Commentary: Conrad Murray's Conviction Has Left Everyone Else Off the Hook (382 hits)
In the final analysis, Conrad Murray was the person was most responsible for Michael's death. But a host of others played a significant role. They ought to thank their lucky stars that the sins of the many have fallen on the shoulders of one. One can only imagine the sigh of relief on the part of all those who contributed to the death of Michael Jackson. With the conviction of Conrad Murray, there is an official scapegoat and the finger-pointing can now end. We found the culprit. It was Michael's corrupt physician who would do anything to remain in the orbit of the superstar and receive his monthly retainer of $150k per month. Murray was even prepared to become Michael's pusher. Now he has been justly punished and we can put the matter rest. Rest in peace Michael. Your killer has been identified and sent to jail.
If only.
For years, a group that surrounded Michael watched as his life deteriorated but did nothing for the very same fear that if they opened their mouths they would be out. The publicists he paid, the managers who took their percentage, the handlers who got their cut, watched as he dangled a baby from a balcony, proclaimed his pride in sharing a bed with a child on international TV, and slowly went bankrupt as he squandered his fortune as garbage purchases. And they did... nothing. Michael's addiction to prescription medication was well known yet few cared to get him the help he needed. Worse, Michael was lethargic, uninspired, and required serious counseling to get his life in order. The response, however, was to persuade him to agree to 50 concerts in London -- a staggering feat for even the most well-balanced performers -- in order to take their share. Whatever the consequences, the troubled golden goose had to continue to lay some golden eggs.
So much of it came out in the trial. There was the testimony from concert director Kenny Ortega who said, "My friend wasn't right. There was something going on that was deeply troubling me. He was chilled. He appeared lost. Just sort of lost and a little incoherent and although we were conversing and I did ask him a question and he did answer me, I did feel though that he was not well at all." Ortega went so far as to email AEG Chief executive Randy Phillips that Michael was seriously unwell. "My concern is, now that we brought the doctor into the fold and had played the 'Tough Love,' Now or Never' card, is that the artist may be unable to rise to the occasion due to real, emotional stuff... He appeared quite weak and fatigued this evening. He had a terrible case of the chills, was trembling, rambling and obsessing. Everything in me says he should be psychologically evaluated. If we have any chance at all to get him back in the light, it's going to take a strong therapist to help him through this as well as immediate physical nurturing."
But if Ortega felt this way, why was he prepared to proceed with the concerts? Why did he not resign and declare that he would not contribute to Michael's decline? The role of AEG has similarly escaped serious evaluation. If the director you've hired is warning you that the artist you've contracted to do 50 concerts is in psychological turmoil, why were the concerts not cancelled or postponed? Was profit a factor in the decision to proceed, regardless of Michael's psychological state? To be sure, Michael was an adult and bears responsibility for his actions. But if he was not prepared to heal himself than it was the responsibility of all those who benefited from being in his orbit to get him the help he needed and, if the effort failed, at the very least not contribute further to his self-destruction.
Is it only the doctor who gave Michael propofol who is the culprit? What about doctors who continued to continued to give him plastic surgery to the point that his body was falling apart? And even if that's not illegal, should they at least not be ashamed? It was the tragedy of Michael Jackson to have been so successful that he became an industry that supported so many that they were prepared to look the other way as his life slowly sunk into the abyss. In the final analysis, Conrad Murray was the person was most responsible for Michael's death. But a host of others played a significant role. They ought to thank their lucky stars that the sins of the many have fallen on the shoulders of one.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the author of "The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals his Soul in Intimate Conversation". Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.
Prescription painkiller overdoses at ' epidemic levels ' November 3, 2011
ST LOUIS (MD Consult) – The death toll from overdoses of prescription painkillers has more than tripled in the past decade, according to an analysis in the CDC Vital Signs report released this week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This new finding shows that more than 40 people die every day from overdoses involving narcotic pain relievers like hydrocodone (Vicodin), methadone, oxycodone (OxyContin), and oxymorphone (Opana).
[On August 28, the LA County Coroner made an official statement classifying Jackson's death as a homicide. The county coroner stated that Jackson died from the combination of drugs in his body, with the most significant drugs being the anesthetic propofol and the anxiolytic lorazepam. Less significant drugs found in Jackson's body were midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine.]
The website TMZ, which broke the news of Jackson's death, wrote that Jackson used a number of aliases to secure prescription drugs, including Omar Arnold and Jack London, and the names of one of his bodyguards and an office manager. One doctor would allegedly call the pharmacy to say that Jackson was coming to get pethidine, and the pharmacy would fill the prescription with the patient's name blank.[38] Jackson was said to have used propofol, as well as alprazolam (an antianxiety agent), and sertraline (an antidepressant).[39] Other drugs named in connection with him included omeprazole, hydrocodone, paroxetine, carisoprodol, and hydromorphone.[40] After his death, police found several drugs in his home, including propofol. Some of these drugs had labels made out to Jackson's pseudonyms, while others were unlabeled.[41][42] A 2004 police document prepared for the 2005 People v. Jackson child abuse trial alleged that Jackson was taking up to 40 alprazolam pills a night.[36]
Deepak Chopra, an internist, endocrinologist, and speaker about mind–body intervention who was a friend of Jackson's for 20 years, expressed concern that, although Jackson presumably had access to a large arsenal of drugs, Jackson appears to have been given no naloxone, a drug used to counteract the effects of an opioid overdose.[43] Chopra also criticized what he saw as "enabling" by some Hollywood doctors: "This cult of drug-pushing doctors, with their co-dependent relationships with addicted celebrities, must be stopped. Let's hope that Michael's unnecessary death is the call for action."[43]
Eugene Aksenoff, a Tokyo-based physician who had treated Michael Jackson or his children on a few occasions, expressed concern about Jackson's use of and interest in various drugs. Aksenoff told The Japan Times that Jackson asked for stimulants so that he could get through some demanding performances. Aksenoff said he refused to prescribe them. He recalled that the singer suffered chronic fatigue, fever, insomnia and other symptoms and took a large amount of drugs. He suspected one of the major factors causing Jackson these symptoms was excessive use of steroids or other skin-whitening medications.[44] People magazine reported that the Jackson family tried to stage an intervention in early 2007, when Michael was living in Las Vegas; a fact Janet Jackson later confirmed.[45] Janet Jackson and some of her brothers allegedly traveled to his home, but were turned away by security guards who were ordered not to let them in. He was also rumored to have refused calls from his mother. "If you tried to deal with him," one source told CNN, "he would shut you out. You just wouldn't hear from him for long periods." The family denied that they had tried to intervene. On June 30, Cherilyn Lee, a nurse who had worked as Jackson's nutritionist, said that he had asked her in May to provide propofol to help him sleep, but she refused. He told her he had been given the drug before for persistent insomnia, and that a doctor had said it was safe. Lee said she received a telephone call from an aide to Jackson on June 21 to say that Jackson was ill, although she no longer worked for him. She reported overhearing Jackson complain that one side of his body was hot, the other side cold. She advised the aide to send Jackson to a hospital.[48]
Arnold Klein told CNN that Jackson used an anesthesiologist to administer propofol to help him sleep while he was on tour in Germany. CNN said the anesthesiologist would "take him down" at night and "bring him back up" in the morning during the HIStory tour of 1996 to 1997.[46]
