Anorexia, drug addiction and body dysmorphia: How the American medical system failed Michael Jackson

July 7, 11:52 AMExtreme Weight Loss ExaminerMark Rubi

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A superstar suffering from anorexia, drug addiction and body dysmorphia disorder, and the American medical system, in every way possible, failed Michael Jackson and the American public. And if the man who was, perhaps, the most famous person in the world can be failed by our out-of-control medical system, what chance do the rest of us have?

Michael Jackson weighed a reported 112 pounds at the time of his death. According to the Santa Barbara (California) Sheriff’s Department arrest report in 2005, Jackson’s height was 5 feet and 11 inches. That would make his body mass index a skeletal 15.6 at the time of his death. How low is that? The World Health Organization says that a BMI of 16.0 is the weight one might die of starvation. Amazingly, Jackson was reputed to have been gaining weight for his upcoming concert tour.

And it is not like Michael Jackson was a poor hermit who did not have access to medical care. Jackson, in addition to being one of the most well-known people on the planet, was also incredibly rich and successful. Does being rich and famous all of a sudden make access to prescription medications no longer an issue? Did any of the amazing cabal of doctors that Jackson had at his beck and call ever even pause to think of their self-aggrandizing Hippocratic Oath? The oath says, “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.”

Time and again, these pillars of American society reacted to a starving patient with prescription drugs. And what drugs did they give? According to reports, Michael Jackson was taking an incredible mix of medications. Those drugs include Demerol (pain killer), Dilauded (pain killer), Vicodin (pain killer), Soma (muscle relaxant), Xanax (anti-anxiety sedative), Zoloft (anti-depressant and anti-anxiety), Paxil (anti-depressant and anti-anxiety), and antibiotics.

Some might argue that “give a deadly drug” means they will not help someone commit suicide. But what else can you call giving drugs to an anorexic man with various other medical ailments, such as skin cancer, vitiligo, lupus, Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency,and obvious mental health issues such as body dysmorphic disorder?

The Mayo Clinic’s body dysmorphic disorder page says it is a chronic mental illness characterized by appearance and body image. Those suffering from this disorder “may seek out numerous cosmetic procedures” to fix their “perceived flaws.” Another symptom is that they are never satisfied after the procedure and are soon in search of another. Michael Jackson could have been the poster boy for this condition.

Dr. Deepak Chopra, famous for his books and non-stop television appearances, is frequently referred to as “Jackson’s spiritual advisor.” An article in LawFirms.com quotes Chopra as saying “he had been concerned that Jackson was abusing painkillers” and that "the problem has been going on for a long time, but we didn't know what to do.”

Chopra has been all over the news telling the world that Jackson asked him for pain killers, but that he refused. He also claims that interventions were tried but failed. This was true even after Jackson “himself called his drug use an addiction” during his 1993 trial for child molestation. How did the interventions fail? A group of doctors have amazing powers to hospitalize mentally ill patients for their own good. Jackson should have been carefully detoxed (and fed) to strengthen his body and clear his mind. Therapy should have been a daily thing to help him get over his disorders.

The last 20 years of Michael Jackson’s life were characterized by prescription drug addiction and severe mental disorders. At the time of his death, his personal cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray, lived at Jackson’s mansion. Maybe a personal psychotherapist on hand would have helped Jackson realize that many of his health problems were in his mind and not his body.

Pain killer addiction is characterized by continuous use of the pain killer not to ease the physical pain of an injury, but to avoid the mental (and short term physical) pain of withdrawal. His army of doctors should have attacked his addiction to their pain killers with the same zeal as they prescribed them in the first place. But they didn’t. They should have made sure Jackson was getting enough nutrients so that his body was strong enough to deal with his medical conditions. But they didn’t.

An article in MedicineNet.com about medication and addiction raves about the wonders of these drugs like Vicodin. They defend the wide use of pain killers even though “emergency room visits resulting from the abuse of painkillers alone has gone up 163% since 1995” (the article was written in 2005). The most commonly abused prescription drugs are “opioid narcotics used to treat pain, depressants used to treat anxiety, and stimulants used to treat conditions like ADHD and obesity.”

The article goes on to say that “the people who are mixing drugs” are usually “at highest risk of problematic use and side effects.” And when it comes to prescription drug addiction, there is a great deal that is still unknown. Jackson’s mental health condition and his mixing of drugs for pain, anxiety, and muscle relaxants made him a classic “red flag” patient, but that did not keep him from being able to get a wide variety of prescriptions.

As the world prepares to honor Jackson today with a funeral and celebration of his life, we need to remember that more could have been done to watch out for his well-being. It could very well be that Jackson’s life and death may be an apt metaphor for the old adage that “you don’t invite the drug dealers to the intervention” for drug abuse.

The King of Pop did not need more pain killing drugs. He needed someone to talk to about his mental health issues like anorexia and body dysmorpia. And, as a well known vegetarian, he needed to eat much more than he did. The American medical system failed Michael Jackson. We cannot allow them to fail the rest of us.

©Copyright of text, Mark Rubi, July 7, 2009