MJ sources say medication for London gigs may have killed the King Of PopMichael Jackson's family lawyer has blamed the pressure of his 50-night stint at London's O2 Arena for killing him.
Brian Oxman, who was with the Jacksons in Los Angeles overnight, revealed the 50-year-old singer had been taking drugs for months in his battle to be fit for the string of concerts next month and sensationally blamed his inner circle pushing him too hard in the run up to a series of comeback gigs in Britain..
He suffered a massive heart attack and stopped breathing last night. His personal doctor, thought to be Dr Tohme Tohme, was with him but could not resuscitate him.
There is growing speculation today that the catastrophic cardiac arrest was triggered by an injection of the painkiller Demerol after rehearsals in his home town.
Paramedics were told he was 'not breathing at all' and rushed him to UCLA hospital where a team tried to revive him for more than an hour but he never came round.
An autopsy will be held in Los Angeles today but those close to the star believe it is an addiction to prescription drugs as he prepared for the gigs in London that killed him.
His parents Joe and Katherine Jackson arrived at the hospital last night and his 'grief stricken' sister Janet was flying in from a film shoot. Earlier, sister La Toya was seen running inside in tears.
Mr Oxman, who was with La Toya and brothers Jermaine and Randy, blamed the singer's 'enablers' for pushing him too hard in the run up to the gigs which had been due to start on July 13.
'This was something which I feared and something which I warned about. This is a case of abuse of medication, unless there is another cause that I don't know about. Where there is smoke there is fire.'
He told CNN: ‘This family has been trying for months and months and months to take care of Michael Jackson. The people surrounding him have been enabling him.
'If you think the case of Anna Nicole Smith was abuse then that is nothing in comparison to what we have been seeing in Michael Jackson's life.'
‘Michael had appeared at the rehearsals a couple of times. He was very seriously trying to be able to do these rehearsals. But his use of medications had become in the way and injuries he had sustained performing had got in the way. '
He added: 'He had broken a vertebrae performing and he had broken his leg in a fall from the stage. I don't know the extent of the medications he was using but the reports that we have been receiving in the family were that it was extensive.'
Promoters of the shows at the O2 arena London had said in March that Jackson had passed a four and half hour medical with independent doctors.
When they were announced, promoter Randy Phillips said: 'He's as healthy as can be - no health problems whatsoever.'
Police said that an emergency call was made from the house at 12.21pm local time - 8.21pm in Britain - and paramedics raced to the scene.
The star, who has three young children, was not breathing when the emergency staff arrived, forcing them to try resuscitation procedures immediately.
Ten bodyguards had followed the ambulance to the UCLA hospital, where sources said Jackson had arrived in a coma.
'You've got to save him,' aides screamed as the unconscious singer was wheeled into an emergency room on a stretcher.
His brother Jermaine revealed later how doctors fought for more than an hour to bring him back to life but he was eventually pronounced dead at 2.26pm local time.
In a highly-emotional statement in the early hours of the morning, he said: 'My brother, legendary king of pop Michael Jackson passed away on Thursday June 25 at 2.26pm.
'It is believed he suffered a cardiac arrest at his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until the results of the autopsy are known.
