The cause of superstar Michael Jackson's death is still heavily contended after two inconclusive autopsies.

In the latest development, the Los Angeles coroner dismissed tabloid reports about the late pop star's appalling condition, and his personal doctor denied accusations of injecting him with painkillers.

The Sun yesterday ran a report which it said was based on leaked autopsy results from Los Angeles' chief medical examiner. Shocking revelations included claims that the 178cm tall star weighed only 8 stone (51 kg), and ate barely anything but pills at the point of his death.

The British paper also claimed that his nose had collapsed, he had "a mass of scars" due to 13 cosmetic surgeries, and he was virtually hairless.

Broken ribs and four injection marks near his heart were attributed to panicked attempts to resuscitate him using CPR and adrenalin shots. But, there were apparently other needle wounds on his hips, thighs and shoulders.

In addition, it was reported that there was bruising on his knees and shins, and cuts on his back.

A source from the Jackson entourage was also quoted by the Sun as claiming that the star had been in decline for years, and accusing people around Jackson of letting him "self-destruct".

Report disputed

Assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said on Monday that details reported in The Sun about Jackson's condition were inaccurate.

'The report that is being published did not come from this office. I don't know where that information came from, or who that information came from. It is not accurate. Some of it is totally false.'

On top of the official investigation into his death, his family also hired a private pathologist to conduct a second autopsy, but both examinations were inconclusive and toxicology tests are expected to take several weeks.

Los Angeles has also eliminated the singer's personal doctor Dr Conrad Murray as a suspect despite the Jackson family's concerns about the role he played.

The 51-year-old cardiologist, who became part of Jackson's staff in March to help the singer prepare for his comeback concerts in London, had faced intense speculation amid reports that he injected Jackson with the potent prescription painkiller Demerol just before he died.

However, a lawyer for Murray said Sunday that reports of an injection were "absolutely false".

'There was no Demerol. No OxyContin,' Edward Chernoff, an attorney for Murray was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times, adding that Murray had discovered Jackson unconscious in the bedroom of his home.

'(Murray) was the one who suggested the autopsy to the family while they were still in the hospital. He didn't understand why Michael Jackson had died,' Chernoff was quoted as saying.

Jackson, 50, died suddenly of cardiac arrest on Thursday, just a few weeks before a planned string of 50 comeback concerts in London.

(Additional reporting from Reuters)

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