Michael Jackson's doctor 'set to be charged with manslaughter'

Michael Jackson's personal physician Dr Conrad Murray could be charged with manslaughter within days after the Los Angeles Coroner's office ruled that the singer's death was homicide

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Dr Conrad Murray Photo: YOUTUBE

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Prosecutors may offer the physician the chance to voluntarily surrender himself in Los Angeles rather than being arrested.

Dr Murray is likely to face a charge of involuntary manslaughter which carries a maximum sentence of four years under Californian law.

Investigators had initially looked at charging him with second degree murder but couldn't find enough evidence to support a case.

Dr Murray has admitted administering the powerful sedative propofol to the singer on the day he died to help him sleep.

But he claims the amount, 25 milligrams, was small and should not have been fatal.

To secure a conviction for involuntary manslaughter prosecutors will have to prove that Dr Murray acted recklessly and created a high risk of death.

He will also be asked why he didn't tell paramedics or doctors at the UCLA hospital, where Jackson was rushed after collapsing, that he had administered propofol.

Leading US attorney Roy Black said the intensity of the two month police investigation made it inevitable that Dr Murray would be charged. He said: "I have no doubt he's going to be indicted. Just the amount of work tells us that."

The homicide ruling by the coroner's office was based on forensic tests that found propofol combined with at least two other sedatives, lorazepam and midazolam, to kill Jackson.

Lee Cantrell, director of the San Diego division of the California Poison Control System, said 25 milligrams of propofol was "not a whopping amount" but in a cocktail of other sedatives may have "pushed him over the edge".

He said: "This is horrible polypharmacy. No one will treat an insomniac like this."

Dr Murray has said he had been trying to wean the singer off propofol. He had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks with 50 milligrams of the drug every night through an intravenous drip.

He had lowered the propofol dose to 25 milligrams and added lorazepam and midazolam two days prior to Jackson's death. The combination succeeded in helping the pop star sleep.

Dr Murray said he cut off the propofol completely the next day and Jackson fell asleep with just the two sedatives. But on June 25 he gave in to the singer's repeated demands for propofol.

Michael Jackson referred to drug propofol as 'milk'

Michael Jackson's final days saw him plunge into desperate addiction, begging his doctor for drugs, including propofol, the "milk" that ultimately killed him, investigators have said.

Michael Jackson Photo: GETTY

Just weeks away from launching a series of 50 concerts in London to seal a comeback, revive his tarnished reputation and help lift him out of financial trouble, the King of Pop was tormented by severe insomnia. Jackson's personal doctor Conrad Murray is now in the crosshairs of an investigation into the star's death.

He "stated that Jackson was very familiar with the drug (propofol) and referred to it as his 'milk,'" Los Angeles Police Department detective Orlando Martinez wrote in a warrant affidavit unsealed in Houston, Texas this week. The chronology it reveals of Jackson's final hours showed that in his craving for sleep he had resorted to a drug cocktail so potent that experts describe it as a potential killer. According to the affidavit, Dr Murray admitted to police that in an effort to help rid Jackson of his insomnia, he administered intravenous injections of 50 milligrams of propofol nightly during the six weeks prior to his June 25 death. But the cardiologist said he was concerned Jackson was becoming addicted, so on June 22, he halved Jackson's propofol dose to wean him off the drug and also administered lorazepam and midazolam. The following night, he administered the latter two sedatives but withheld propofol, and the star was able to sleep. But throughout the next night, Jackson stayed awake. At 1:30 am on the 25th, Dr Murray gave Jackson a 10 milligram tab of the tranquilizer Valium. At 2am, two milligrams of lorazepam. At 3am, he administered two milligrams of midazolam. Still no sleep. At 5am, another dose of lorazepam, followed by more midazolam at 7:30 am, according the affidavit. Dr Murray said that by this time, he was closely tracking the star's pulse with a monitor attached to his finger. "Jackson remained awake and at approximately 1040 hours, Murray finally administered 25 milligrams of propofol, diluted with lidocaine via IV drip to keep Jackson sedated, after repeated demands/requests from Jackson," the affidavit said. Dr Murray was monitoring Jackson closely, it stated, but then stepped away from his bedside to use the bathroom. When he returned two minutes later, Jackson had stopped breathing. His attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and the singer was declared dead at 2pm.

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