Witness says Jackson's doctor broke rules on care
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Repeated and flagrant violations of the standard of care by Michael Jackson's doctor led to the singer's death, a medical expert testified yesterday.
Dr Steven Shafer told jurors the lack of proper medical equipment and the absence of notes and medical records by Dr Conrad Murray, along with a breakdown of the patient-doctor relationship, were factors in the death.
Dr Murray was acting more like Jackson's employee than a physician who should have rejected the singer's requests for the anaesthetic propofol as a sleep aid, Dr Shafer said.
"Saying 'yes' is not what doctors do," he testified. "A competent doctor would know you do not do this."
The Columbia University professor and researcher gave jurors a crash course on propofol, the powerful anaesthetic used in hospital settings that has been cited as Jackson's cause of death.
"The worst disasters occur in sedation and they occur when people cut corners," Dr Shafer said. In Jackson's case, "virtually none of the safeguards were in place," he added.
Dr Shafer is expected to be the last prosecution witness in the involuntary manslaughter case against Dr Murray.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments