Conrad Murray 'abandoned' Michael Jackson
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Late U.S. pop icon Michael Jackson's personal physician has failed to take standard actions the day when the pop star died from a powerful prescription sedative, a prosecutor said at a preliminary hearing held on Tuesday morning.
Conrad Murray simply "abandoned his patients," Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said.
Fifty-year-old Murray appeared at the court hearing which will determine if there is enough evidence for Murray to stand trial, but his attorneys did not make opening statement.
The doctor took actions that were an "extreme deviation from the standard of care," including the use of propofol in a home setting without proper monitoring or equipment on June 25, 2009, and using propofol to treat insomnia, Walgren told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor.
The coroners ruled that the superstar died from acute intoxication from propofol. Murray is accused of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jackson's death.
According to Walgren, Murray gave the singer a dose of propofol after he administered various medications, including benzodiazepines such as lorazepam or Valium on the star throughout the night. Then Murray began to make a phone call which lasted 11 minutes, the prosecutor said.
After discovering Jackson had stopped breathing, Murray, who was paid 150,000 dollars a month caring for Jackson, waited at least nine minutes before he asked any of Jackson's security employees to call 911.
Shortly before 12:30 p.m., paramedics arrived at the estate and the singer was already cold, the prosecutor said. The paramedics asked about Jackson's underlying medical condition and what drugs he had been given, but Murray did not mention propofol, saying only that Jackson had been given the anxiety medication lorazepam.
The hearing is expected to last about two weeks. The prosecutors would call medical experts as witnesses to testify about Murray's conduct.
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