Jackson's Role May Determine Doctor's Charges

By: Andrew Cohen
Topics: Michael Jackson

(AP)

I'm not convinced that prosecutors would easily win a manslaughter case based upon what we now know. But if there was massive fraud in the creation of these aliases by Jackson so that he could get pills then the doctor or doctors involved might be in serious trouble for that, and that would be a much easier case to prove in court.

There are two components here. The first is whether the doctors violated their oaths and medial ethics rules that would put them in the doghouse with a licensing board. The other is whether their conduct constitutes a crime. And there IS some legal room between the two standards.

One key question no matter where the investigation goes from here is what role Jackson himself played in his own death or the steps leading up to it. If we DO see a criminal case here, one defense will be that Jackson knew the risks of taking all those meds and choose to continue to do so.

The doctor or doctors are going to be in trouble no matter what. The question is whether a provable crime was committed. So you can bet that prosecutors are going to be checking with independent, neutral medical experts to determine whether and to what extent Jackson's doctors crossed any ethical or legal lines-- remember the patient here apparently was a willing recipient of the medication.

(CBS)
Andrew Cohen is CBS News' Chief Legal Analyst and Legal Editor. CourtWatch is his new blog with analysis and commentary on breaking legal news and events. For columns on legal issues before the beginning of this blog, click here. You can also follow him on Twitter.

12 Comments Have Your Say
Email Story Send to a Friend
Share This Tell Your Friends
Tweet This Tweet This
More Share It

Add a Comment See all 12 Comments


by katecollins July 31, 2009 3:03 AM EDT: Not sure where all the ?? question marks ?? came from in the last post.

The punctuation is courtesy of the blog program, but hopefully the sentiments are clear.

RE: Heal the World. Sadly, the legal name of Michael's foundation and all of his domains were bought in 2008 by a woman whom Jackson probably never knew: http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58378&page=4.

Here is info on the woman: http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/219044056454/a25d63e0/melissa/johnson.

She has a PR person who has rewritten the Wikipedia article to say this is Michael Jackson's official foundation. She has shown no proof and no evidence that MJ even knew who she was, much less that he approved of her purchasing his domains and legal name for the foundation.

Posts on their website show that members have been banned for questioning the legitimacy of "the charity", and their forum posts were deleted.

Here is a post on the site which was deleted by the site administrators the same day, and the member who made the post was subsequently banned (!) for asking these questions:

"Can we see a photo of Michael and Melissa, or even a note to her from him? I have carefully read this site--carefully--and I see nothing that says Michael Jackson was actually, personally involved with Melissa at any time.

Call me suspicious, but so many people have tried to trade on MJ's name and ideas... from the research I have done, Michael Jackson's Heal the World Foundation was administratively dissolved years ago, and Melissa bought the domains and trademarks.

How do we know this is legitimate? I have never seen any picture of MJ and Melissa together. If she has worked for him for 15+ years--why not?

If this is not a scam, where is MJ's endorsement? Where is the Jackson family? Where are MJ's friends who supported Heal the World? Many did, originally.

I would LOVE to support the REAL Heal the World Foundation. How do I know this is it??"

This site is taking money from grieving fans daily by pretending to be Michael's original foundation. Truly, it is outrageous and frankly evil to prey on sincere people in this fashion.

CBS News has apparently contacted Johnson and she posted her response to CBS on the site on Wednesday, July 29th.

Andrew, if you can get anyone at CBS with investigative clout to look at this, it would be well worth their time to discover the true history of Melissa Johnson et al and how she came to control the domains and legal name of Michael's original foundation, which was administratively dissolved in 2004.

I hate to see a travesty made of anyone's life work. Surely, MJ's primary charitable endeavor, Heal the World Foundation, should not be made into a mockery of his ideals (read the "Initiatives" of her "charity"--it reads like a new religious doctrine). Control of people's lives is proposed here in the guise of "healing the world".

CBS--please check it out!!; Reply to this comment


by katecollins July 31, 2009 2:21 AM EDT: 07/31/09

My thanks to Andrew for his excellent, fair reporting over the years.
One of the best articles I have ever read is the one he wrote after Michael Jackson's trial, talking about what it was like to watch the trial. Bizarre, certainly?and Andrew made it so clear.

I think most sensible, reasonable people realize that MJ was acquitted because he was innocent. Yes, he surely had issues as do we all, but too many young people who spent their formative years at Neverland have ONLY good things to say about him for me or other thoughtful folk to have believed his rather sleazy accusers. Also, last time I checked, in America acquittal still equals innocence.

Now we hear he was a "drug addict". Yet, the people who worked for and with him every day, people in his home, people at the rehearsals, all say he showed NO signs of addiction. Everyone has seen people on drugs. They are not mentally in control. If you really are a drug addict, it shows.

Taking some prescription drugs for real medical conditions does not make you a "drug addict". Otherwise, 95% of Americans could be called addicts.

Was Michael Jackson a "willing recipient" of his prescription drugs? Well, duh. Probably so. I know I am a willing recipient if I am sick or hurt and the doc prescribes drugs for me.

Were these doctors guilty of over-prescribing meds just because it was Michael Jackson who asked for "something for the pain" or "something to help me sleep"? It is not a stretch to believe that could happen.

But it is equally believable to me that, just like the rest of us, if MJ did have pain or trouble sleeping?and at 50, who doesn't at some point??then he would ask his docs for meds. Like all of the rest of us do.

OK, going to sleep with anesthesia is a bit over the top. Reality check: If your entire life since age 6 has been filled with outrageous extremes, can you know what is "normal"?

Not excusing the patient, just pointing out that MJ was, in fact, the patient. Maybe a patient used to getting his way, but a patient none-the-less.

If he had a "hey, I'm 50 and dancing like a 20 year old for hours every day and my (pick one) back... knees... ankles... neck... shoulders... hurt like the dickens--and I'm too hyped up to sleep..." discussion with his docs, and the result was prescription drugs--well, why not?

It's not like most of the civilized world is not complicit in this. Practically the whole planet?or as Jackson put it in Heal the World, "the entire human race"?desperately wanted him to perform again. His kids wanted him to perform. HE wanted to perform again.

There was a price to be paid.

God bless him, he paid it, and it was far too dear. In the immortal words of that other American troubadour, Don McLean, speaking of another great and so often misunderstood genius and artist?

"Now I think I know what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they're not listening still.
Perhaps they never will..."

For all of his life, Michael Jackson truly did try to heal the world. More valuable than the many, many millions of his dollars that he gave to charity, Michael gave his strange, intense, afflicted, extraordinarily gifted and unique life for his fellow man.

There is no blasphemy at all intended here but it seems to me that, in some measure, he died for our sins. We are complicit in this. Certainly, he died of a broken heart. Our collective guilt for our obscene voyeurism throughout this man?s entire life makes us seek a scapegoat in ?the doctors?. Do we require a public sacrifice to atone for the blood we see on our own hands?

How much better if we ourselves could learn from Jackson?s example and take every opportunity we have to heal the world. Reflecting on the sad and untimely death of this caring, decent, imperfect man, let us ponder the words of an even more famous martyr who once said, ?Go and sin no more.?; Reply to this comment


by OrchidMyst July 31, 2009 1:40 AM EDT: I strongly disagree with Mr. Andrew Cohen. This case should not be hard to prove at all. It's not so much the fact that Michael Jackson apparently was a willing recipient of the medication - the reality is that it appears that all his doctors failed to live up to the Hippocratic Oath - do no harm, swearing to ethically practice medicine. Michael Jackson suffered great pain and discomfort caused by real physical ailments (burn to his scalp, Lupus & Vitiligo) and, sadly, his doctors, by what has been shared by media, abused their right by over prescribing to him. Certain harsh drugs that had been prescribed to him over the years more than likely caused his addiction. And it appears that his doctors may have abused their right to practice standard care and treatment for him, especially in regard to surgical procedures. As far as Dr. Conrad Murray is concerned, he administered a drug that is typically done so by an "anethesiologist, in a hospital setting, it is never present in home - is quite dangerous, and never administered to someone to be used as a treatment for "insomnia". Dr. Murray openly admitted he injected Michael Jackson with this drug - thus, his actions apparently appear criminal - may be considered "Depraved Indifference". What real defense is out there for him? How can he possibly feign ignorance? This particular drug, and the way it was administered was in an improper setting - it was very risky - and ended up killing him. Even if there were other drugs in his system, Dr. Murray admitted the use of Diprivan. Michael Jackson, and any other person for that matter, can cry all they want to for drugs - but, certainly, common knowledge/sense dictates doctors are the ones in control, they took an oath, they have a license to practice - thus they are the ones that should be held liable. I am having a real hard time believing that his doctors truly cared for Michael at all - for I see it as all about the money/celebrity status. What happened to Michael is absolutely tragic and devastating. This is beyond Medical Malpractice or slight disciplinary action - never should the doctors merely get a slap on the hand, for that in itself would be a real crime.; Reply to this comment

by trapbreaking July 29, 2009 2:22 PM EDT

A doper with money can always get the meds, and Michael was a doper. He would use groopie hang ons, or doctors, or just leave the country to get his fixes.

Reply to this comment


by stillwaters6 July 29, 2009 2:28 PM EDT: SO was Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Anna Nicole Smith and dare I say it Rush Limbaugh...Drugs are big business, legal or illegal and as long as there is a demand for it, they will be a supply: legal or illegal.

Just business


by spiritwalk July 29, 2009 2:48 PM EDT: There are 3 different pills to give a mam an erection, but no pills to cure the common cold. That's just business.

by me_n_my_angel July 29, 2009 2:09 PM EDT

O.k. we all know that Michael Jackson had problems with a lot of things. But that does not authorize medical personnel to cater to him! What happened to their common sense and ethics? They should have all said NO, period. That was their responsibility. I am sure that he created all those aliases so he could continue to get ahold of these drugs. Pharmacies have your lists of prescriptions on file and make sure there are no serious side effects or drug reactions (this would be one very good reason for MJ to have aliases ~ then no one can "warn" him...) but these doctors saw $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and took advantage. I feel the same way about Anna Nicole Smith. These doctors are to blame, bottom line. They compromised themselves, their ethics and now have to take responsibility for their inability to say no.

Reply to this comment


by stillwaters6 July 29, 2009 2:24 PM EDT: What happened to Ethics and Commonsense...???IT GOT DISCOUNTED LIKE THE PRICE OF GM STOCK, ENRON COPORATION, and Bernie Madoff. Its a business decision between doctor and patients. The bottom line is this...if you want to be famous...it will come with a price and some hidden costs along with it.

by ereljo July 29, 2009 1:12 PM EDT

I realize that Michael was part of the problem here but the drug in question is one that is not allowed to be used outside of a hospital. It was wrong of Michael to ask for it but was way more wrong for Dr. Murray to give it to him!! If this is in fact what killed Michael, Dr. Murray should go to jail! Maybe he should go to jail anyway since he was using it in a home period. Michael was troubled, no doubt about it, but anyone who chose to help him stay that way instead of walk away when he asked for illegal things should be ashamed of themselves. RIP Michael. I love you more...

Reply to this comment


by stillwaters6 July 29, 2009 2:25 PM EDT: More wrong or not...a person in pain will pay anything to alleviate it...If we put animals to sleep when they are in pain, why can't humand have the same right? Dr. Kervorkian anybody???


by spiritwalk July 29, 2009 2:46 PM EDT: What makes anyone think that this doctor was not as star struck as the rest of the sycophants that Jackson attracted? I am sure that if given the chance to live in Jacksons mansion like Murray ereljo would have done anything Jackson asked as well.


by stillwaters6 July 29, 2009 12:54 PM EDT: DOES IT MATTER...

Look there are many sick people in the world with money and they will spend all their money and then some more to ease their pain, legal or illegally.
CASE CLOSED...why do you think he had so many aliases...becuase so many doctors were getting paid.

America is truly naive if it believes doctors are not drug dealers. All you have to do is go to Florida and you'll find the street value of legally prescribed drugs is greater than the free market's value of legally prescribed drugs. People are selling their own medications out the back door in Florida just to make ends meet. If Mr. Jackson wanted to use his money to ease his pain in the way he sees fit, why should the government get involved in a business transaction between doctor and patient?; Reply to this comment