Opioid painkillers like oxycontin have been implicated in the deaths of a number of celebrities in the past several months, including Michael Jackson and Danny Gans. Now it’s been reported that DJ AM had 9 undigested oxycontin tablets in his stomach and mouth when he died, raising speculation that his death was not accidental but a potential suicide.

Resounding Health(TM) Opioid analgesics (painkillers)

A number of sources are reporting that an injection of a prescription pain killer, Demerol, was administered to Jackson shortly before his cardiac arrest. Demerol is one of several opioid (chemically related to opium) analgesics (painkillers); others include Codeine, Darvocet, Dilaudid and Oxycontin. All are commonly abused drugs.

If the information about Jackson is true, and an autopsy and toxicologysupport this as a contributing factor in his death, it would be thesecond case in two months in which a celebrity died as a result of usage of this family of prescription drugs. Las Vegas entertainer, Danny Gans, died in his sleep on May 1, 2009. Autopsy findings released on June 9 caused the coroner involved in that case to conclude that the drug Dilaudid caused Mr. Gans’ death. The death was declared accidental because side effects of a normal dose of the drug were toxic due to preexisting heart disease.

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