Murray Faces New Accusations

Dr. Conrad Murray faces new accusations in an ongoing inquiry that will determine whether officials will revoke the already-suspended medical license of the man convicted in the 2009 death of music icon Michael Jackson. The state attorney general’s office, which submitted its first round of accusations to the California Medical Board in February, has added three allegations to the original complaint, according to papers filed June 27.

In addition to the original filing, which said Murray’s license could be revoked because of his criminal conviction and alleged failure to maintain adequate records, Murray is now accused of “gross negligence,” “repeated negligent acts” and “incompetence” for the “inappropriate administration of dangerous drugs.”

The additional accusations will be taken into account at a hearing that has yet to be scheduled, said Jennifer Simoes, a spokeswoman with the state medical board.

Murray has not practiced medicine since January 2011, when a Los Angeles County judge barred him from practicing as a condition of his bail. His license expired a month later.

On Nov. 7 of the same year, Murray was convicted of felony involuntary manslaughter in Michael’s death, capping a seven-week trial in which prosecutors accused him of incompetence, saying he abandoned medical judgment by complying with Michael’s repeated requests for a surgical anesthetic to help him sleep.

Witnesses testified that Murray chatted on the phone and sent emails and text messages as Michael stopped breathing and suffered a heart attack while under the influence of the surgical anesthetic propofol. He also delayed calling for help, they said, and lied to paramedics and emergency doctors.

Judge Michael Pastor called Murray a “disgrace to the medical profession,” when he handed down a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

Murray, who remains in jail, has appealed the conviction. He has insisted that Michael sought out the drug as a sleep aid long before Murray became his doctor.

Murray has licenses in Nevada and Texas that have been suspended, online records show. A medical license issued in Hawaii expired in January 2010.

Source: Los Angeles Times & MJWN