Conrad Murray Jury Deliberates

"First do no harm"

I was waiting for a verdict before blogging about this.  But, the jury has had six hours and they haven’t reached a conclusion.  After watching the OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony trials forgive me if I have lost faith in the jury system.  I suppose I should be grateful that they did not come out after 10 minutes and say “not guilty.”  But I have to wonder what could be taking so long in such a clear cut case?

The testimony of several doctors about how Murray broke medical protocol and standards and committed SIX acts of gross negligence doesn’t seem to be enough to sway the jury into making up their minds?  Really?  The fact that he waited to call 911, something that even a 5 year old knows how to do, isn’t enough?  It only takes six minutes to go over the damning evidence in this case and there is no other conclusion to reach.  There was no defense either.  How can you defend the indefensible?  

The fact of the matter is that Conrad Murray was hired by Michael Jackson because he was willing, for the salary of $150,000 a month, to do what no ethical doctor would agree to do….medicate him with highly dangerous drugs on a regular basis.  Murray did it for the money and as a doctor he knew the life threatening consequences of his actions, it didn’t stop him.  Hell we all know how lethal propofol is and we don’t even have medical degrees.  Did he intend to kill Michael Jackson?  Of course not.  That would put an end to his pot of gold.  But even though it wasn’t intentional, it was foreseeable that it was inevitable, given the physical state of Michael Jackson and his long-term severe addiction.  

So we sit and wait for a verdict, maybe later today.  It better be the right verdict because as it stands, he is not going to be too severely punished for his actions, even if found guilty.  I just wonder what is taking so long?  Maybe the jury wants to come in this morning, dressed to the nines, to announce it and then go home?  

If I was on that panel I would repeat the words that kept haunting me this whole trial: “first do no harm.”  That is what doctors are supposed to do and it seems to me Murray did plenty of harm in this case.

Conrad Murray Defense Changes Theory!

I have heard plenty about the case on the news. The other day, as I suspected, they had medical professionals take the stand to testify. That is the only way we are going to know exactly how culpable Dr. Murray was in Michael Jackson’s death. One doctor was emphatic and stated there were six clear cut cases of gross negligence involved. The last being that he did not call 911 immediately when he discovered that Michael was unconscious. The doctor seemed to feel that if 911 had been called immediately Michael would still be alive. That is pretty damning in itself because even four year olds have been known to call 911 and save people. A five minute delay in calling can mean the difference between life and death. According to Murray himself, he waited 20 minutes to call.

Now, the medical evidence shows that Michael Jackson could NOT have taken the additional drugs himself, as the defense has been claiming for over a year. At least, they say he could not have swallowed the drug. That was the defense’s case in a nutshell and it was blown away. So they needed a new defense and they needed it fast. They had to withdraw their claim that Michael orally ingested the drug because if he had it would not have been digested and absorbed into the body fast enough to kill him. I have no idea what new direction they will go in, but for me there is nothing they could say that is going to take away all the documented evidence and admissions and cover-ups that have come out. The man is guilty. There is nothing more to say. There is no defense theory that can be good enough to counter the prosecution’s facts.

Frankly, I think the punishment of losing his license and four years in prison is just not enough. He will never serve four years and even if he did, it would not be enough. He knew what he was doing every step of the way and he failed in giving Michael the best possible medical care. He took an oath to first do no harm, but harm was all he did.



The Dr. Conrad Murray Trial Part 2

I guess I didn’t get everything out of my system yesterday about the good “doctor” because the news yesterday riled me up a bit more. I was reading a few things. AEG, the people responsible for running Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” Tour, testified. I read that the defense said that in his private practice, there were times that people came to Dr. Murray sick and with no money and he would not charge to treat them because he was a compassionate doctor. However, when Michael Jackson insisted that his own personal physician, Dr. Murray, accompany him on his tour, AEG said he asked for 5 million dollars, a CPR machine and another medical professional. Dr. Murray reassured them it was just a precaution, as Jackson was in excellent physical health. Interesting. A tape of Jackson, recorded in early May clearly shows he can barely speak, slurred his words and was at times incoherent. If you recall, I learned yesterday, he was being paid $150,000 a month by Michael Jackson, for taking care of him. In a year that comes to 1.8 million dollars, then on top of that, for going on the tour, he wanted 5 million dollars. AEG told him that wasn’t happening. Jackson told them to offer him $150,000 a month, which they did. Murray refused until he was told that offer came directly from Michael.

Michael Jackson’s children watched as Dr. Murray gave him CPR while a 911 ambulance was on it’s way. Well he called 911 at 12:20, which was almost an hour and a half after he found Michael’s lifeless body, so I think that CPR was all for “show.” Even a four year old knows to dial 911 in an emergency. Then, Michael’s personal assistant testified that Dr. Murray told him, soon after Michael’s death that he needed to return to the house because, “there's some cream in Michael's room in the house that he wouldn't want the world to know about." The drug propofol has a creamy, white appearance and is sometimes referred to as “milk” by some addicts. Why try to hide evidence if everything was all above board? Because it wasn’t. Dr. Murray was lining his pockets with money and acting as Michael Jackson’s drug dealer, not a doctor.

Now the defense is trying to say that Michael Jackson took his own life by taking additional medication when Murray stepped out of the room. I don’t buy it and who is going to prove it? Are we to believe anything this “doctor” has to say about what he administered and how much? Michael was in fragile condition. Maybe a “normal” dose was more than his body could take at the time. We will never know because the doctor was busy making numerous phone calls for about an hour and a half. And, even if you want to believe Michael Jackson took the additional medicine himself, why isn’t the doctor to blame? Michael was an addict. There were seven bottles of drugs by his bedside. The doctor irresponsibly left him unattended with the medications all nearby. There was no way Michael was conscious enough to be using good judgment or even know what he was doing, he had already been medicated by the doctor.

The more I hear the more it bothers me. This man was not acting in the capacity of a doctor and what he was doing was criminal. I believe that fours years is not enough of a sentence, even though it’s the maximum he can get, for all he has done in this case. I think his tears are for himself, not Michael. He screwed up because of greed. He wasn’t a friend to Michael, he was an opportunist who saw a way to get rich by preying on Michael’s dependency on drugs. It’s sickening.

Maybe I am done, maybe not. We’ll see what else comes out in court when medical experts testify.



Trial of Dr. Conrad Murray

Yesterday there was some discussion between a few friends as to what the punishment should be for Dr. Murray, who was treating Michael Jackson when he died. The trial is underway and, some say, losing his medical license is enough punishment, while I felt that there should also be jail time. The charges against him are involuntary manslaughter. I admit to not knowing all the facts and I based my opinion on what I heard over the past two years. So to be fair I read a few of the specifics of the evidence that will be presented at trial and stated in opening arguments.

For giving up his medical practice in order to care for Michael Jackson exclusively, Dr. Murray was paid the sum of $150,000 per month. Even though he claimed to be weaning Jackson off the drug propofol, Dr. Murray ordered large quantities of propofol starting in April and up until Jackson’s death. The drug is an anesthetic to be used only in highly monitored hospital settings, and the standard of care was violated by using it outside a hospital and as a sleep aid. There was no resuscitation equipment at the home in case of emergency. After giving him propofol, Dr. Murray left the room leaving Jackson unattended for “two minutes” that he admits to, yet his phone records indicate otherwise. Beside Jackson’s bed were additional bottles of pills. It was noted that 911 was not immediately called. When 911 was called they were never told about propofol being administered.

The treatment was improper for insomnia. There was clearly a lack of proper equipment present as required when propofol is administered. Dr. Murray was found to have made many phones calls between 10:20 and 11:51 and discovered Michael Jackson unconscious at 11:56. He called 911 at 12:20, twenty-four minutes after finding him unconscious. At 11:51 Dr. Murray was on the phone with his girlfriend and subsequently the phone went dead, presumably when he noticed Jackson’s physical state. He stopped responding to the girlfriend and the phone went dead. At 12:12 Dr. Murray called Michael Jackson’s assistant asking him to call him right away. The assistant called back and Dr. Murray told him Michael had a bad reaction to the medication. Dr. Murray still had not called 911.

Dr. Murray was not medically specialized to use the drug propofol. He acted repeatedly with gross negligence and repeatedly failed to use appropriate care. If convicted he could spend four years in prison and lose his license. Considering the numerous acts of gross negligence involved that he performed, as a medical doctor, I am sticking with my original opinion that prison time is in order. The facts speak for themselves. He is responsible for all his actions.  He will probably not serve four years even if sentenced to four.

I’m sure Dr. Murray had other options, including calling in a medical specialist on Jackson’s case. However, if he was acting in a way that was not ethical, not medically sound, against his Hippocratic Oath, against the law, outside the parameters of the medical protocol required, and against common sense even, what specialist could he consult with who would put his own career at risk? No one was going to condone what he was doing so he took it upon himself to administer lethal drugs in an improper setting without the necessary monitoring equipment and with full knowledge of the risks involved. Then, against common sense, he delayed calling 911 because he had been on the phone with his girlfriend and not at Michael Jackson’s side, to see exactly what happened before he went unconscious. Maybe if he had been there, CPR may have worked if performed earlier? And, he never even told emergency personnel that propofol had been administered.

I guess we will wait to see what the jury thinks about the facts of the case. But from where I am sitting, his actions were criminally negligent and deserve prison time.