Jackson probe focuses on powerful anesthetic
Police and drug enforcement officers raided the home of Jackson's doctor Tuesday. Reports say an injection of propofol may have contributed to the pop star's death.
San Francisco - The emerging role of the anesthetic propofol in the death of Michael Jackson is bringing new attention to a powerful drug that is normally used only in hospitals, and has until now received little scrutiny from federal drug authorities because of its relatively low addiction risk.
Local and federal drug authorities Tuesday searched the Las Vegas home and office of Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, as part of manslaughter investigations into the pop star's death. They didn't specify what they were looking for but a law enforcement official told the Associated Press that police have theorized that a dose of propofol that Dr. Murray administered as a sleep aid contributed to Jackson's death.
After propofol, known by its commercial name Diprivan, was found in Mr. Jackson's home following his death, federal drug authorities said they may re-designate the drug as a scheduled substance – a move that would tighten controls on how it is used and distributed.
Propofol is injected as an anesthetic for both minor and major surgeries, but its usage needs to be monitored and it should always be given in a hospital setting, say experts. There have bene only a few reported cases of abuse of the drug, mainly among anesthesiologists or medical professionals with access to the drug.
"To give this drug safely … they need to have certain monitors to watch that patient carefully," says Dr. David Kloth, an anesthesiologist and board member of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP).
The drug should never be used as a sleep aid, he says. "The fact that [Jackson] even asked for this drug would be a red flag that he has an addiction," says Dr. Kloth.
Patients on propofol can "have extremely variable responses to the drug and some patients can become completely anesthetized, including losing the ability to breathe," ASIPP said in a statement earlier this month.
Tuesday's search is the second time authorities have raided Murray's property. Last week, they searched his Houston office and storage unit. Murray is licensed to work in California, Nevada, and Texas and began working with Jackson in May to accompany him on his upcoming concert series in London.
The AP reported that Murray had admitted giving Jackson the anesthetic on the day of his death. He was with the pop star when he died and tried to resuscitate him.
Murray's lawyer said that the physician didn't "administer anything that should have killed Michael Jackson." Sources close to the investigation have also told the AP they are looking for other doctors who have given Jackson propofol.
Jackson reportedly used the drug as a sleep aid for the past two years.
Toxicology reports are expected to be released this week, and should shed more light on Jackson's death.
If it turns out that Murray did administer propofol to Jackson – and that was deemed a cause of death – he could face any number of penalties, says Kloth. Murray could lose his medical license or his ability to prescribe scheduled substances in addition to possible manslaughter charges.
"If this doctor put the IV in, he's going to be at least culpable," says Kloth.
But while propofol could be a cause of Jackson's death – the drug lowers heart rates and blood pressure – it could also be just one of many factors, especially if Jackson was taking other prescription medications at the same time.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Police look for evidence of manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death, attorney says
Police look for evidence of manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death, attorney says
A search warrant executed today at the Houston offices of Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal doctor, indicates that authorities are investigating "the offense of manslaughter" in relation to the pop star's death, Murray's attorney said.
The statement by attorney Edward Chernoff is the strongest indication yet that investigators are considering serious criminal charges against anyone connected with Jackson's sudden death June 25.
“We can confirm that a search warrant was executed today on Dr. Murray’s offices in Houston Texas," Chernoff said in a statement. "We reviewed the warrant and remained on the premises while the search was being executed. The search was conducted by members of the DEA, two Robbery-Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and Houston Police officers. The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter. Law enforcement concluded their search around 12:30 p.m., and left with a forensic image of a business computer hard drive and 21 documents. None of the documents taken had previously been requested by law enforcement or the L.A. Coroner’s office."
On Tuesday, The Times reported that the Los Angeles County coroner's office had requested another interview with Murray and were seeking additional information from him.
Murray, 51, is a central figure in the probe as a witness and a possible criminal target. He discovered Jackson unconscious in the bedroom of his rented Holmby Hills home and performed CPR on him until paramedics arrived.
Police questioned Murray at UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was pronounced dead, and two days later, the physician and his attorney met with police detectives for three hours.
Through his lawyer, Murray has said he administered no narcotics or other medications that "should have" caused Jackson's death and remains puzzled as to his death.
Murray is one of several doctors the Los Angeles Police Department and other agencies are investigating as they try to determine the circumstance of Jackson's death. Authorities removed prescription drugs and other "medical evidence" from Jackson's home and are trying to determine whether they played a role in his death. Murray has not been named as any type of criminal suspect, and his attorney said he did nothing wrong.
Murray is currently in Las Vegas, where he has his primary practice, according to his lawyer. He worked about two days a month at the Houston clinic, which has served a poor, predominantly black neighborhood. He opened the clinic in 2006 in honor of his late father, who had been a longtime physician and community activist in the neighborhood.
[Updated at 12:30 p.m.: Items seized from Murray’s office included rolodex cards, e-mails, a photocopied picture of Murray and a folder containing the doctor’s bio, according to a source knowledgeable with the search. Investigators also took paperwork, such as receipts for a public storage unit and cellphone and pamphlets from the Sleep Center of Doctors Hospital in Houston, located near Murray’s clinic.
Although Murray’s attorney said the search warrant authorized law enforcement officials to seek evidence in support of manslaughter, sources familiar with the investigation cautioned that the probe may not lead to any criminal charges.
To obtain a search warrant, authorities are required to show probable cause for a felony. Police would not discuss the nature of the search warrant, its contents or the statement issued by Murray’s lawyer. “It is an ongoing investigation into circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson’s death,” said L.A. Police Department Commander Pat Gannon. No determination has been made yet whether Jackson’s death was a homicide or an accident.
A search warrant executed today at the Houston offices of Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal doctor, indicates that authorities are investigating "the offense of manslaughter" in relation to the pop star's death, Murray's attorney said.
The statement by attorney Edward Chernoff is the strongest indication yet that investigators are considering serious criminal charges against anyone connected with Jackson's sudden death June 25.
“We can confirm that a search warrant was executed today on Dr. Murray’s offices in Houston Texas," Chernoff said in a statement. "We reviewed the warrant and remained on the premises while the search was being executed. The search was conducted by members of the DEA, two Robbery-Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and Houston Police officers. The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter. Law enforcement concluded their search around 12:30 p.m., and left with a forensic image of a business computer hard drive and 21 documents. None of the documents taken had previously been requested by law enforcement or the L.A. Coroner’s office."
On Tuesday, The Times reported that the Los Angeles County coroner's office had requested another interview with Murray and were seeking additional information from him.
Murray, 51, is a central figure in the probe as a witness and a possible criminal target. He discovered Jackson unconscious in the bedroom of his rented Holmby Hills home and performed CPR on him until paramedics arrived.
Police questioned Murray at UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was pronounced dead, and two days later, the physician and his attorney met with police detectives for three hours.
Through his lawyer, Murray has said he administered no narcotics or other medications that "should have" caused Jackson's death and remains puzzled as to his death.
Murray is one of several doctors the Los Angeles Police Department and other agencies are investigating as they try to determine the circumstance of Jackson's death. Authorities removed prescription drugs and other "medical evidence" from Jackson's home and are trying to determine whether they played a role in his death. Murray has not been named as any type of criminal suspect, and his attorney said he did nothing wrong.
Murray is currently in Las Vegas, where he has his primary practice, according to his lawyer. He worked about two days a month at the Houston clinic, which has served a poor, predominantly black neighborhood. He opened the clinic in 2006 in honor of his late father, who had been a longtime physician and community activist in the neighborhood.
[Updated at 12:30 p.m.: Items seized from Murray’s office included rolodex cards, e-mails, a photocopied picture of Murray and a folder containing the doctor’s bio, according to a source knowledgeable with the search. Investigators also took paperwork, such as receipts for a public storage unit and cellphone and pamphlets from the Sleep Center of Doctors Hospital in Houston, located near Murray’s clinic.
Although Murray’s attorney said the search warrant authorized law enforcement officials to seek evidence in support of manslaughter, sources familiar with the investigation cautioned that the probe may not lead to any criminal charges.
To obtain a search warrant, authorities are required to show probable cause for a felony. Police would not discuss the nature of the search warrant, its contents or the statement issued by Murray’s lawyer. “It is an ongoing investigation into circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson’s death,” said L.A. Police Department Commander Pat Gannon. No determination has been made yet whether Jackson’s death was a homicide or an accident.
L.A. County coroner's staff improperly viewed Michael Jackson's death certificate
L.A. County coroner's staff improperly viewed Michael Jackson's death certificate
Los Angeles County coroner’s officials said today that they have looked into security breaches involving the investigation of Michael Jackson’s death, including hundreds of improper views of the pop star’s death certificate and the discovery of weaknesses in two other computer systems in which more sensitive records were stored.
At least a half-dozen coroner’s staff members were among those who inappropriately accessed Jackson’s death certificate, officials said today. Within two weeks of his death, the certificate had been viewed more than 300 times.
In some cases, staff members appear to have printed copies before it became a public record. Earlier this month, coroner’s officials warned employees to cease, cautioning that they had previously been admonished about the security hold on the Jackson case.
"There's only one person in the investigation of Mr. Jackson who needed to have a copy of the death certificate, and that was the investigator," said Craig Harvey, chief coroner investigator.
Harvey called any access of the Electronic Death Registration System for personal use “not appropriate.”
In a July 9 e-mail reviewed by The Times, a coroner’s captain told staff that future abuses of the system would result in disciplinary action. Staff members who had printed a copy of the death certificate were advised to destroy it.
Harvey said he learned that coroner’s employees were inappropriately accessing Jackson’s death certificate after he received a tip alleging that a funeral home employee created a fake death certificate for Jackson in the computer system.
Harvey did not uncover any fraudulent death certificate, but did discover the names of coroner's employees who had looked at the record even though they had no role in the Jackson investigation.
He said he had not contacted any law enforcement agency about the actions, saying he believed that internal rules had been broken, not any laws.
Death records in the EDRS system, which is state-supervised, can be accessed by anyone with a state-issued password, including employees at coroner’s offices, funeral homes, hospitals, and county and state registrar's offices. Users input information on death certificates that must be signed off on by doctors or coroners and made public by the state registrar.
Coroner's employees are supposed to look up cases "strictly in the performance of your official coroner duties,” according to the e-mail reviewed this month.
In addition to issues with the electronic access to Jackson’s death certificate, Harvey said that his office also had trouble securing two other computer systems in which they kept Jackson’s death investigation reports.
Investigation reports, which are not public records, typically are accessible only to investigators and other employees with office-issued passwords. Once employees log in, they can access others’ investigations — unless the reports are locked.
The investigator’s reports on Jackson's death were locked from the start, Harvey said, meaning access should have been available only to employees with the rank of captain or higher. Because of the high interest in Jackson, coroner’s officials took the added precaution of restricting access to only a few administrators. Harvey said the hard copy of the investigation was stored under lock and key.
Still, after the investigation started, they discovered vulnerabilities in the computer systems that might have allowed employees unauthorized access, Harvey said. He declined to say what those weaknesses were.
“We took extra steps to plug those holes,” he said.
Los Angeles County coroner’s officials said today that they have looked into security breaches involving the investigation of Michael Jackson’s death, including hundreds of improper views of the pop star’s death certificate and the discovery of weaknesses in two other computer systems in which more sensitive records were stored.
At least a half-dozen coroner’s staff members were among those who inappropriately accessed Jackson’s death certificate, officials said today. Within two weeks of his death, the certificate had been viewed more than 300 times.
In some cases, staff members appear to have printed copies before it became a public record. Earlier this month, coroner’s officials warned employees to cease, cautioning that they had previously been admonished about the security hold on the Jackson case.
"There's only one person in the investigation of Mr. Jackson who needed to have a copy of the death certificate, and that was the investigator," said Craig Harvey, chief coroner investigator.
Harvey called any access of the Electronic Death Registration System for personal use “not appropriate.”
In a July 9 e-mail reviewed by The Times, a coroner’s captain told staff that future abuses of the system would result in disciplinary action. Staff members who had printed a copy of the death certificate were advised to destroy it.
Harvey said he learned that coroner’s employees were inappropriately accessing Jackson’s death certificate after he received a tip alleging that a funeral home employee created a fake death certificate for Jackson in the computer system.
Harvey did not uncover any fraudulent death certificate, but did discover the names of coroner's employees who had looked at the record even though they had no role in the Jackson investigation.
He said he had not contacted any law enforcement agency about the actions, saying he believed that internal rules had been broken, not any laws.
Death records in the EDRS system, which is state-supervised, can be accessed by anyone with a state-issued password, including employees at coroner’s offices, funeral homes, hospitals, and county and state registrar's offices. Users input information on death certificates that must be signed off on by doctors or coroners and made public by the state registrar.
Coroner's employees are supposed to look up cases "strictly in the performance of your official coroner duties,” according to the e-mail reviewed this month.
In addition to issues with the electronic access to Jackson’s death certificate, Harvey said that his office also had trouble securing two other computer systems in which they kept Jackson’s death investigation reports.
Investigation reports, which are not public records, typically are accessible only to investigators and other employees with office-issued passwords. Once employees log in, they can access others’ investigations — unless the reports are locked.
The investigator’s reports on Jackson's death were locked from the start, Harvey said, meaning access should have been available only to employees with the rank of captain or higher. Because of the high interest in Jackson, coroner’s officials took the added precaution of restricting access to only a few administrators. Harvey said the hard copy of the investigation was stored under lock and key.
Still, after the investigation started, they discovered vulnerabilities in the computer systems that might have allowed employees unauthorized access, Harvey said. He declined to say what those weaknesses were.
“We took extra steps to plug those holes,” he said.
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