If he did those things he was accused, it's sickening, but there apparently was no solid indication that he did. Gold diggers came after him like they all too often do to celebrities or eccentrics.
There is no crime in being eccentric or a recluse.
He was a brilliant dancer, and a musical ICON. Hearing his music all morning has really made it come to light what was lost.

[jackp32]

He is one child molester who will never touch another child.

[cs4466]

This article isn't about Rush Limbaugh, fool.

[ibsteve2u]

lolllll....thanks, cs4466....they say a good laugh a day keeps the doctor away!

[thusspokezara]

If he had been using pain killers on a regular basis, he must have developed tolerance to them. Therefore, it must have taken a very, very large overdose of Morphine to suppress his respirations. Who prescribed it? Who administered it? Who monitored his use of it? Was the overdose intentional?

[presjfk]

"Attorney Blames Prescription Meds"

But the blame is on Michael Jackson.