Why Did the Jackson Family Ask for a Second Autopsy?

On Friday morning, before the first autopsy on Michael Jackson had been completed, I wrote an article in these pages to explain just what an autopsy is, why it’s done, and what we could expect from it  (I’m a former medical examiner and a board-certified forensic pathologist). As I predicted, the initial examination of his body with the naked eye, which is called the “gross” examination, was inconclusive, in part because further tests, which take days to complete under any circumstances, were required. These tests include the microscopic examination of small samples of each of the organs as well as toxicology tests of the stomach contents, blood, bile and urine. The toxicology tests look for the presence or absence any chemicals including prescription drugs, recreational or illegal drugs, toxins such as heavy metals like lead or mercury, or even poisons such as arsenic (these are all simply examples and not meant to imply their presence in this particular case). The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office has announced that the first part of the autopsy was inconclusive, but they did say that no signs of trauma or foul play were found. This is a lot of information, but not the final report. It is still possible that the microscopic examination of the tissues could show some unusual disease process, however, this is unlikely if the organs themselves looked normal to the eye (a fact that I’m not sure we know definitively yet). But the toxicology...
Source: Dr. Z's Medical Report - Category: Physicians With Health Advice Authors: Tags: Healthy Living autopsy blog celebrity death chemicals community conspiracy theories conspiracy theorists David Carradine Dr Z Dr. Z's medical report drugs Ed Zimney examination family forensic pathology foul play governme Source Type: blogs