Jackson's death puts spotlight on role of drugs

Michael Jackson's autopsy got under way yesterday as attention turned to the possible role of drugs in the King of Pop's death and tributes poured in from all corners of the globe.

An autopsy began yesterday but amid heartfelt tributes speculation mounted about the cause of death for the 50-year-old who sold more than 750 million records and whose music defined the 1980s.

Los Angeles Coroner's spokesman Ed Winter meanwhile indicated that a final verdict into Mr Jackson's death would probably not be issued until the results of toxicology tests were known, a period that could take several weeks.

"I can tell you the likelihood is slim that we will have any results released today because of the extent and level of the tests we are going to be performing," Mr Winter told reporters.

Mr Jackson's lawyer Brian Oxman said he and family members voiced concerns over the star's use of drugs as he prepared for a gruelling series of comeback concerts in London designed to relaunch his career.

"I know Michael was rehearsing and working extremely hard to get in shape in order to perform in London," Mr Oxman told ABC television's Good Morning America. "He was taking it seriously and I think he was in discomfort because he was working so very hard.

"The family tried many times, and I spoke to family members and I said to them 'If this situation arises where Michael perishes because of medications - if we one day wake up and he's dead because of these medications I will not hold my tongue, I will speak out and I will speak out loud."

Mr Jackson's former producer Tarak Ben Ammar denounced the doctors around the late pop icon as "criminals."

"It's clear that the criminals in this affair are the doctors who treated him throughout his career, who destroyed his face, who gave him medicine to ease his pain," he told France's Europe 1 radio.

Celebrity website TMZ.com - which broke the news of Mr Jackson's death - reported yesterday that the star had been administered an injection of the powerful painkiller Demerol about an hour before he lost consciousness. Family members told TMZ the dosage was "too much."

TMZ reported that police were searching for Mr Jackson's physician who allegedly ad-ministered the dose. The Los Angeles Police Department would not immediately confirm the report.

A tape-recording of the 911 call from Jackson's home was released yesterday in which a caller could be heard telling an operator that repeated attempts to revive Mr Jackson had been unsuccessful.

Mr Jackson collapsed suddenly at his rented mansion in Los Angeles on Thursday and was rushed to hospital by paramedics before being pronounced dead, news that reverberated around the world with near-seismic impact.