Details about Michael Jackson’s passing are still fuzzy, but already people are drawing conclusions about the superstar’s premature demise. One media thread has him using prescription medications in what may have been a troubling way http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25/michael-jackson-prescript_n_221178.html, railing http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/a-tribute-to-my-friend-mi_b_221268.html against the so-called “enablers” who made sure he had access to them.
Whether he had an addiction to prescription medications will, I suppose, come out in time. As storm clouds gather around the early, tragic end to what was surely one of his generation’s most eccentric and gifted performers, I worry that the halo of celebrity will blind us to a problem bigger than whatever issues Michael Jackson may or may not have had with drugs. That problem is the plight of people in pain who use prescription pain medications for legitimate medical reasons.
I should disclose, before I go any further, that I am a consultant in the pharmaceutical industry, specifically to Purdue Pharma, the manufacturers of OxyContin. In an early, executive capacity for that company I became aware of the sad and inappropriate prejudices against people who use pain medications—opioid analgesics in particular—and the doctors who prescribe them. 20 years ago, I watched my dear late uncle, Arthur Master suffer unimaginable pain before finally succumbing to metastatic prostate cancer. I watched him bravely battle his pain, but when I asked his caregivers to prescribe more medicine, they declined. When I pressed, they said more might addict him. At that time I was unaware of the differences between addiction and physiological dependence, but even without special medical knowledge it was obvious my uncle would never leave the hospital and so the point was moot.
In the years leading up to 2004, still plagued by the injustice of lumping people whose intractable medical suffering together with drug abusers and addicts, I wrote my book The Truth About Chronic Pain, http://www.arthurrosenfeld.com/ArthurRosenfeld-TheTruthAboutChronicPain.html. It became a bestselling resource to patients and caregivers alike. Researching that book gave me a visceral understanding of the issues of pain and pain relief, and led me to understand the magnitude of the problem. Millions of Americans live in pain today. They are grandmothers with arthritis, 20-somethings who survive car accidents, your cousin whose toolbox fell on his hand, you waking up from surgery. They are our neighbors and family and friends. Succinctly put; pain patients are us.
Was Michael Jackson in pain? It is a matter of record that he had a high-pressure, perhaps abusive childhood. It is a matter of record that he suffered fears, obsessions and paranoia. Was his pain the sort of angst that leads some people to escape to from the world by abusing prescription medicines or street drugs? I cannot pretend to know. Did he suffer from a genetic predisposition to substance abuse? I haven’t a clue. Did his doctor or doctors prescribe the proper doses of the proper medications in the proper combinations to treat whatever injuries or afflictions he may have had? I am not privy to that information either. Frankly I would never presume to judge another person’s experience of life, their pain or their suffering or their choices. Judgments like that lead to the prejudices that plague our world.
What I can say with some regrettable confidence, however, is that if it turns out that prescription medications are in some way linked to his death, Michael Jackson’s larger-than-life footprint will posthumously obscure the silent, tragic lives of millions of pain patients who make smaller, but no less important marks in the sand. I worry that instead of leaving a joyous, luminous legacy, the “Thriller’s” end will bring more difficulties, more misunderstanding and more difficulties to the pain patients when they go to their doctor with a complaint or their pharmacy for a much-needed refill.
If such a maelstrom emerges over the next few weeks, please don’t forget the intimacy of pain and the way it cuts through all stages and stations of life. Be compassionate. Don’t join the nodding throngs who pass judgment on the suffering of others. Join me in mourning the loss of a musical genius instead. Crank up an MJ tune, and be happy that your body doesn’t hurt too much to let you dance.
Thanks for this honest blog. It isn't very easy always and one shoudl be careful to place judgements. Deepak LOVED Michael as a dear friend and was aware of his tendency to evade unpleasant situations instead of facing them and putting up with them. However this is not judge Michael, most of us know this tendency in themselves very pretty. So why throw stones on someone? It is just something you have to learn when becoming an adult, a truely mature individual. It seems that he treated some of his well-meaning friends and employees in this somehat manipulative way who wanted to HELP him by evading them, instead of facing up to what was presented to him, dealing with it, dealing also with some necessary changes that had to be made.
On the other hand if you are weak physically and psychologically it can be very hard to make changes and turn your life around.
I know someone who maybe due to the result of some tumor tretament (successful) developed at some point severe insomnia which really weakened him so much that we was on his edge. He got hooked on sleeping pills and since he is still feeling rather weak it is very, very hard for him to reduce his medication.
Thanks for your reminder not to be judgemental, though! One has to really deeply look into another one's case with sentivity and empathy to be able to see what caused him do things the way he did. Judgements hardly help a lot. Understanding does.
Pain and physical suffering can cause people to behave oddly at times. Often people pass judgement thinking that " you don't look sick", perhaps you are just lazy. Compassion for all is a good thing to practice. You never know when you might be walking in someone's shoes. May your friend r.i.peace.
As a volunteer at a Hospice Home, I think we have become more comfortable with providing a pain-free environment for our loved ones at the end of life. From what you experienced with your uncle's caregivers, it appears that they did not provide palliative care. I am sorry that you and your loved ones had to beg for the medication that should have been available for your uncle's pain. Chronic pain is, of course, a very different type of pain, and I imagine one that you would like to die from. Sometimes you just want the pain to go away. Whether the pain is physical or mental,we just want to feel good. If we are lucky, we experience moments like that without the use of medication. I am lucky. Also, I refer to a New Earth for spiritual guidance whenever I lose my breath. Clearly, if I was in physical pain, I would want to pop a pill, to ease my suffering, for just a moment or two. LaVerne