LAPD probes Michael Jackson’s medical history

The Los Angeles Police Department has executed at least three search warrants in attempts to determine whether prescription medication played a role in Michael Jackson’s death.

Sources familiar with the investigation told The Times that the warrants were part of an effort to reconstruct the performer’s medical history, a task made difficult by the number of physicians who treated him over the years.

At least five physicians who prescribed medication to him are under investigation, sources have told The Times. Searches by detectives of the robbery-homicide division were dated Wednesday, indicating that they had been completed in the week after he died.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesman confirmed that Judge Charlaine Olmedo signed off on three searches but said information about what detectives were looking for and whether they found it was sealed from public view.

“Everything about them is sealed, but they do exist,” said spokesman Allan Parachini.

Police removed prescription drugs from Jackson’s rented Holmby Hills home June 25, the day he died, then returned four days later and retrieved two bags of medical evidence.

It remains unknown whether prescription drugs played any role in Jackson’s death. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office is awaiting the results of toxicology testing before determining the cause of death.

The coroner and the LAPD are being aided in their probe by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

One source told The Times that “numerous bottles” of the powerful sedative Diprivan were found at Jackson’s home. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an ongoing investigation, said some of the bottles were full and others were empty. None had prescription labels, and investigators are trying to determine how Jackson got the drugs.

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