Agents search Vegas home, office of Jackson doctor

Discussion in 'Hollywood Entertainment' started by Harrison, Aug 2, 2009.

  1. Harrison

    Harrison Well-Known Member

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    Investigators search the home of Michael Jackson physician, Dr. Conrad Murray in Red Rock Country Club in Las Vegas on Tuesday, July 28, 2009, seeking documents as part of a manslaughter investigation into the singer's death. (AP Photo)



    Federal agents searched the home and office of Michael Jackson's personal physician Tuesday in a widening investigation of whether administering a powerful anesthetic as a sleep aid was so reckless that it constitutes manslaughter.

    Such charges against a doctor for the death of a patient are extremely rare.

    Authorities would have to show there was a reckless action that created a risk of death.

    After a three hour-search of Dr. Conrad Murray's sprawling home near the 18th hole of a golf course in a private gated community, Los Angeles police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents carried away five or six plastic storage containers and several thick manila envelopes. Across town authorities searched Murray's medical offices, Global Cardiovascular Associates Inc., seeking documents.

    Murray's lawyer, Edward Chernoff, issued a statement saying the sealed search warrant "authorized investigators to look for medical records relating to Michael Jackson and all of his reported aliases."

    Murray was present during the search of his home and assisted the officers, who seized cell phones and a computer hard drive, Chernoff said.

    Though authorities characterize Murray as the target of the investigation, they have stopped short of labeling him a suspect.

    Murray told investigators he administered the anesthetic propofol to Jackson the night he died to help him sleep, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The official told AP that Murray left the bedroom where Jackson was sedated and returned to find the star not breathing. It's unclear how long Murray was out of the room.

    The official said investigators are working under the theory that propofol caused Jackson's heart to stop. Toxicology reports that should show what killed Jackson are expected as early as this week.

    Propofol typically is used to render patients unconscious for surgery. The drug can depress breathing and lower heart rates and blood pressure.

    Home use of propofol is virtually unheard of, and if Murray left Jackson's side he would have violated guidelines for the safe use of the drug drawn up by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

    Those rules say a physician "should be physically present throughout the sedation and remain immediately available until the patient is medically discharged from the post procedure recovery area."

    In considering a manslaughter charge against a doctor, a patient's complicity in taking the risk could reduce the doctor's culpability, said Harland Braun, a prominent Los Angeles defense attorney who has represented doctors in cases involving administering of drugs.

    If a doctor is aware of the risk, there might also be an issue of whether the patient knows that risk and decided to take it.

    Chernoff has said the doctor "didn't prescribe or administer anything that should have killed Michael Jackson." He declined interview requests Tuesday.

    The search of Murray's home and business involved members of the DEA's Los Angeles Tactical Diversion Squad, agency spokesman Jose Martinez said. The team typically looks into cases involving legally prescribed drugs such as narcotic painkillers that are illegally sold or obtained by people not authorized to have them, such as "doctor shoppers" who get medications from several physicians so they can sell the drugs or feed their addiction.

    The Las Vegas searches were the second time in less than a week that investigators targeted Murray's property. Last week authorities searched his Houston clinic and a storage unit. Court records show they were seeking evidence of whether the doctor committed manslaughter.

    Murray, 51, who is licensed in California, Nevada and Texas, became Jackson's personal physician in May and was to accompany him to London for a series of concerts starting in July.

    He was staying with Jackson in the entertainer's rented Los Angeles mansion and, according to Chernoff, "happened to find" Jackson unconscious in his bedroom the morning of June 25. Murray tried to revive him by compressing his chest with one hand while supporting Jackson's back with the other.

    It took up to a half hour before paramedics were called, Murray's lawyers have said. The paramedics arrived about three minutes later and tried to revive the pop star for another 42 minutes before taking him to nearby UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was pronounced dead.

    Jackson is believed to have been using propofol for about two years and investigators are trying to determine how many other doctors administered it.

    Murray told investigators he had given Jackson the drug several times before, the law enforcement official told AP.

    As investigators try to untangle Jackson's complex medical history they have interviewed at least six doctors who treated him and searched records for transactions involving aliases Jackson may have used to get drugs.

    The official said Murray directed investigators to a closet in the room where Jackson slept. In it, they found enough propofol and sedatives to fill two gym bags. The room also contained an IV line and three tanks of oxygen, which would be needed for administration of propofol.

    Sources: Sina.com
     
  2. Harrison

    Harrison Well-Known Member

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    Warrants for Jackson's doc call singer 'addict'

    Friday July 31, 2009 USA

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    FILE - In this July 7, 2006 file photo, Dr. Conrad Murray poses for a photo as he opens the Acres Homes Cardiovascular Center at the Tidwell Professional Building, in Houston. (AP photo)



    Authorities investigating Michael Jackson's death referred to him as an "addict" and were seeking evidence related to the powerful anesthetic propofol, according to search warrants released Thursday.

    The documents show investigators have cause to believe several California Business and Professions codes had been broken, including "excessive prescribing," a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 180 days.

    Los Angeles police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents spent much of Tuesday at the Las Vegas home and business of Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murray, who is the focus of a manslaughter investigation. The raids sought evidence supporting that charge, as well as code violations, including "prescribing to an addict" and "unprofessional conduct."

    The state codes cover all prescribing professionals, including doctors and dentists, and violations could lead to a revoked or suspended license, said Kimberly Kirchmeyer, deputy director of the Medical Board of California. The codes state a physician cannot prescribe drugs to anyone with a chemical dependency or who is using the drugs for non-therapeutic purposes; they define an addict as someone who continues to use a drug despite harm, shows compulsive use or has impaired control over use.

    The warrants, which had been sealed when the searches were conducted, also said investigators wanted all documentation relating to the "purchase, transfer, receiving, ordering, delivery and storage of propofol."

    A law enforcement official earlier told The Associated Press that on the day Jackson died Murray gave him propofol to help him sleep and that investigators are working under the theory the anesthetic caused Jackson's heart to stop. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

    A cause of death has yet to be announced. The Los Angeles County coroner has twice said toxicology findings on Jackson were imminent but after meeting Thursday with investigators Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter announced an indefinite delay. Winter said further investigation needs to be done; he did not go into detail.

    Propofol, dubbed "milk of amnesia," is commonly used for surgeries and is not meant as a sleep agent or to be given in private homes. Because of its potency, only trained anesthesia professionals are supposed to administer it and patients are to be monitored at all times.

    Murray, a cardiologist, has spoken to police but not commented publicly since Jackson died June 25. His attorney, Edward Chernoff, did not comment Thursday, but has previously said the doctor did not prescribe anything that "should have" killed Jackson.

    Jackson was given anesthesia for numerous medical procedures over the years and had a long history of prescription drug use.

    Search warrants issued last week in Houston allowed authorities to search Murray's clinic and a storage unit. They were the first public acknowledgment that investigators consider Jackson's death a possible manslaughter and that Murray is the target of the investigation.

    The Las Vegas warrants were far more detailed and authorized authorities to look for medical and other records related to Jackson or any of the apparent 19 aliases he used, including the names Omar Arnold, Josephine Baker, Paul Farance, Jack London and Michael Amir Williams Muhammad.

    Among the items seized in the Vegas searches were an iPhone, copies of several computer hard drives, a CD with the name Omar Arnold on it and a binder containing invoices for medical equipment and supplies. No propofol was found.

    The warrant also shows investigators are seeking correspondence from seven doctors it names. One, Dr. Allan Metzger of Los Angeles, is an internist and rheumatologist who had a close relationship with Jackson beginning in 2002 and was godfather to one of the singer's children, said his attorney, Harland Braun.

    Braun said Jackson invited Metzger to his home April 18. He spent about an hour and a half with him, during which time Jackson asked about sleep medication, particularly propofol.

    Metzger told him it was dangerous, could be life threatening and should not be used outside a hospital, and suggested Jackson use some other sleep medication, Braun said.

    Metzger's experience echoed Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse who gave Jackson nutritional counseling earlier this year, who said he complained of insomnia and asked her repeatedly for Diprivan, the brand-name version of propofol. Lee said she also warned him of the drug's dangers and rejected his requests.

    Sources: Sina.com