Michael Jackson: Rampant, But Consistent, Speculation on Cause of Death

Michael Jackson overdosed on Demerol (meperidine), according to numerous posts on the web, including those at TMZ—the go-to site for bottom-feeders of entertainment news. The web site also reports that Jackson received daily shots of the morphine analog, possibly for years, and that a physician who was at Jackson's home yesterday is "nowhere to be found." The physician possibly administered the dose, which must be given IM or IV.

According to other news sources, Brain Oxman, a Jackson family spokesperson and lawyer, and Liza Minnelli (no stranger to addiction) suggest that Jackson's abuse of prescription opiate medications is longstanding. The speed with which Jackson's speculated cause of death has been transmitted is evident in the fact that the news has already been incorporated into a Wikipedia entry for the drug.

While favored as a treatment for acute pain in the 1980s, Demerol has become considerably less popular among physicians as a short-term analgesic during the last 2 decades, largely because of its toxicity profile and abuse potential.

An autopsy on Jackson's body is to be performed today, with results expected this afternoon, reports MTV.com. Although some toxicology tests are reported to take weeks, measures of opiate medications can be obtained within a day, if not hours.