June 26, 2009 11:35

Michael Jackson dies - family spokesperson says singer was abusing 'medication'

'This was a case of abuse,' says Brian Oxman

Photo Gallery: Michael Jackson
Photo: Pa Photos

Brian Oxman, a family spokesperson for Michael Jackson's family who was with some of the singer's siblings when he died yesterday (June 25), has said he believes that Jackson’s death was due to medication abuse.

Oxman told CNN that Jackson's use of medications had "got in the way" of his rehearsals for his scheduled residency at the London O2 Arena.

Listen to the interview by clicking on the video below.

"I do not know the extent of the medications he was taking but the reports that we have been receiving in the family is that it was extensive," he said. "This was something that I feared and warned about.

"This family has been trying for months and months and months to take care of Michael Jackson. The people who have surrounded him have been enabling him. If you think that the case of Anna Nicole Smith wasn’t abuse it is nothing in comparison to what we have seen taking place in Michael Jackson's life.

"We warned people that this was what was going to happen then it happens. Where there is smoke there is fire, this was a case of abuse of medications, unless there was something else involved."

Michael Jackson's autopsy is set to take place in Los Angeles later today (June 26).

Read NME.COM's Michael Jackson obituary online now.

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