Day 5 of the AEG trial: Examining the autopsy and toxicology of Michael Jackson’s body

On Monday, the Los Angeles court held the fifth session of the lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson against AEG. On that day, a toxicology specialist from the medical examiner’s office appeared in court. He said that according to the results of the autopsy, the propofol found in Michael Jackson’s body was enough to perform a surgical procedure. He attributed Michael’s death to the presence of an excessive amount of this substance in his body.

In addition to propofol, several other sedatives and tranquilizers in the King of Pop’s blood increased the effect of propofol. These drugs were injected into him over several hours leading up to Michael’s death by the heart specialist, Conrad Murray.

Daniel Anderson said that examining Michael’s blood, urine, and internal body devices showed the presence of anti-anxiety drugs Valium and lorazepam, anesthetics: midazolam and lidocaine, diazepam and nordiazepam, ephedrine, and also a topical anesthetic cream that emergency personnel use on a patient during resuscitation operations. He said Michael’s body contained no alcohol, painkiller morphine, or Demerol, nor the narcotic substances marijuana and cocaine. Ultimately, the main danger came from propofol. Anderson explained: “The amount of propofol was equivalent to the dose used during major surgeries in hospitals.”

He said that in every milliliter of Michael Jackson’s blood, there was 3.2 milligrams of propofol.

During Q&A with Michael Kakof, one of Katherine Jackson’s lawyers, Anderson said that when he heard from the case investigator that propofol had been found in Michael Jackson’s home, he was very shocked:

“Propofol had been seized from the home as evidence of a crime. This is very unusual. As a toxicologist, it rang alarm bells in my ears. Using this drug outside of a hospital would be very troublesome.”

He said that over a 14-year period, Michael Jackson was the only non-doctor in Los Angeles County who died from the use of propofol in his home. Anderson attributed six other deaths from propofol injections in homes to anesthesiologists, doctors, and nurses who, because of their jobs, had access to this drug, which has strict regulations. All of these people used propofol as a means of suicide. Another 25 deaths from propofol occurred in hospitals that were considered murders, including injecting the drug into a patient who requested death.

Anderson’s statements suggested that propofol can only be in the hands of doctors, is used in hospitals, and pharmacies are not allowed to sell this drug—even with a doctor’s prescription—to ordinary people.

Anderson also said that several vials of other drugs—such as the antidepressant trazodone and the prostate inflammation treatment drug Flomax—were found in Michael’s room. The collection of drugs seized from Michael’s room was prescribed by three doctors: Conrad Murray, Arnold Klein, and Alan Metzger.

The company’s lawyer took advantage of this opportunity to show the jury that at the time of Michael Jackson’s death, Conrad Murray was not the only doctor involved in his treatment, and that the other two also played a role.

Anderson, however, noted that most of the drugs were prescribed by Dr. Conrad Murray. Despite all these medications, Anderson called the toxicology of Michael’s body a major challenge:

“In this particular case, we were looking to rule out everything and anything.”

He said that to examine Michael’s blood, samples were taken from four parts of his body—his heart, liver, femoral artery, and the back of his eye.

In the 2011 court case, Anderson’s statements about the absence of Demerol in Michael’s body conflicted with what Murray’s lawyers said, claiming that Arnold Klein caused Michael’s addiction to this drug. Murray’s lawyers argued that Michael’s death resulted from addiction to Demerol.

Another point of debate in that trial was the discovery of propofol in Michael’s stomach. Murray’s lawyers concluded that Michael caused his own death by drinking propofol. But yesterday, Anderson told the jury that blood vessels were spread throughout the abdomen. Therefore, a drug injected into a vein would also reach the stomach.

Anderson had also testified in Conrad Murray’s trial that you can read about in this page.

The next witness in court was Dr. Christopher Rogers, who had testified two years ago in Conrad Murray’s trial as well. (Read) Rogers was the one who declared Michael’s death a “murder” and also performed the autopsy on his body. He again displayed the nude image of Michael on the autopsy table and showed the jury the marks caused by vitiligo (a skin condition that led to Michael’s skin turning white), tattoos, scars, and holes that had been created on Michael’s body. He also described in detail how Michael’s lips were colored pink, and how his eyebrows and head had been tattooed black. Michael had lost part of his hair in the Pepsi fire incident, and his hair stopped growing in that area. Behind each of Michael’s ears, there were scars measuring 7 to 10 centimeters, and Rogers said that it was likely that Michael had undergone a facelift.

This doctor stated that at the time of death, Michael was healthy and had no heart problems.

Doctors in the 1980s had told Michael that he had lupus, an immune system deficiency disease. Rogers did not mention this disease in the autopsy report because lupus cannot be diagnosed by eye and requires specific tests that this doctor had not performed. Arnold Klein, Michael’s skin specialist, had said that Michael had lupus.

In total, according to this doctor:

“No problems were found in Michael Jackson’s body that could have advanced his death or caused his death.”

In fact, if Conrad Murray had not poisoned him with propofol, Michael would have lived a long life.

Rogers also noted that there were no signs of Michael’s addiction to alcohol or drugs, and there were no injection sites for such substances or diseases caused by them in his body.

The autopsy and toxicology report on Michael Jackson was published four months after his death, which you can read in here.

Conrad Murray used propofol to treat Michael’s insomnia. Rogers, in the witness stand responding to Michael Kakof, who asked whether a qualified doctor would inject propofol into his patient to treat insomnia, said:

“I don’t expect that, no. In general, treating insomnia with propofol is not acceptable.”

Rogers also said that there was no electrocardiogram device in Michael’s room. This device monitors the heart muscle’s movements and displays them on a chart. Another necessary device that was not present in Michael’s room was a device for measuring the exact amount of anesthetic in the blood.

He also rejected Murray’s claim that Michael caused his own death by injecting himself with propofol, saying that based on the available evidence, such an event could not have happened. He said the reason for Michael’s death was clearly the high amount of propofol in his blood, and that the other sedative drugs Murray had injected into him that night only made matters worse.

Rogers said that Michael Jackson’s famous name led him to be extremely careful in his investigations and examinations:

“Michael Jackson was an extremely important person. It was clear that his death would attract widespread media attention and the attention of the general public.”

He also explained how he learned about the King of Pop’s death:

“At a medical conference, someone gave me a paper that said: Michael Jackson died.”

Rogers also addressed Michael’s skin disease that led to his skin whitening. He confirmed what Michael had said years earlier in response to his critics about his skin turning white:

“Michael Jackson had vitiligo. That’s why some parts of his skin were lighter and other parts were darker.”

Katherine Jackson’s defense attorney was confident that the jurors had heard and understood this matter well, even though this truth has nothing to do with the case.

On Monday, none of the Jackson family members were present in court. Katherine’s lawyer had informed her about the issues discussed that day, so she did not attend.

The next witness in court on Tuesday will be a heart specialist. He will closely examine Murray’s performance as a heart specialist.

Source: eMJey.com / NY Post & AP & CNN & LA Times