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Jackson is believed to have received an injection of Demerol one hour before his death. Demerol is a narcotic painkiller and now we're hearing that Jackson was also believed to have been heavily addicted to Oxycontin. That's a powerful painkiller used to treat trauma, fractures, back pain and even cancer pain.
Howver, Oxycontin has also become a drug that's often abused because of its mood-altering effects. One of the side effects of Oxycontin is respiratory depression according to medical information. If Jackson used both Demerol and Oxycontin together, the combination could easily have stopped his heart.
"One of the side effects of narcotics is they cause the breathing to slow down. If you give enough of them or if other things are going on at the same time, that can cause the breathing to slow down so much that it stops," said Dr. Rich Bradley, University of Texas Director of EMS Division.
Dr. Bradley said if drugs stopped his heart, he would have needed another drug called Narcan to counteract the narcotic overdose.
"That can be counteracted with a drug that all paramedics carry and is in emergency departments called Narcan," Dr. Bradley said. "Also, if somebody would just breathe for him sometimes you can just stimulate him, that would help a little bit. An AED would not necessarily help someone in a narcotic overdose."
Dr. Bradley said for the antidote to a narcotic overdose to be really effective, it has to be given before the heart stops. He said when paramedics arrive and see someone who is not breathing, but who still has a heartbeat, Narcan is one of the first medications they would administer.
However, if the heart has stopped from a drug overdose, Dr. Bradley said CPR where you breathe for him would have helped.
Medications to restart the heart sometimes help, but he said only about 10% of people whose heart stops outside a hospital survive.
Complete ABC13.com coverage of Michael Jackson
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