REUTERS/Universal Music Group Archives/Handout

Brian Oxman – who has served as the Jackson Family attorney for more than 20 years – suspects abuse of prescription drugs may have played a role in the shocking death of musical genius Michael Jackson.

Oxmon says the 50-year-old pop star “had no particular health concerns except that he had broken his leg many years ago, and it hurt him.”

“He had cracked a vertebrae in his back and he took painkillers to try to ease the pain,” Oxmon told Us Magazine on Thursday. “And now we find ourselves here. I don’t know if the two are connected. I had warned that the misuse of medications would result in this, and I am heartbroken that we are here.”

He says, “I don’t know what caused Michael’s death, and I don’t want to speculate as to what the causes are. I only know that I warned them there was the misuse of prescription medications by people who were enabling him; his handlers, folks who should never have been permitted to allow him to use those medications in the manner I observed.”

“So is that the cause of it? I don’t know,” Oxman continued. “People die from various and sundry causes – they have congenital malformations of the heart, they have difficulty with various infections. I don’t know what Michael Jackson’s death is a result of.”