LOS ANGELES – A cardiologist has testified that Michael Jackson’s physician made major mistakes in giving the singer the anaesthetic propofol to help him sleep.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Dr Conrad Murray told the judge in his manslaughter trial that they were dropping their claim that Jackson swallowed propofol when Dr Murray was out of the room. The defence will still argue that the singer could have injected himself with an extra fatal dose on June 25th, 2009.
Dr Alon Steinberg, a cardiologist who reviewed Dr Murray’s treatment of Jackson for the California medical board, said even if the singer administered propofol to himself, the physician still would be responsible for his death.
“It’s like leaving a baby that’s sleeping on your kitchen countertop,” Dr Steinberg said. “You look at it and it’s probably going to be okay and you’re just going to go grab some diapers or go to the bathroom, but you would never do it.”
He said Dr Murray displayed six “extreme deviations” from the generally accepted standard of care. Those were: administering propofol for sleep when it is meant for anaesthesia; giving it at a home instead of at a medical facility; not being prepared for an emergency with enough staff and equipment; not taking the proper measures to revive Jackson when he stopped breathing; not immediately calling for an ambulance and not keeping proper records.
“If these deviations hadn’t happened, Mr Jackson would have been alive,” Dr Steinberg said. – (Reuters)