Michael Jackson's Drugs: A Cast of Characters

Disclaimer for the 500th time: T & T does NOT have the benefit of being IN the courtroom. T & T does NOT have official court transcript nor does T & T plan to purchase them. Sprocket reports/transcribes what she hears while in a room with poor audio and limited visuals. She does NOT have view of exhibits. She does NOT have a view of the gallery.

We are NOT an official media source nor should we be held to those standards. We are a group of writers who enjoy observing and writing about the criminal justice system. We do NOT have a dedicated fact-checker looking at documents posted on The Smoking Gun website and looking for inconsistencies between the documents and what is said/heard in court. We leave that to the lawyers or the folks at TMZ. That’s why they are paid the big bucks.

Repeat: T & T is a group of writers who enjoy observing and writing about the criminal justice system. NONE of us are paralegals or attorneys. One of us happens to have a background in health care and journalism (me). If you are looking for perfection, go buy the court transcripts.

To aid in keeping track of the various prescription drugs that are part of the Michael Jackson case, I’ve whipped up a little “drug cast of characters” list. Because Sprocket is in an overflow room with poor audio, and at times it’s very tough to keep up or hear the difference between lorazepam, diazepam, and midazolam—and the three are different drugs—here are generic and brand name medications that have been mentioned in the trial thus far or appear as part of the record. Generally speaking, when using a generic name, that word is not capitalized; brand names are. Note that this is not 100 percent inclusive as I have not scoured the Internet for every single scrap of information on this subject—my sources are Sprocket's ears and The Smoking Gun.

Drugs Dr. Murray claimed/admitted to Jackson taking upon arrival at UCLA when questioned by Dr. Cooper:

1. Flomax (generic tamsulosin): for benign prostatic hypertrophy.
Learn more
2. Valium (diapezam): for anxiety, muscle spasms and seizures
Learn more

Medications found and cataloged by Coroner’s Investigator Elissa Fleak as revealed in open court

1. Flomax and diazepam (discussed above)
2. clonazapam (Klonopin): seizures, panic attacks
learn more
3. lorazepam (Atavan): for anxiety, has other uses
learn more
4. temazapam (Restoril): used for insomnia
learn more
5. trazodone (Desyrel): Antidepressant
learn more:
6. tiziandine (Zanaflex): Skeletal muscle relaxant
learn more:
7. hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, etc.): opiate analgesic
learn more
Note to readers: Last time this will be addressed—This is what Sprocket’s ears heard. I will include it because she has heard hydrocodone a couple of times.

8. Lidocaine cream (xylocaine): topical analgesic (probably used to numb the skin for IV insertion). Note that the investigator calls it “lotion” but it is in fact stored in a tube and is thicker than a lotion, hence it’s actually a cream.

9. Benoquin (monobenzone): Depigmenting lotion used to treat vitiligo.
Learn more
10. Lidocaine solution for injection: Used in combination with propofol to decrease pain upon injection (propofol hurts!)
12. midazalom (Versed): Reduce anxiety, promote amnesia for surgical procedures.
learn more:
11. Propofol (Diprivan): Intravenous sedative/hypnotic used for general anesthesia.
learn more

From Investigator Fleak’s report, Dr. Murray was the prescribing physician for the diazepam, Lidocaine lotion, lorazepam, temazepam, and Flomax. (Yes, I ask, why was Dr. Murray prescribing the Flomax and not a urologist?) Dr. Metzger prescribing physician for clonazepam and trazodone, and Dr. Klein was prescribing doctor on another, I presume the Benoquin as Klein is known to be Jackson’s dermatologist and Benoquin is used for vitiligo.

Do not know prescribing doctor for hydrocodone and tiziandine. However, it makes sense Jackson used these; he had facet disease (arthritis) in his lumbar spine and that can be quite painful and muscle spasm-inducing.

Per autopsy toxicology report:
Found in Jackson’s blood: propofol, lorazepam, midazolam, Lidocaine, diazepam and nordiazepam (nordiazepam is metabolized diazepam)
Found in Jackson’s urine: propofol, midazolam, Lidocaine, ephedrine
(learn more about ephedrine)
Found in Jackson’s vitreous humor (eye): propofol
Found in Jackson’s liver: propofol and Lidocaine
Found in Jackson’s stomach contents: Lidocaine and propofol (ask yourself why and how this got there, as both medications are given IV … hence, defense theory of self-medication)

Per analysis of medical trash found in bedroom and picked up by Investigator Fleak:

Flumazenil (in syringe). This is the medication that would have been used to reverse the effects of the many benzodiapezenes Jackson was taking/had been given. I wonder if this was the drug Murray produced in a blue hypodermic syringe with a small-gauge needle as testified by firefighter/paramedic Blount (a drug that the paramedics didn’t administer, and Murray did not identify to them)?

Additional drugs mentioned in Investigator Fleak’s Form 3A

Flumazemil: 4 vials
Hydroquinilone: (skin bleaching cream)
Ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin capsules
Prednisone
Amoxicillin and azithromycin: two different types of antibiotics

Note regarding the ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin capsules: Ephedrine has potential for abuse as a stimulant. The fact that the body has cleared the ephedrine and it is found only in the urine means he’d been given the dose(s) some time before (half-life 3 to 6 hours, so administered at minimum over six hours prior to death as none was found in blood). Also note one side effect is difficulty urinating… and that the drug should be used with caution in a patient with prostatic hypertrophy such as Jackson.

I have not included any "code" drugs.

Also note that just because a medication is NOT listed in the toxicology results does NOT mean Jackson wasn't using/taking it. In all likelihood, it means it wasn't tested for because it would not have been thought to be a contributory factor in Jackson's death. Note on autopsy report, page 18, that tox screen “C” was requested, and there are other choices including H, T, S and O, along with alcohol only or carbon monoxide. It is a bit cost-prohibitive to ask a lab to screen for everything under the sun, though it is entirely possible this has been done as part of the private autopsy and presumably private lab testing.

It would have been totally acceptable for Jackson to require something for pain with his bad back a la the hydrocodone and/or the tiziandine, or even Valium or Ativan for muscle spasms, following vigorous exercise such as dancing and performing. Knowing if he took his Flomax every day has no bearing whatsoever on the cause of his death. There are bigger fish to fry in this case, and pettiness in the comments regarding what is heard in open court by a non-professional reporter and what is contained in the volumes of documents, official or otherwise, will not be tolerated. Don't forget the crime in this case and who the criminal is—Michael Jackson is not on trial. He has already been held before a higher court. This is about a doctor who was very negligent in his duties toward a patient, and this would have been a crime even had a lesser-known or non-celebrity person died.

I think the other very sad thing here is no one was looking out for Michael Jackson's best interests. No one, not a soul, even Jackson himself. This is a terrible example of a dangerous collection of drugs being haphazardly kept in a private home, and it is a miracle that if this was the usual for Michael Jackson, he should have been dead by misadventure years ago. Very sad.