What killed Michael Jackson?

Michael Jackson once used nine fake names to collect sedatives, with the help of a dermatologist in Hollywood.

On September 6, Fox will premiere the documentary TMZ Investigates: Who Really Killed Michael Jackson , explaining the cause of the death of the “King of Pop”. The artist was found in cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009 at his home, due to an overdose of the sedative propofol – prescribed by his personal physician Conrad Murray . Although he only served two years in prison, Murray then had to endure the hatred of Michael Jackson’s fans for the rest of his life.

In some of the film’s content revealed in advance, the crew explained the direct and indirect impacts that led to the superstar’s passing at the age of 50. Orlando Martinez, an investigator for the Los Angeles Police Department (USA), said: “Everything is much more complicated than the information that only Dr. Murray was by Michael’s side when he died.”

According to Martinez, in addition to Murray, many other doctors allowed the “King of Pop” to use large doses of sedatives for most of his life. They let him buy the drugs he wanted anywhere, in any quantity.

Michael Jackson drank a bottle of propofol the day he died. According to Dr. Murray, the medical community contributed to the star’s obsession with the drug, which made it impossible for him to sleep without it, especially before tours. “Jackson used it for decades. Different doctors, from all over the world, sometimes allowed him to inject himself with it,” Murray said. In addition to temporary sedatives, the singer also used a number of specialized, addictive drugs.

From left: Michael Jackson, Dr. Arnold Klein, Elizabeth Taylor. Arnold Klein passed away in 2015. Photo: WireImage
The King of Pop began his drug addiction in 1984, when he suffered a scalp burn while filming a commercial and was given painkillers by doctors to help him recover.

Things got worse when Jackson became acquainted with prominent Hollywood dermatologist Arnold Klein. In 2009, Klein admitted to providing Jackson and other stars with demerol, a powerful painkiller. Jackson took large doses of demerol, 300 milligrams at a time, at Klein’s clinic. The singer even mentioned the drug in his 1997 song Morphine . Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s ex-wife, who worked as Klein’s assistant for many years, said the doctor did all sorts of unethical things to attract Hollywood’s elite to his clinic. Rowe said in the documentary that Klein’s prescriptions were often unrelated to the conditions they were treating.

As Jackson and Klein became close friends, the doctor also helped the star cheat to buy more than the prescribed amount of drugs. The singer used 19 aliases to buy drugs, and Klein kept a notebook, marking which prescriptions matched each name.

“The way Michael got all these drugs was by prescription,” said Harry Glassman, the late artist’s plastic surgeon. “He had different doctors, maybe Dr. A prescribed one, Dr. B prescribed another. Michael bears the greatest responsibility for his own death, but he certainly had a lot of help from the medical community.”

Things came to a head for Michael Jackson in 2009, as he was preparing for his This Is It tour . Director Kenny Ortega expressed his concerns about the artist in an internal email: “There are clear signs of paranoia, anxiety and almost obsessive behavior. I think the best thing we can do is get a top psychiatrist to evaluate him as soon as possible. There is no one responsible for his daily care.” In addition, Jackson also focused on rehearsing for the long tour. That was also a factor that led to his death.

Fans hold banners protesting Dr. Murray after Michael Jackson’s death. Photo: AP
Murray said he had no idea Jackson was taking medication from other doctors besides his own. “He acted like I was the only doctor. If I had known, I would have made a suggestion, either I get Jackson where he needs to be for treatment. If not, I wouldn’t be doing this job… Michael Jackson was a master manipulator, and I was a victim of manipulation. I would never allow my patients to become addicted to drugs,” Murray said in the film.

Inspector Martinez also said Murray had been unfairly punished for actions that were not his own. “We knew there were doctors doing the same thing Murray did for years. But at that time, we decided to focus on finding the culprit on that day. There were a lot of people to blame, they never considered his death,” Martinez said.