Michael Jackson 'mummified' by drugs

Jul 14, 2009, 9:11 GMT

Michael Jackson begged doctors to drug him so he could lie "like a living corpse" for up to 72 hours.

The 'Beat It' singer was reportedly so addicted to sedative drug Diprivan he begged to be "put under" to cope with the pain of skin lightening laser peels, claims his former plastic surgery nurse Kathryn Buschelle.

She said: "Michael's obsession with his appearance led to more and more skin treatments and his subsequent addiction to Diprivan led to even more. It was an insane cycle.

"The drug began to be the sole purpose he would come to the clinic. He would stay a few days, sometimes spending as long as 72 hours under. Michael effectively mummified himself. He'd just lie like a living corpse."

Kathryn - who is the long-term partner of one of Michael's plastic surgeons - also alleges his addiction drove him to request surgery even when he didn't need it, turning him into a "zombie".

She added to Britain's The Sun newspaper: "He was literally burning his skin off and then being knocked out like a zombie. It reads like a horror movie script. Towards the end of the 90s he was a dead man walking, that's how zoned out he was."

Apart from Diprivan, traces of the drugs Demerol, Methadone, Valium, Dilaudid, Ambien, Fentanyl, Xanax and Vicodin were also reportedly found in his body after his death on June 25, aged 50.

Meanwhile, it has been reported Michael's second wife Debbie Rowe frequently injected him with drugs when she worked for Arnold Klein, who acted as the star's dermatologist.

Debbie is alleged to have injected the singer prior to his undergoing treatment, but the type of drug used has not been named.