Michael Jackson’s Death: Negligence vs.. Homicide

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Preliminary reports from the Los Angeles Coroner’s office show that Michael Jackson died from an overdose of a drug called propofol.

It is a very powerful sedative that has been used to reduce anxiety and help promote slep and relaxation. Currently there is an ongoing investigation as to how his death is going to be classified as either homocide or negligence on the part of his doctor.

If you spend time reading the reports and information about Jackson you see a very troubling picture. Let’s take a quick look at an excerpt from the CNN story:

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“Based on interviews, visits to Jackson’s home as well as records and documents gathered during the investigation, the affidavit provides the following account of Jackson’s last days:

In May, Jackson hired Murray, a cardiologist. The singer was spending long days rehearsing for concerts that he saw as crucial to reviving his career.

For six weeks, Murray told police that he treated Jackson for insomnia. He said he had been giving the singer an intravenous drip with 50 milligrams of propofol, diluted with lidocaine, every night to help him sleep.

Jackson was already familiar with propofol, a powerful anesthetic, Murray said. The singer even called it his “milk” because of its milky appearance, he said.

With the concerts approaching, Jackson started to need these drugs every night, Murray said — and the doctor said he worried that Jackson was becoming addicted to propofol. He wanted to wean Jackson off the drug.

Three days before Jackson’s death — on June 22 — Murray gave the singer a combination of drugs that he hoped gradually would move the singer off propofol.

That mixture involved propofol, the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam (known by its brand name, Ativan) and midazolam (known as Versed). It succeeded in helping Jackson to sleep for that night and the next, Murray said.”

If you continue to read through the story you will see that more and more drugs were administered. From a laymen’s perspective it appears that he took an enormous amount of medication to fall asleep. Since I am not a doctor or a student of pharmacology my comment is strictly speculative in nature. I would also imagine that he had built up quite a tolerance to these drugs which is why he required so much.

All of this brings us to the question of what should his death be classified as. Since we operate in a justice system based upon presumed innocence I won’t call it a homocide. And while I am an educated man I won’t claim to be an expert on drugs and care of patients therein, so I am not yet prepared to call it death by negligence.

So I’ll opt for a different description and simply call it, tragic. Because that is what is was. A man child who was immensely talented and exceptionally troubled. Proof that money and talent are not enough to make a person happy.

All in all it is very sad tale.