THE shocking extent of Michael Jackson's addiction to prescription drugs and the level of the fraud committed to obtain them have been exposed by documents released in California.
His father insisted yesterday that "foul play" had been involved in the singer's death. Joe Jackson made the claim in a US TV interview, but would not give any further details.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles police chief William Bratton refused to rule ou
t any possible cause, including homicide, and said the coroner's report into Jackson's death would be his guide.
Police are looking at his prescription history and trying to talk with his numerous former doctors, Mr Bratton said.
The singer swallowed more than ten Xanax pills every night, with bottles of the powerful anti-anxiety drug among medications prescribed in the names of Jackson's bodyguards and staff found in his room.
Police discovered illegally obtained sedatives, anaesthetics, painkillers and steroids at Jackson's Neverland Ranch in 2003 while investigating child molestation claims against him.
The revelations come in previously sealed papers obtained from the Santa Barbara County sheriff's department, two weeks after the troubled performer died.
The documents, which include transcripts of interviews with bodyguards claiming he was often "out of it and sedated", are the first tangible evidence of his long-term addiction.
The police raid, for instance, found numerous medicines, including several vials of the sedatives Versed and Promethazine; a vial of the hospital-strength anaesthetic Demerol; a bottle of steroid Prednisone; a bottle of the painkiller Percocet; syringes, oxygen tanks and a variety of unidentified loose pills.
In addition, there was a hand-scribbled and badly spelled note found with the drugs, possibly written by Jackson as he spoke to a doctor on the phone.
"Buprenex does the same as demerol, the only difference is you can't become an addict on Buprenex," the writing said.
The note likens the high-strength painkiller, correctly spelled Buprinex, to "synthetic Demeroll. 2 viles. I would feel safe havin it in case of axident."
An investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department into Jackson's death has focused on a number of medical professionals whom he hired privately.
William Bratton, the department's chief, said yesterday that there was a possibility it could become a criminal case.
The Los Angeles County coroner's office, meanwhile, has issued a subpoena for Jackson's medical records from more than a dozen doctors who attended him from 1993 until his death, aged 50, sources say.
