Day 19 of the Trial: Drug Addiction
Yesterday in court, Dr. Robert Waldman, a specialist in drug addiction, took the stand and said it was likely that Michael had become addicted to the painkiller Demerol that dermatologist specialist Arnold Klein was giving him.
Waldman referred to prescriptions showing that Klein used this painkiller for Michael to remove facial wrinkles and to inject Botox. He said there is evidence indicating that Michael developed a dependency on Demerol.
Waldman said he doesn’t specialize in skin, but he spoke with specialists and they said that Botox injections or removing facial wrinkles don’t cause such pain that it would require using a large amount of painkiller. The medical prescriptions of Arnold Klein show that Michael received 375 mg of Demerol in a 90-minute session, while the standard amount is 50 mg.
Murray’s defense attorneys say Michael had become addicted to Demerol and that his insomnia was caused by not taking this drug.
Prosecutor David Walgren, in order to show that Demerol is unrelated to the current case, pointed out that the autopsy found no trace of Demerol in Michael’s body. Waldman confirmed his statement and accepted that, according to the toxicology report, this substance was not found in Michael’s body.
Walgren also accused Waldman of going beyond his scope and, based on third-party statements, allowing himself to accuse someone of addiction in the presence of the jury.
Walgren: “Can you determine that someone is addicted to Demerol based only on the papers I have in front of me?”
Waldman: “Probably not.”
Walgren: “If your patient asked you to give him a dangerous drug that could cause harm, would you refuse?”
Waldman: “Absolutely!”
The prosecutor says Conrad Murray should have stood up to Michael’s request for propofol. Michael had insomnia, and according to nurse Cherilyn Lee, his doctor had assured him that as long as he was under medical care, this drug would not harm him. The prosecutor says that after injecting this drug into Michael, Murray left him alone for more than 45 minutes, and during that time Michael died from respiratory arrest.
Walgren then raised another question. By pointing to the long gaps between Michael’s visits to Dr. Klein at his office, he said that if a Demerol addict experiences addiction-related complications within 8 hours after taking the drug, then how could Michael Jackson have spent several days without receiving it? Michael hadn’t visited Klein’s office for a week before his death.
The witness considered the medical prescriptions from Klein insufficient and said they don’t provide accurate information.
Walgren then asked Waldman whether he had read Dr. Murray’s medical prescriptions. The jury has heard repeatedly in this trial that Dr. Murray, in fact, wrote no prescriptions for Michael and did not record details of his treatment, which is considered crossing the boundaries of standard medical practice.
The judge told the witness not to answer this question because it wasn’t necessary.
Source: eMJey.com / LA Times