I’ve waited until today (after what seems like an interminable barrage of media coverage about him) to post about Michael Jackson’s death.  As a physician, who just happens to be a huge MJ fan, I have always wondered what this moment would be like — obviously not in a morbidly curious sense, but in an academically curious one.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Thinking about the enormous toll living in the public eye, constantly, from the moment his father exploited his talents at such a young age, has had on his rather delicate frame; the numerous plastic surgeries which tell us more about his inner soul then he would orally; and the addiction to painkillers for more than, apparently, just pain — I wonder if death at this age was more serendipitous than precipitous.

What actually did cause his death?  If you believe media accounts, you probably should do so with a wary eye.  Not only were TV and print media awash throughout two 24-hour news cycles with continuous wall-to-wall coverage, but the effect of the news of his death on the sheer weight of Internet traffic is well documented.  Naturally, all of the information, particularly from the latter source, is probably not the most reliable. However, if one is to believe widely reported accounts of frank cardiac arrest, it does seen fairly plausible that any of the factors listed above could have contributed in some fashion.  We won’t know for weeks what the results of the toxicology post mortems will be; and with the Jackson family desperately searching for answers and coping the best way they can (for themselves and the trusting legions of fans faithful worldwide), a definitive cause of death may take some time to reach.

At least we’ll always have his music to console us, teach us, ponder, and enjoy for the rest of our lives.

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