Did Jackson Doctor Fall Asleep As MJ Died?

Report: Authorities Think He May Have, and Dr. Conrad Murray Told Cops He Gave MJ Propofol, the Drug that May Have Killed Him

(CBS/AP)  Michael Jackson's personal doctor flat-out told police he gave Jackson Propofol hours before the King of Pop died, and cops suspect Dr. Conrad Murray may have nodded off while Jackson was under the influence of the powerful anesthetic and awoken to find Jackson dead, according to celebrity Web site TMZ.com.

The Associated Press cites a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation into Jackson's death as saying Murray administered the Propofol, which authorities believe killed him.

Acording to TMZ, "Two days after Jackson's death, Dr. Murray told LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) detectives he administered Propofol to the singer hours before he died ... this, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

Complete coverage of Jackson's life and death
"We're told Dr. Murray gave Jackson an IV drip of the powerful anesthesia. Police believe Dr. Murray simply wasn't paying attention when the singer's heart stopped beating.

"Authorities believe Dr. Murray may have actually fallen asleep during the time the drug was administered and may have awakened to find Jackson already dead from heart failure."

CBS News Correspondent Ben Tracy says it's not clear if Jackson ever woke up that next day after receiving the drug.

Jackson reportedly regularly received Propofol to go to sleep. He had a long history of prescription drug use and was under anesthesia for many medical procedures over the years.

Propofol is a powerful anesthetic that should only be used by specially trained medical professionals. Doses of it are said to have been found in Jackson's rented mansion.

The drug is used to sedate people in hospitals during surgery and should never be used outside of a hospital or a medical clinic, and if it was administered to Jackson in his home, the person administering it would have had to monitor the singer constantly while Jackson was on the drug.

Murray was with Jackson when he died June 25 and has been identified in court papers as the subject of a manslaughter investigation.

Murray's lawyer has said the doctor didn't prescribe or administer anything that should have killed Jackson.

But Murray has never denied giving the singer Propofol, Tracy reports.

Police recently shifted into a full-fledged criminal investigation, executing search warrants on Murray's clinic and storage unit and looking ahead to the kind of court case they could build against the physician, legal experts said Friday.

"This is no longer a cause of death investigation," said attorney Mark Geragos, who once represented Jackson. "This is about building a criminal case."

Jackson's prescription drug use so concerned his family, his brother Tito told Entertainment Tonight, he confronted him. "He said that he was fine. He was in good health. He was making a new record and looking forward to go back on the road and working," Tito told ET.

Tito added that he saw Michael three weeks before he died: "I wish I would have said 'Goodbye' in a different way," Tito said, "but I told him I loved him and he said, 'I love you more.' And those were the last words we had with each other."

[louieamherst]

JUST ARREST THIS GUY MURRAY

JUST ARREST THIS GUY MURRAY

JUST ARREST THIS GUY MURRAY :-(

[cayro]

Jackson knew propofol was dangerous and trusted his life to this doctor to keep him safe. The doc goes down.

[apple2pie]

MJ was probably Bipolar manic couldn't sleep because of this and refused psychiatric meds because he would not accept he had a mental illness.
Anyone who has treated drug abusers knows t-h-e-i-r given history of drug abuse is much m-o-r-e than what they say. Dr. Murray had probably given MJ the SAME DOSE of propofol dozens of times without incident, the man is not mentally retarded. Who knows what MJ might have administered HIMSELF WITHOUT Dr. Murray's knowledge??? I'm not saying Dr. M. deserves to be let go w/o a significant consequence, like no prescribing of narcotic drugs ever. But surely he is a doctor and his other physician skills can be put to community service.

[apple2pie]

MJ was probably Bipolar manic couldn't sleep because of this and refused psychiatric meds because he would not accept he had a mental illness.
Anyone who has treated drug abusers knows t-h-e-i-r given history of drug abuse is much m-o-r-e than what they say. Dr. Murray had probably given MJ the SAME DOSE of propofol dozens of times without incident, the man is not mentally retarded. Who knows what MJ might have administered HIMSELF WITHOUT Dr. Murray's knowledge??? I'm not saying Dr. M. deserves to be let go w/o a significant consequence, like no prescribing of narcotic drugs ever. But surely he is a doctor and his other physician skills can be put to community service.

[BuickCJ1]

And the beat goes on!

[proudmilvet]

The Doctor may have fallen asleep? Was he taking Drugs also?

[jankebenzone]

Seems a few facts are being overlooked here, 1: drugs are dangerous and deadly 2: mj chose to use those drugs on his own free will,therefore he alone is responsible for his own demise.

[houtex16]

I'm sorry MJ is gone. If he harmed children, he's going to be the one to account for it on judgement day. The guilt should lie on his father, and his father can repent and turn to the Lord who will forgive him, but for Michael, it's too late for extra time here. He didn't get a chance to get help to get over the damage done him. Who knows, he may have repented and very well be saved. God bless us all.
P.S.
It seemed to me that Michael was wearing padding in his pants to make him look not so skinny. If this is so, he was hiding the fact that he was too thin. God rest his soul.

[marianmi]

Are you kidding? Do you Really believe in God and Speak that terrible way about the MOST precious and Amazing Child of God ? May The Lord Judge You.......

[legalpro]

Yes Michael Jackson was probably a drug addict but he couldn't get the drugs by himself. there were probably dozens of enablers looking to get paid well - not one person tried to help him or tell his family. And what doctor gives an operating room anesthetic to a person at home. To me that is a criminal act and way beyond the bounds of drug use. Michael Jackson put his faith in the doctor that he would sleep and then wake up. It should never have been given to him in the first place.

[Marie1970]

I don't see why it is so hard for people to see this. I remember being in pain once and asking my doctor for Vicodin. Guess what, she told me no and gave me some very strong ibuprofen. She did not feel Vicodin was warranted even though my pain was great. I can only imagine what she would have said had I told her my pain was keeping me awake and I wanted some propofol.

[Rodney_Hart]

The doctor did it. He should get a lot jail time. He should have known better, being a doctor. He got lazy in the MJ life style. Because of this lazy doctor we have loss the most talented and most beloved man on earth.

[tafhdyd]

Enough small talk. Unless I missed it in one of the posts, no one has said whether the doctor was republican or democrat. Unless you know that there is no way to judge his crediblity.

[Dgunner]

Dress a addict any way you want and all you have is a well dressed addict. I know ive been a morphine addict since coming home from vietnam in 1970.There will be some days when the morphine wont work unless you take enough then it's too late you go to sleep and die.you have to do the drug don't let the drug do you unless you are a complete moron or a entertainer with the go of a seargent major.

[norcalRN]

I'm a registered nurse who has worked in a hospital with a chemical dependency unit, pain rehab program, and a sleep clinic, in addition to offering a full range of other medical services. Mr. Jackson could have potentially benefited from the aforementioned specialty services.
Regarding the powerful anesthetic propofol, the standard of practice in California is that it must be admininstered by a licensed physician or a nurse anesthetist in the appropriate medical setting. The patient should be continually monitored; this would include cardiac leads, oxygen saturation monitoring and frequent vital signs. In additon, there should be a fully stocked crash cart, defibrillator, and equipment to provide intubation for emergency ventilation, such as you would find in an ER, intensive care unit, or surgical suite. In order to run a successful code blue, there should be enough medical personnel available to perform the following functions: one person to provide ventilation with an "Ambu" bag and high concentration oxygen, another to perform cardiac compressions, another to push the emergency IV medications, and ideally another person to be in charge of the code. In addition to a physician's presence, the other members of the code team should be ACLS (acute cardiac life support) certified. If you are ever a patient in a hospital when a code blue is called, you will have many more people than that responding to your emergency situation. Granted, a good two-person team of paramedics can run an effective code in the field, but these days they have continual radio support with the ER physician of the designated emergency destination.
Back to propofol. A reasonable and prudent physician would not give this medication in a home setting. Propofol is not a medication considered safe or useful as a routine sleep aid. While under it's effects, the patient does not experience the usual restorative effects of normal sleep. If an individual has a long-standing sleep disorder, thorough assessment and long-term treatment of the cause(s) is indicated. It takes a long time, and it is hard work, but the problem can be overcome.
It appears to me that some practitioners can easily be bought into practicing medical negligence. There is no excuse for this, regardless of how some people may feel personally about Mr. Jackson. In the face of consistent medical integrity, three children would still have their father.

[Marie1970]

This was said so beautifully that I am almost in tears. I could not get the medical terminology down because that is my brother's field. However, the legal side of it is my ground. Legally that doctor was allegedly negligent, at least, and there is no way around it because he allegedly went against the accepted standard of care. He allegedly used a drug that he knew could result in death and it did. For this alone, he should have his licenses revoked permanently. I would ask for involuntary manslaughter at a minimum. Involuntary manslaughter generally occurs in only two cases. The first is when someone is killed due to criminal negligence. That is, they are killed accidentally when someone else behaves negligently. The second form of involuntary manslaughter is when someone is killed during the commission of another crime, where the intent was not to cause bodily injury or death. It carries with it a term of 2-4 years in prison. The maximum I would request is second degree murder. For second degree murder, all that is required is subjective awareness on the part of the defendant that his conduct is dangerous to human life, no premeditation needed. Malice in second degree murder may be implied from a death to the the reckless lack of concern for the life of others. The doctor allegedly used a deadly drug recklessly. I think there is a good argument there once it is developed properly. They should ask for second degree murder and all lesser charges.

[knowdalaw]

The reports you have stated about the drug ?Propofol? have not been completely accurate.

I have read the pharmaceutical report of this drug from the Wikipedia website, and it states, ?Protocol is versatile; the drug can be given for short or prolonged sedation as well as for general anesthesia.

It also states, ?Any physician administering this drug without proper cause (surgery) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?. It does not say a physician cannot administer it.

Finally, you should report that this drug states if abused, if can produce mild euphoria, sexual hallucinations and disinhibition. This may be the reason that Michael Jackson did have sexual hallucinations.

Read on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propofol

[erasmus111]

Wikipedia isn't the place to find accurate information.

[veritas_1212]

by knowdalaw July 28, 2009 5:56 PM EDT - "This may be the reason that Michael Jackson did have sexual hallucinations. "

This is an amazing statememnt. How on earth do you know whether Michael had "sexual hallucinations" ??? You DON'T, so keep your mouth shut.

[diva887]

That's irresponsible. We lost a great artist because of the "doctor's" incompetence. http://www.mediancs.com/rd_p?p=186122&t=9534&a=9007-cbsnews&gift=9007

[erasmus111]

by incog-nito July 28, 2009 2:48 PM EDT
Obviously his childhood and life experience affected his behavior. But in the end a choice had to be made. You can come up with valid reasons why you behave a certain way, but that doesn't change anything. He had people like Dr. Deepak Chopra who tried to help him, but he decided to go with his enablers.

I'm a person that believes that there is right, and there is wrong. And I do believe that people make their own choices. I just don't believe that Michael Jackson made that first choice to take addictive medications. I believe that choice was made for him without his knowledge. Now there was a time, early on, where he was still in the "right" mind to change things. I don't believe that he was in that right mind for the last number of years, though.

No one really knows what was going on in his life, or what he was going through, so how can we say what he should have, could have done? We only THINK we know what we would have done.

[erasmus111]

This doctor needs to be nailed to the wall, to send a message to other doctors.

[erasmus111]

by credibility2 July 28, 2009 1:48 PM EDT
Too bad it's not against the law to administer something like this drug outside of a properly licensed medical facility.


The reason it isn't is because it was never used outside of surgery. Now that they are seeing this more, I bet it won't be long before it is.

[erasmus111]

by incog-nito July 28, 2009 2:21 PM EDT
My kids have allergies, and the occasional antihistamine helps them sleep. Your issue may be that you avoid taking any medecine at all, as much as possible. Maybe meditation or relaxation techniques might help. Jackson, on the other hand, went to the other extreme. There's a reasonable middle ground somewhere in there.


Whenever I have taken medications for things, they always do DAMAGE. : )
I took something for a cold once and it caused a vacuum in my ears. Also things usually work twice as much on me. I took an antihistamine once and it was like I was STONED. And that was with the lesser amount. That was the end of that. I did start using relaxation techniques.


Maybe Michael Jackson did try that "middle ground" and it didn't work.

[erasmus111]

by incog-nito July 28, 2009 1:56 PM EDT
I disagree on this one. He chose to become an addict. Some say it started when he burned his scalp and took painkillers. Well, a lot of people get burned a lot more than their scalp, and they don't end up addicts. Some say it's the people around him that enabled his behavior. Or is it the other way around? He chose to surround himself with enablers, and discarded those who disagreed or wouldn't do what he asked.


Nobody CHOOSES to become an addict. And different people have different pain thresholds. My sister-in-law is a wimp and can't take pain at all. I shouldn't call her a wimp, because she does have a low pain threshold. That isn't her fault.

The reason that Michael Jackson became an addict is because his doctor gave him addictive medications for his pain. Once addicted, the damage is done. Some people just aren't strong enough to kick the addiction. And if you are an addict, you are obviously going to have people around you that will enable you.

Michael Jackson was abused as a child. And he was still being abused till the day he died. People wouldn't leave him alone. Some people believed him to be a pedophile. (I did not.) Can you imagine what it must have been like to be accused of something you didn't do? Michael Jackson never grew up. He was a child.

[incog-nito]

Obviously his childhood and life experience affected his behavior. But in the end a choice had to be made. You can come up with valid reasons why you behave a certain way, but that doesn't change anything. He had people like Dr. Deepak Chopra who tried to help him, but he decided to go with his enablers.