Radio Australia Today Editorial

Michael Jackson’s cause of death.

25 August 2009

Two months after the death of pop star Michael Jackson, there’s finally news about what caused his death.

Nothing has been absolutely confirmed, but the Los Angeles Times has printed an excerpt from an unsealed affadavit that says that the powerful anaesthetic Propofol was found in his body. Not just an amount of the drug, but a lethal amount of the drug. Also in the affadavit is the claim that Jackson’s personal doctor told detectives he gave Jackson the drug to treat insomnia.

Of course it’s up to the coroner to decide whether that lethal amount of the drug was the direct cause of Jackson’s death, but to have a lethal amount of a drug suggests that something was terribly amiss, and if not the primary cause of death, the drug would have killed him anyway.

We’re not going to know the full story until police are sure what actually killed Michael Jackson, and have investigated what role his doctors had in the death. It is usual for coroners’ reports to make recommendations for the laying of charges against people who the coroner thinks was culpable in the death.

There are obviously still plenty of questions. Jackson’s burial date has been changed from this week to next week. The fact that his body is still being kept above ground means that the investigators are still hoping that the body will continue to offer clues about what caused his demise.

Expect another media circus when Jackson is buried. Expect yet another when the coroner releases the report. If someone is charged over the death, this will be an on-going sensation.

The Jackson family may well bury the body of their beloved Michael next week, but they will not be left in peace for a long time to come.

– Phil