The Killing of Michael Jackson

Even so, if a specialist should be treating a particular patient, then the regular doctor who is actually treating him or her has one of two choices:

1) refer the patient to a specialist; 2) don’t refer the patient to a specialist, because the doctor feels that the amount of training he himself has in that area of medicine is sufficient to be treat the patient, and that he can consult with a specialist if he needs to.

In this case, Dr. Murray was not the specialist Jackson needed, and Murray failed to consult with an actual specialist. Obviously, because Jackson died, the doctor did not have the knowledge and/or training to treat Jackson successfully.

If Jackson’s estate (in this case, his Mom who inherited his property) wants to sue Murray in a civil court, they would have to prove, at minimum, that he did not treat Jackson with the skill of a doctor in that area. This appears not to be difficult to do, because of, among other things, the amount and type of drugs he administered to Jackson, the fact that Murray waited a long time to call an ambulance, and also that he used CPR on Jackson incorrectly.

But what would the criminal justice system do? The coroner, in ruling his death a homicide, is stating that Jackson’s death was caused by “the hands of another person”. This sometimes is not a crime, like when a soldier kills another soldier in war. But homicide may be a crime when a doctor, in treating a patient, causes or contributes to his death because of any of the following: the doctor wanted the person to die; the doctor treats the person so carelessly that no reasonable doctor would have treated the patient that way; or that the physician acted so recklessly as to his patient’s safety, that the doctor consciously violated the patient’s safety. (An example of this can happen when a surgeon operates on the wrong leg).

Murray could be sentenced anywhere from two to four years in prison.Whatever happens, it is obvious that Dr. Murray will have a lot of explaining to do. If he is prosecuted for homicide, in order to hire a good criminal attorney, Murray may just have to cough up some of that money Jackson once paid him, and then cough up some more if Jackson’s family successfully sues him in a civil lawsuit. And, if the doctor loses either of these cases, his medical license will probably be suspended, which puts a blow to any future income.

Many doctors are already saying that administering Propofol on top of all the other medications Jackson had just received on the day of his death was dangerous. Murray must be extremely concerned, because if he is charged and ultimately convicted of the particular homicide of involuntary manslaughter, 

In other words, that old adage “crime doesn’t pay” may lead to a new one: “very rich patients’ extreme medical demands don’t pay either”!