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USA Today Lifeline Live
Biographer: Jackson Gravely Ill
News out of England today that's causing a stir: Michael Jackson's biographer, Ian Halperin, claims the 50-year-old pop star is suffering from eyesight troubles, is barely able to speak and in need of a lung transplant -- all caused by a Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic condition.
Halperin, who has just finished writing his book, told The Daily Express newspaper last night: "He needs a lung transplant, but may be too weak to go through with it. He also has emphysema and chronic gastrointestinal bleeding, which his doctors have had a lot of trouble stopping. It's the bleeding that's the most problematic part. It could kill him."
Jackson has been photographed this year in a wheelchair, wearing a face mask. There's been no official comment on the story. His brother Jermaine told Fox News: "'He's not doing so well right now. This isn't a good time."