Jackson was on deadly diet of painkillers: report

London: The toxicology report on Michael Jackson, who died on Thursday, is still awaited but the sources close to the pop star's entourage have revealed the singer was on a deadly diet of powerful narcotic pain relievers.

The star was injected three-times a day with narcotic Demerol. He was also taking three 3mg tablets of another strong narcotic painkiller, Dilaudid and was recently prescribed Vicodin, an opiate drug derived from codeine, the Sun newspaper reported on its website.

The 50-year-old star died of a suspected cardiac arrest and the cause of his death will only be determined after the toxicology report, which is expected in four to six weeks.

The other medicines that the singer was reportedly taking are, Soma, a muscle relaxant in 2mg doses twice a day, Xanax, a sedative taken in 0.5mg doses twice a day, Zoloft, an anti-depressant was taken in 100mg doses.

Another anti-depressant Paxil was also taken by the star to treat anxiety and obsessive behaviour. Michael took it in 20mg pills and Prilosec, an over-the-counter pill for heartburn, the newspaper reported citing sources from Jackson's entourage.

The singer was recently prescribed anti-biotics to fight of infection following his skin cancer surgery.

Earlier reports had also suggested that Jackson had started eating one meal a day as he had a phobia about gaining weight before his 50-date comeback concerts in London from July 13.

He had told a physician that he had been taking painkillers regularly since 1985 and had used them to counter the effects of more than a dozen cosmetic surgery operation, the newspaper said.

Jackson's painkiller addiction began in 1984 after he suffered burns while singing for a Pepsi-Cola commercial, when the special effects smoke bomb misfired. He had to have major surgery on his scalp, and it is said that because of the intense pain he developed an addiction to painkillers.

The popstar's dosage increased over the years as he struggled to cope with the decline of his pop career, his mounting debt and his legal battles against child abuse allegations.