ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Dr. Conrad Murray Gets Away with Murder</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright June 14, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style7">L</span>os Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ruled that he could not further restrict the doctor responsible for  King of Pop Michael Jackson s June 25, 2009 death of a trade-named Diprivan or generic propofol overdose, a widely used short-acting anesthesia drug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When the Los Angeles County Coroner found Aug. 24, 2009 that Jackson s death was due to a propofol overdose, Murray was immediately implicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It was no secret that Murray treated the 50-year-old entertainer for chronic insomnia while he prepared for a new British tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Without any medical precedent and without any training in anesthesia, Murray set up a makeshift operating room in Jackson s Bel-Air home, where the 57-year-old Grenada-born physician installed an intravenous drip to treat Jackson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Murray returned to Jackson s bedroom around 11:00 a.m., he found him not breathing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>From the time Murray found Jackson not breathing, the facts become dicey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Murray insists he administered CPR for around one-hour, before he called for help in Jackson s home, finally calling 911. Why Murray didn t call 911 immediately is anyone s guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Los Angeles County Fire Dept. paramedics arrived at Jackson s home at around 12:24 p.m., performing CPR for another 42 minutes before transporting Jackson to the ER at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center at 1:14 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reports from paramedics indicated that Jackson was non-responsive in the ambulance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When he arrived at the ER, a team of ER doctors and nurses worked on Jackson for another hour or so before pronouncing him dead at 2:26 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> What s so puzzling is why a licensed physician, like Murray, wouldn t have urgently called 91, rather than the lengthy delay before calling paramedics.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>After an eight-month delay, Los Angeles County District Atty. Steve Cooley finally charged Murray with one count of involuntary manslaughter Feb. 8, posting a $75,000 bail bond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>On Feb. 15, the California Medical Board restricted Murray from prescribing sedative medications, including the anesthetic propofol responsible for Jackson s death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Following the coroner s report about Jackson s propofol overdose, California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, now a gubernatorial candidate, urged the Medical Board to revoke Murray s license, citing a danger to the health, safety and welfare of consumers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Murray decided, without specialized training or certification in anesthesiology, to treat Jackson with propofol for insomnia he engaged in egregious malpractice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No licensed physician can invent their own treatment, experiment on patients and get away with murder.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>California s Medical Board should have revoked Murray s license Feb. 15, once the coroner found that he overdosed Jackson on propofol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Today s hearing in Judge Pastor s courtroom shows how dangerous individuals, especially licensed professionals, slip through the cracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I simply don t have the ability to revisit the actions one of my colleagues, said Pastor, reluctant to take any further action on Murray s license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It s up to the Medical Board, not trial court judges, to restrict, suspend and revoke professional licenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>LA County District Atty. Steve Cooley couldn t find any grounds for charging Murray with anything more than involuntary manslaughter, the same charge if you accidentally ran over a pedestrian in a crosswalk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Cooley surely knew that Murray deliberately, with careful planning, poked Jackson s vein with his IV and administered the lethal dose of propofol.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Murray s defense attorneys argued that it would be unduly harmful to Murray s financial condition to revoke his medical license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Murray had no problem wrecking Michael Jackson s earning potential, after the 50-year-old singer attempted a midlife comeback, successfully rehearsing the night before his death at Staples Center for his new British concert tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether Cooley charged Murray with involuntary manslaughter or not, Jackson died at Murray s inept hands, unfit to practice medicine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When he decided to invent a risky medical procedure to treat Jackson s insomnia, he flagrantly abused his privilege and responsibility of practicing medicine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Murray s actions, resulting in Jackson s death, were far more egregious than simply  involuntary manslaughter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Murray knowingly devised a dangerous method of treating insomnia and caused the pop singer s death.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>California s Medical Board and the Los Angeles County District Attorney dropped the ball, failing to revoke Murray s medical license and properly charge him with voluntary manslaughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> There was nothing  involuntary about a licensed physician devising an outrageously risky procedure for insomnia and killing his patient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Murray may not have  intended to kill Jackson but his gross negligence caused his death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No licensing board can afford to have professionals with such poor judgment practicing in any regulated field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Contrary to Judge Pastor s ruling, he could have put a restraining order on Murray s ability to practice medicine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Murray could have appealed, allowing a more complete review of his dangerous conduct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Letting Murray practice medicine endangers consumers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>California s Medical Board must do what the DA and courts apparently can t do.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>