Defense Drops Claim Jackson Drank Fatal Dose of Propofol

Los Angeles - Two medical specialists testified today that Michael Jackson's personal physician deviated drastically from accepted standards of care by treating the entertainer's insomnia with the powerful anesthetic propofol, the drug that caused the singer's death.

Dr. Nader Kamangar, a pulmonary/critical care specialist who works at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, said Dr. Conrad Murray's administration of propofol to Jackson at the pop performer's rented Holmby Hills estate was "inconceivable," "beyond comprehension" and "unethical."

Testifying in the Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial, Kamangar told jurors propofol has "no proven role in treatment of insomnia."

Meanwhile, Ventura County cardiologist Dr. Alon Steinberg testified that Murray violated multiple standards of patient care in his care of Jackson -- primarily by using propofol in an unmonitored setting.

Steinberg outlined six "extreme deviations" in standards of care he believes Murray committed.

The heart specialist said Murray used propofol without any medical need, administered the drug in an unmonitored and unprofessional setting, failed to adequately prepare for an emergency, failed to follow emergency procedures, failed to summon help immediately and failed to maintain proper medical records.

Steinberg testified that there appeared to be a "significant delay" of about 20 minutes before Murray called for an ambulance. For every minute Jackson was left unattended by emergency personnel, there was a "less and less chance" of the singer's survival, he said.

Murray's "strange" behavior at the scene "directly impacted (Jackson's) death. If all these deviations hadn't happened, Mr. Jackson would've been alive" today, Steinberg said.

On cross-examination, defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan asked Steinberg if it appeared as though Murray was responsible for Jackson's death.

"Yes, he's responsible," Steinberg replied.

Steinberg said it was particularly egregious for Murray to have left Jackson's side after giving him doses of the milky white anesthetic.

"When you monitor a patient, you never leave their side," Steinberg told the seven-man, five-woman jury. "It's like leaving a baby that's sleeping on your kitchen countertop."

Steinberg said his conclusions were based solely on comments made by Murray during a two-hour taped interview with Los Angeles police detectives two days after the singer's death.

The court day opened with a surprise move in which Flanagan announced that the defense team was dropping its claim that the singer drank a fatal dose of propofol when the doctor left his bedroom.

Flanagan told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor that the defense had commissioned a report that determined swallowing the powerful anesthetic propofol would not be fatal.

"We are not (going to) assert at any point in time that Michael Jackson orally ingested propofol," Flanagan told the judge outside the jury's presence.

Defense attorney Edward Chernoff told jurors in his opening statement that the defense would prove that Jackson "self-administered" the fatal dose of propofol on June 25, 2009, after Murray had left Jackson's bedroom.

It was not immediately clear what direction Murray's defense team would now take in the trial, but Deputy District Attorney David Walgren indicated that the prosecution would counter any contention that Jackson gave himself a larger dose of propofol by some means other than drinking it.

Murray, 58, is charged with involuntary manslaughter for Jackson's death at age 50 from an overdose of propofol.

Prosecutors contend Murray, a cardiologist, gave Jackson a large dose of the medication, then left him unattended to make phone calls and send emails. Previous witnesses have testified about being on the phone with Murray that morning, or about emails the doctor sent from his iPhone in that time period, despite the doctor's assertion that he only left Jackson's side for two minutes to use the bathroom.

Defense attorneys have insisted that Murray was trying to wean Jackson off propofol, a medication the singer called his "milk" and had been using to combat insomnia.

Murray faces up to four years in prison if convicted of the charge.

In court Tuesday, a Los Angeles County deputy medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Jackson testified that he did not believe the singer gave himself the propofol that killed him.

Dr. Christopher Rogers, who ruled Jackson's death a "homicide," told the jury that "the circumstances from my point of view do not support self-administration of propofol."

He noted that Murray acknowledged to police that he had given Jackson a 25-milligram dose of propofol and said "there was not an appropriate medical indication" for the doctor to give the entertainer the powerful medication to help him sleep.

"I believe that, in general, it is not appropriate to treat insomnia with propofol," Rogers said.

He noted that the coroner's office had consulted with an anesthesiologist