Michael Jackson
Lethal doses of the drug Propofol, killed singer Michael Jackson, when it was improperly dispensed outside of a hospital setting, without the expertise of an anesthesia technician.
In a practice this Column has slammed in the past, Jackson was given Propofol and a host of other sedatives, hours apart. It is very difficult for the human body to survive such toxicity, when so many elements of potent drug compositions, besiege the bloodstream and cells.
The day he died, Jackson repeatedly complained of insomnia, demanding more and more sedatives. It is clear, the issues that plagued him, creating the sleeplessness, were not properly addressed by the right psychologists and physicians.
There is no necessity to ever medicate a patient to the extremes Jackson was treated. It was very unwise to believe someone's system could survive that chemical onslaught.
Jackson's last doctors, Dr. Conrad Murray and Dr. Arnold Klein are under active investigation, with a stream of misconduct by the two, continually being uncovered. Dr. Murray is facing the greatest scrutiny, as the physician that administered the fatal dose.
The two men should not be medical doctors under the circumstances, as the mere fact they thought this was an appropriate course of treatment, to appease a pop star that wanted what he should not have, says their judgment is very poor and it poses a risk to the general public.
Pharmaceutical drugs are not candy, to be gobbled up, with the most you will take away from it being a belly ache and cavities. There is an exact science to it and I can't fathom how men that went to medical school did not know better. In short, it was reckless.
Their conduct is the scientific equivalent of a scientist taking home batches of controlled nuclear substances to play around with in their kitchen. You just don't do that, as the risks are too great and deadly.
AP Source: Coroner rules Jackson's death homicide
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide and a combination of drugs was the cause, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press, a finding that makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died...
Dr. Conrad Murray, a Las Vegas cardiologist who became Jackson's personal physician weeks before his death, is the target of a manslaughter investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. A designation of homicide means that Jackson died at the hands of another, but does not necessarily mean a crime was committed.
A search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday in Houston includes a detailed account of what Murray told investigators.
According to the document, Murray said he'd been treating Jackson for insomnia for about six weeks with 50 milligrams of propofol every night via an intravenous drip. But he said he feared Jackson was forming an addiction to the anesthetic, which is normally used in hospitals only, and was attempting to wean his patient by lowering the dose to 25 milligrams and adding the sedatives lorazepam and midazolam...
Then around 1:30 a.m. on June 25, starting with a 10-milligram tab of Valium, Murray said he tried a series of drugs instead of propofol to make Jackson sleep. The injections included two milligrams of lorazepam around 2 a.m., two milligrams of midazolam around 3 a.m., and repeats of each at 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. respectively. But they didn't work.
Murray told detectives that around 10:40 a.m. he gave in to Jackson's "repeated demands/requests" for propofol, which the singer referred to as his "milk." He administered 25 milligrams of the white-colored liquid, — a relatively small dose — and finally, Jackson fell asleep.
Murray remained with the sedated Jackson for about 10 minutes, then left for the bathroom. No more than two minutes later, he returned — and found Jackson had stopped breathing.
"There's no surprise there" that death could result from such a combination, said Dr. David Zvara, anesthesia chairman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"All those drugs act in synergy with each other," Zvara said. Adding propofol on top of all the other sedatives "tipped the balance."
Besides the propofol and two sedatives, the coroner's toxicology report found other substances in Jackson's system but they were not believed to have been a factor in the singer's death, the official told the AP.
When he died, Jackson was skinny but not overly emaciated, and his body had bed sores, the official said. The singer is believed to have developed bed sores in the months following his 2005 acquittal of child molestation charges, when he went into seclusion and spent long stretches in bed...
Cantrell said it's perplexing that someone would give various benzodiazepines if one was found not to be effective.
"This is horrible polypharmacy," he said, referring to the interaction between the various drugs. "No one will treat an insomniac like this."...
