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Sleep Expert Says Giving Michael Jackson Propofol was 'Inconceivable'
Right before Michael Jackson died, he allegedly consumed three drugs: propofol, lorazepam and midazolam. The cocktail was reportedly administered to help the singer sleep.
But experts who are being called as witnesses in the trial of Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal doctor at the time of his death, said that using those medications to treat a sleep disorder is "inconceivable."
During questioning by the prosecution yesterday, CNN reports that sleep expert Dr. Nader Kamangar told the court that giving a patient propofol, which is a surgery-grade anaesthetic, outside of a hospital and without monitoring equipment nearby is "nothing we would even really conceive of doing."
According to LA Now, Kamangar also said, "It's kind of beyond a departure of standard of care to something that we would never even fathom."
The defense has argued that Jackson may have administered the propofol himself, but cardiologist Alon Steinberg, who was also called to the witness stand as an expert, said that even if that were the case, Murray would have been at fault for making the drugs accessible to Jackson while the singer was sedated.
"It's like leaving a baby that's sleeping on your kitchen countertop," Steinberg said. "You look at it and it's probably going to be OK and you're just going to go grab some diapers or go to the bathroom, but you would never do it."
According to My FOX LA, Murray was being paid $150,000 a month to care for Jackson during the singer's "This Is It" tour. He was allegedly brought on after he let another doctor use his office to administer propofol to Jackson for six hours.
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Murray is being charged with involuntary manslaughter.
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