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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Why Dr Conrad Murray is in Deep Trouble

I have not been following the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, in great detail. I should say at the outset that I consider the main culprit in Jackson's death to be Michael Jackson himself. I looked at Murray as some sort of doctor who found himself in the pay of a rich and famous man with a drug problem and thus, compromised his ethics. Nonetheless, I don't think Murray is going to skate in this trial.

The drug that killed Jackson has been identified as Propofol. What is this medication?

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

Here is an important legal point; doctors who prescribe or administer medications to patients must be acting within a legitimate doctor-patient relationship. This means that in order to prescribe, dispense or administer drugs to a patient, there must be the following:

There must be a medical questionnaire conducted.
The doctor must conduct a physical examination
There must be a diagnosis as to the patient's medical problem.
There must be a nexus between the diagnosed ailment and the medication.

It is this last requirement that can problems for Dr Murray. Is Propofol really a legitmate medication for insomnia-or any other of Jackson's ailments?

Of course, there are other issues as to Murray's alleged negligence at the time of Jackson's death and his alleged lies to the ambulance personnel and police.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for Murray, but Michael Jackson is not exactly an innocent victim. His road to destruction began long before he ever met Dr Murray. Let's say that Conrad Murray was the final nail in the coffin.

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