Michael Jackson's Agony Was Real - Doctor
Before Michael Jackson asked a doctor to treat his insomnia with propofol, he tried falling asleep to the physician reading him bedtime stories.
The
pop star's desperate decades-long search for sleep ultimately led to
his death when he overdosed on the surgical anesthetic on June 25, 2009.
The
trial to decide if Jackson's last concert promoter is liable for his
death is nearing an end after more than four months of testimony.
AEG
Live's lawyers plan to rest their defense case this week, with Jackson
lawyers presenting several rebuttal witnesses. Closing arguments are
likely the last week of September.
Dr.
Barney Van Valin, whose video testimony was shown to jurors Friday,
refused Jackson's request for propofol infusions in 2003, but six years
later -- in Dr. Van Valin's words -- another physician "put him to sleep
like a dog."
Jackson's
mother and three children contend AEG Live is liable for his death
because the company hired, retained or supervised Dr. Conrad Murray, who
was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Jackson's propofol
overdose. Murray told investigators he gave Jackson nightly infusions of
the drug to treat his insomnia the last two months of his life.
AEG
Live lawyers argue Jackson, not their executives, chose and controlled
Murray and that the company had no way of knowing about the dangerous
treatments in the privacy of the singer's bedroom.
The
producers ignored warning signs that Jackson's health was
deteriorating, and instead of finding another doctor to intervene, they
kept Murray and made him responsible for getting Jackson to rehearsals
for his comeback concerts, the Jacksons contend.
MJ and doctor were "best friends"
Dr.
Van Valin's practice is near the Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara
County, California, where Jackson lived until his acquittal in a child
molestation trial in 2005.
"We were best friends, you know," Dr. Van Valin testified. "I didn't have a better friend and I don't think he did."
Jackson
"would just show up" at Van Valin's home every week or so without
warning, he said. The doctor would open his door to leave for work in
the morning "and he would just be standing there."
His
driver told him once that Jackson had been waiting at his door for 35
minutes, not wanting to knock because he thought that was impolite.
Van Valin's children would stay home from school some days Jackson visited.
"I'd
come home from work and there's Michael there at the house and they're
watching cartoons or, you know, eating pizza," Van Valin said. At first
it was a novelty, but after several years it was routine, he said.
The doctor was asked under cross examination if Michael Jackson a good father.
"No,
he is an amazing father," he answered. "Because I'm a good father and
he was better than me. He respected them and as they respected him and
he would correct them gently."
Doctor: Jackson didn't fake pain to get drugs
AEG
Live's defense includes the contention that Jackson cultivated
friendships with doctors to gain access to drugs to feed a secretive
addiction. But Van Valin denied Jackson ever used their friendship to
get prescriptions to medication that were not clinically indicated.
Although
he was compelled to testify as a witness for AEG Live, Van Valin's
testimony boosted the Jackson case by showing that Jackson's use of
painkillers was medically justified by chronic pain suffered in a 1997
stage accident, Jackson lawyers said.
The
doctor said Jackson showed the "classic symptoms of lower back pain"
and an MRI study confirmed a bulge in a disc in his lower spine
consistent with where his pain was.
Dr. Van Valin said he never suspected Jackson was faking his pain to get painkiller shots.
"I
looked for that because there are plenty of people that come in and try
to scam me, so I'm always looking for that," he testified.
While
the doctor said "nothing implied" that Jackson was abusing painkillers,
there was one incident during house call in 2002 that caused him to
suspect Jackson might be getting additional shots of the powerful opioid
Demerol from another doctor. He noticed "a little blood spot" on
Jackson's T-shirt after he gave him a shot, he said.
"I
lifted it up and there's a little Band-Aid over it and I said,
'Michael,' I said, 'you have another doctor that gave you a shot.' I
said, 'You realize what risk you put yourself and me at by doing that?
Who came and gave you a shot?' 'Oh, no, I didn't -- it was not a shot.'"
Van Valin said. "But it was. He was lying."
AEG
Live contends Jackson kept doctors in the dark about other doctors'
treatments. The argument is important to their contention that his
dangerous drug use would have shortened his life even if he had not died
in 2009. The shorter his life expectancy, the less money they might be
ordered to pay in damages if found liable in his death.
"I
told him, I said, 'You know what, I can't do this, okay, 'cause if
you're doubling up, you know, I give you a shot and then you've already
had one,' I said, 'I could kill you,'" Van Valin testified.
Van Valin remained close friends with Jackson even though he stopped treating him soon after that incident, he said.
Bedtime stories versus Diprivan
The
doctor's testimony revealed more about Jackson's relationship with the
drug that killed him -- the surgical anesthetic propofol, also known as
Diprivan. AEG Live lawyers contend it was a drug Jackson knew a lot
about, but that their executives had no knowledge of.
Debbie
Rowe, Jackson's former wife, testified earlier that German doctors
infused the singer with it in a Munich hotel on two nights to help him
sleep between "HIStory" tour shows in 1997. Jackson lawyers pointed out
that Paul Gongaware, who is now the AEG Live co-CEO, was Jackson's tour
manager then.
Five years later, Jackson asked Van Valin to help him go to sleep.
"Sometimes,
he'd say, 'Barney, do me a favor, see if I can sleep, I'm going to get
under the covers on that rollout couch,' and he said, 'Just read me out
of a book,'" Van Valin testified. "I'd find a book that looked
interesting and I'd just start reading or I'd tell him stories. That
didn't work because often times he got excited about the story and say,
'That really happened?' or something. Anyway, I'd read to him -- and
when it seemed like he was asleep I'd slip out, you know, kind of hard
because the door made a little noise. If I thought he was asleep I'd
leave, and once in awhile he'd say, 'Good night, Barney,' and when I got
to the door, he wasn't asleep at all."
Dr. Van Valin also tried to help Jackson sleep with sedatives, including Xanax, without success, he said.
Jackson,
however, revealed to him in 2003 that he had a stash of propofol in a
closet of his Neverland Ranch bedroom, Van Valin said.
"He
said, 'Would you put me to sleep, I haven't been able to sleep for four
days,' and I said, 'With what?' And he goes, 'Well, I have this stuff,'
and I said, 'Mike, I don't do I.V. sedation. You need an
anesthesiologist to do that.' And he said, 'Oh, it's safe, man, I used
it for all those years between shows and I got put to sleep.' I said, 'I
can't imagine that was good sleep." You know, he said, "No, it works
really well."
He
said Jackson told him that during his world tours him a doctor "would
put in the I.V. and put me to sleep, and he'd stay there for eight hours
and wake me up 'cause I would go -- if I had three days between shows, I
would have three days I didn't sleep and, you know, that I couldn't put
on the show I wanted to have, you know, I mean, I want my shows to be,
you know, as high end as possible."
"Sounds
like a doctor who did his job, not like this other guy, who just
started the drip and left the room and basically put him to sleep like a
dog," Van Valin said.
Jackson
was "pretty complacent" when he rejected his request for help with
propofol and he never asked for it again, Van Valin said.
Dr.
Conrad Murray told CNN's Anderson Cooper in April that Jackson had "his
own stash" of propofol in his home before he began treating him with it
in 2009.
"I
did not agree with Michael, but Michael felt that it was not an issue
because he had been exposed to it for years and he knew exactly how
things worked," Murray said. "And given the situation at the time, it
was my approach to try to get him off of it, but Michael Jackson was not
the kind of person you can just say 'Put it down' and he's going to do
that."
Jackson
lawyers argue that AEG Live was negligent for not checking out Murray's
distressed financial situation before agreeing to pay him $150,000 a
month. It created a conflict of interest that led Murray to ignore safe
practices and his responsibility to Jackson's health, they contend.
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