Posted by Richard Head

Sunday June 28, 2009

Michael Jackson collapsed from a morphine overdose nearly six years ago, it has been claimed.

According to a new report, Jackson worked himself into a “frenzy of anxiety” over a TV interview.

A doctor found the star unconscious after being secretly summoned to his rented Beverly Hills home in the middle of the night. Hours earlier, more than 27million viewers in the US had watched Jackson nervously defend himself against child sex charges.

The doctor who treated him has come forward because he believes the apparently accidental overdose has a bearing on the circumstances surrounding Jackson’s death.

Jackson, 50, died Thursday after suffering an apparent cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles.

Michael’s autopsy — conducted by the L.A. County Coroner — concluded that there was no trauma to the star’s body and “no indication of foul play”.

The coroner said that Michael had been taking “some prescription medications.”

The coroner said the cause of death was deferred because additional testing — including toxicology and other tests — is needed. It will take 4-6 weeks to complete.

“I’d been treating Michael’s brother Randy for several months when I was awakened by a phone call from him at 1.51am. I was told someone wasn’t well and that they couldn’t call 911 [the US emergency services number] for security reasons,” the doctor told The Mail on Sunday newspaper.

“Michael did not respond to his name but his heartbeat was regular. Randy asked, ‘Is he going to make it?’.

“I couldn’t understand it but Randy said Michael needed to use the bathroom. Randy and I each took an arm to get him there.

“We then helped him back to bed. His frame was light but not severely malnourished. He probably weighed about 11stone.

“Randy said Michael had been under severe stress because of the television program which had aired that night.

“I recall him saying that an earlier TV documentary had caused all manner of problems and that Michael had worked himself into a frenzy of anxiety over this one.

“Randy said he couldn’t call anyone but me when Michael collapsed because he was terrified of the publicity. It was all cloak-and dagger-stuff and once people in the house realized Michael was going to be all right there was a palpable sense of relief.

‘But I was deeply disturbed by the event. I told Randy that his brother should voluntarily go to a rehabilitation center to deal with his obvious addiction problem.

“I advised that Michael must be kept upright that night in case he vomited and inhaled the material, which could possibly cause his death.

“I told them that his body would break down the narcotics and that he would be fine in several hours.

“I wanted to discuss with Michael  directly the damage he was doing to his health and the very real concerns I had for his well-being. I never heard from any of them again.”

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