LOS ANGELES, June 27, 2009
Drug Use Worried Spiritual Teacher Chopra
First Noted Concern About Singer's Use Of Painkillers In 2005; Jackson's Family Wants Independent Autopsy
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In this 2005 file photo Michael Jackson waves as he leaves court in Santa Maria, California. (AP)
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Photo Essay Michael Jackson: 1958-2009 The "King Of Pop" had a life full of number one hits and personal scandals
Spiritual teacher and medical doctor Deepak Chopra said Saturday he had been concerned since 2005 that Michael Jackson was abusing prescription painkillers and most recently spoke to the pop star about suspected drug use six months ago.
Chopra said Jackson, a longtime friend, asked him for painkillers in 2005 when the pop star was staying with him following his trial on sex abuse allegations.
Chopra said he refused but added the nanny of Jackson's children repeatedly contacted him with concerns about Jackson's drug use over the next four years.
He said she told him a number of doctors would visit Jackson's homes in Santa Barbara County, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
Whenever the subject came up, Jackson would avoid Chopra's calls, Chopra said.
Meanwhile, The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Michael Jackson's family wants an independent autopsy.
Jesse Jackson said Saturday there were unanswered questions surrounding the King of Pop's death, including about the role of the personal cardiologist who was with him.
The Los Angeles County coroner's office performed an autopsy on the singer's body on Friday but deferred a finding on the cause of death pending further tests that could take more than a month.
Jesse Jackson said the family's wound from the pop star's death was being kept open by the mystery of the cause of death.
Janet Jackson arrived at her brother Michael's Holmby Hills estate, where moving vans arrived earlier in the day.
Janet Jackson, wearing dark glasses, drove up in a Bentley and went directly to the estate. About eight movers had taken dollies and packing equipment through the gates. It wasn't immediately known what was being taken out.
Most of Michael Jackson's family members had gathered in their Encino compound, where they were contemplating funeral arrangements and caring for his three children. They are feeling confused, upset and angry by the lack of information about those who were around the pop superstar in his final days, a person close to the family said.
Jackson's family wants to know more specifics about what role AEG, the concert promoter that was staging his 50-date concert series at London's 02 Arena, was playing in his life, said the person, who requested anonymity because of the delicate nature of the situation.
They also want to know more about the role of his advisers and representatives, who they believe were put in place by the promoter.
AEG spokeswoman Natalie Whorms in London had no comment.
Jackson never communicated to his family who he had in place to handle his business affairs, the person said, adding that they were told by the singer's phalanx of advisers that he likely had a will, but it may be many years old. The family is distrustful of what they are being told - but they are determined to find out more, the person said.
"There are decisions going down without the family being in the loop; it's becoming an issue," the person said.
Randy Phillips, AEG Live president and chief executive, said Friday that it was Jackson who insisted that Dr. Conrad Murray, a financially troubled cardiologist who was with the entertainer when he collapsed Thursday, be put on the tour payroll.
"As a company, we would have preferred not having a physician on staff full-time because it would have been cheaper without the hotels and travel, but Michael was insistent that he be hired," Phillips said. "Michael said he had a rapport with him."
Jackson collapsed Thursday at his rented home in Los Angeles. Police seized Murray's car in search of evidence, but have insisted that the doctor has been cooperative and do not consider him a criminal suspect.
Records reveal years of financial troubles for Murray, who practices medicine in California, Nevada and Texas; his Nevada medical practice, Global Cardiovascular Associates, was slapped with more than $400,000 in court judgments, and he faces at least two other pending cases and several tax liens.
The person close to the family said that while there were reports that the singer was distant from his family, Jackson spoke with his mother, Katherine, quite regularly and his father, Joe, had seen his son shortly before his death. His other eight siblings, including fellow superstar Janet, may not have talked to him recently but were not estranged.
The pop star left behind three children: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11; and Prince Michael II, 7. The elder children were born to ex-wife Deborah Rowe, while the youngest is his biological son, born to a surrogate mother.
Rowe and Jackson married in 1996 and divorced in 1999.
No family members were present in the mansion when Jackson died Thursday, the person close to the family said. In the call to the emergency dispatcher released by fire officials Friday, an unidentified caller tells a dispatcher that Jackson's doctor is performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Asked by the dispatcher whether anyone saw what happened, the caller answers: "No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor has been the only one there."
Coroner's officials said they released Jackson's body to his family late Friday night. The family is still trying to determine what kind of memorial to have for Jackson and when, and are debating between the idea of having a private ceremony or a grand celebration open to the public, the person close to the family said.
Jackson appeared to have suffered a heart attack, another person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity. A heart attack is a blocking of the arteries that deprives the heart of adequate blood and can cause cardiac arrest.
Jackson's brother Jermaine has said it was believed the pop singer went into cardiac arrest, an interruption of the normal heartbeat that can be caused by factors other than a heart attack.
The Los Angeles County coroner's office said there were no signs of foul play or trauma.
Phillips said AEG Live held multiple insurance policies covering cancellation of the shows, and that some time in February Jackson submitted to several hours of physicals that the insurance underwriter insisted upon, and that Jackson passed them all.
"We had pretty good coverage, but a lot of it is going to depend on the toxicology results," he said. "We need to know what the cause of death was."
More Michael Jackson coverage:
Lisa Marie: Jackson Foresaw His End
Jackson Doctor Under Increased Scrutiny
Filipino Inmates Perform Jackson Tribute
Jackson Family Questions Promoter's Role
Quincy Jones: "I Miss My Little Brother"
Motown's Gordy On Discovering Jackson
Gary, Indiana Mourns Hometown Star
The Man With The Moves
King Of Pop Lived In Luxury, Died In Debt
Coroner: Cause Of Jackson Death Deffered
911 Caller: Jackson "Not Breathing"
KHOU: Texas MD With Jackson Amid Collapse
A Collection Of CBS Videos Of Michael Jackson
The Death Of Michael Jackson: Full Coverage
By Associated Press Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody; AP Writers Gillian Flaccus, Beth Harris and Mike Blood and AP Global Media Services Production Manager Nico Maounis in Los Angeles and Shawn Pogatchnik in London contributed to this report.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
clown seem credible for anything. He is a total joke.
There was no reason for him to chime in other than to
get himself in the spotlight.
For being a doctor he made a really STUPID statement.
ThomasStewart wrote:
MICHAEL JACKSON MURDERED.
HERES MICHAEL JACKSONS DEAD BODY;
http://www.geocities.com/tsvondrashekmd/getattachment.jpg
Notice its nightTime & Orange/red blood on clothing of fire rescue & gurny, NOT lamps, which are illegal to run when back door is open, to prevent cover up of blood. nOTICE hUGE bANDAGES oVER cHEST.
Michael Was Murdered by PEPSI as Michael prepared NEW Life.
Signed:PHYSICIAN THOMAS STEWART von DRASHEK M.D..
6/27/2009 5:40:20 PM
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6/27/2009 5:45:00 PM
decides to comment on this now.
Too bad he did not have the b_lls to do anything before.
The "doctor" is just using EVERYBODY to keep himself famous.
If he were a REAL doctor he would take some responsibility,
but rather chooses to be in a different spotlight.
With "friends like this, who needs enemies" ? ? ?
His father loved him so much that he used to beat him if he didn't do what he wanted him to do but I guess love comes in all shapes that is the shape I wouldn't want and that is a fact.
Having graduated from AIIMS in 1969, Chopra emigrated to the US in 1970 with his wife, Rita, to do his clinical internship at a New Jersey hospital, followed by residency training for several more years at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts and at the University of Virginia Hospital. He specialized in internal medicine. He is board-certified in internal medicine.
Dr. Chopra is licenced to practice medicine in the states of Massachusetts (since 1973)and California (since 2004), is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA), and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians."
Your family doctor probably is not as qualified as Dr. Chopra, so best comment only on what you know, as your suppositions are all too easily shown to be nonsense.
- by trapbreaking June 27, 2009 4:00 PM EDT
- Hendrix, Allen Ladd, Mamma Cass, Judy Garland, Elvis, Morrison, and the list goes on. All famous celibs who chose the drug way out of the spiral down to obscurity.
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- by brianbwb-2009 June 28, 2009 2:09 AM EDT
- "Jimi Hendrix was not a drug addict; he did not die of a heroin overdose as was initially printed in some publications as the cause of death. The fact stands that Hendrix did die of choking on his own vomit, but whom or what induced this? Did mob connections between Jeffery put Hendrix in the line of mob violence? Did Jeffery orchestrate his death for the purpose of royalties and a hefty insurance policy? These questions will probably never be answered. The deaths of Jeffery in a mysterious mid-air collision over France in 1973 and the suicide of Monika Dannemann in 1996 leave very few people who were present at the time of Hendrix's death able to offer information."
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- by brianbwb-2009 June 28, 2009 2:09 AM EDT
- "Jimi Hendrix was not a drug addict; he did not die of a heroin overdose as was initially printed in some publications as the cause of death. The fact stands that Hendrix did die of choking on his own vomit, but whom or what induced this? Did mob connections between Jeffery put Hendrix in the line of mob violence? Did Jeffery orchestrate his death for the purpose of royalties and a hefty insurance policy? These questions will probably never be answered. The deaths of Jeffery in a mysterious mid-air collision over France in 1973 and the suicide of Monika Dannemann in 1996 leave very few people who were present at the time of Hendrix's death able to offer information."
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See all 20 CommentsThe Hendrix estate successfully sues people who continue to slander him, hopefully they will find out who and where you are.
The Hendrix estate successfully sues people who continue to slander him, hopefully they will find out who and where you are.