Report: Jackson death linked to demerol

LONDON - After Michael Jackson's sudden death, an autopsy was planned for Friday. Results were not likely to be final until toxicology tests could be completed, a process that could take several days and sometimes weeks.

Speculation that painkillers may have contributed to the pop star's death have been circulating.

The London Sun reported that Jackson "collapsed and stopped breathing after an injection of a powerful painkiller named Demerol."

The newspaper reports that an emergency room source at the UCLA hospital said Jackson aides told medic that the star took an injection of the drug.

Jackson had been addicted to painkillers and had been warned that the abuse of drugs could kill him.

"I have warned that one day Michael Jackson would wake up dead, and that I would not be silent if that was the case, because of the misuse of medications," said Brian Oxman, Jackson family lawyer, last night outside UCLA Medical Center.

In 1984 after he was burned in an accident on the filming of a commercial for Pepsi , Jackson became addicted to painkillers .

Demerol is a narcotic drug used to treat pain. It is a synthetic narcotic that is related to the opiod morphine (and is related to heroin).