Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Michael Jackson’s Health Issues: The Price of Fame?

After “fighting tooth and nail” to be crowned as the undisputed King of Pop, did Michael Jackson’s meteoric rise to fame and fortune eventually took a toll on his health and well being?


By: Ringo Bones


Even though I’m but a casual fan in comparison to the more dedicated Michael Jackson fan that I’ve met over the years, I can’t help myself but to think that most of us will never probably get over the untimely passing of the eternally reigning King of Pop. Though most of us have seen Michael Jackson’s private struggles from the prism of supermarket tabloids, it was probably his tell-all interview with Oprah that everyone of us eventually found out that Jackson’s “unhappy” childhood is probably what we perceive is the root cause of his “eccentricities”. Nonetheless, Michael Jackson will probably go down in history as a case study for celebrity health in America.

Growing up with a less-than-ideal childhood in the supposedly child-friendly society of post-World War II America is probably the consensus explanation on why Michael Jackson eventually spent countless millions of dollars to recapture his lost childhood via the Neverland Ranch. While the primary suspected reason of his untimely passing last June 25, 2009 is blamed on Jackson’s chronic prescription painkiller abuse that started after that fateful accident while shooting a Pepsi commercial back in 1984.

Michael Jackson’s personal doctor, which he hired just recently back around May 2009, is now the prime suspect of his death and could face charges of negligent homicide. Dr. Conrad Murray, more a close personal friend than a physician, is now seen by investigators as an “enabler” – i.e. allowing Michael Jackson access to prescription painkillers to which he became chronically addicted over the years. And authorities investigating the untimely death of Michael Jackson became even more concerned when Dr. Murray enabled Jackson to receive doses of the anaesthetic propofol / diprivan – which is reserved only for operating room use during surgery.

The diprivan use in a domestic setting is probably the last straw that eventually made Dr. Conrad Murray the prime suspect in the untimely and suspicious death of Michael Jackson, given that the doctor should have been exercising his Hippocratic Oath in the first place – i.e. first do no harm. Diprivan was probably administered to Michael Jackson - according to the investigators – to enable him to sleep by subjecting him to a narcotic coma that supposedly reduces the stress of jet lag as the singer does his upcoming concert tour through different time zones.

Being addicted to strictly controlled pharmaceuticals is not the only malady suffered by Michael Jackson during his relentless pursuit of fame and fortune. His “unhappy” childhood is probably the primary cause of his “eternal dissatisfaction” with his own physical appearance. The scores of cosmetic surgery, which the King of Pop endured through the years - is a case in point. Michael Jackson is indeed an artist who suffers for his work. Despite of his relatively short and tortured life, Michael Jackson’s legacy lives on through his underwriting of philanthropic causes to help sick and needy children; Not to mention his musical legacy, which the long-time fan and the newly-initiated never seems to get enough of.