How will the Jackson family get justice for Michael's death? Will they get justice if Dr. Conrad Murray is bound over for trial at the preliminary hearing January 4th at the Los Angeles County Superior Court?
An expert on the use of propofol who has been interviewed by leading publications on the death of Michael Jackson is confident Dr. Conrad Murray will be ordered to stand trial.
"There is no question in my mind but that the prosecution will be able to establish probable cause that Dr. Murray should stand trial in the death of Michael Jackson," predicts Dr. Barry Friedberg, M.D. and author of Getting Over Going Under: 5 Things You MUST Know Before Anesthesia (ISBN 978-0-9829169-0-2, 2010, Goldilocks Press, 116 pages, $18.95).
But will the Jackson family feel justice is obtained if Dr. Murray stands trial, is ultimately convicted, and sentenced to four years in prison?
Prominent anesthesiologist Dr. Friedberg, who has been quoted as a propofol expert in articles about Michael Jackson's death in both People and Globe magazines, believes the kind of justice the Jackson family deserves will not result from Tuesday's hearing or from a trial and sentencing.
Dr. Friedberg gives the following three reasons as support for why he's convinced Dr. Murray will be ordered to stand trial at the preliminary hearing:
• According to Dr. Murray's own statements, he was not directly observing Jackson when the legendary pop singer stopped breathing.
• No evidence of a pulse oximeter (a blood oxygen meter) was apparent in published pictures of Jackson's bedroom.
• A brain monitor could have measured the effects of propofol independently of the benzodiazepines also in his body, sparing Jackson from the unintentional over-medication with propofol that appeared to have caused his breathing to stop.
In his book, Dr. Friedberg writes: "Although he may not have intended to kill Jackson, Murray clearly caused Jackson's death involuntarily. The only thing more reckless Murray could have done was taking Jackson up in an airplane and pushing him out without a parachute."
The defense has raised red herrings about the propofol dosage Dr. Murray administered and about whether Michael self-administered, stresses Dr. Friedberg, but all those red herrings have nothing to do with the fundamental issue of physician responsibility.
"Dr. Murray failed to watch and monitor his patient and nothing else matters," adds Dr. Friedberg, "No amount of legal defense attorney posturing can relieve Murray of his responsibility to have watched & monitored his patient."
"But the Jackson family will never get meaningful justice from the criminal justice system, adds Dr. Friedberg, because even if convicted of involuntary manslaughter the accused Conrad Murray only faces a maximum of four years time. That's hardly justice for killing Michael Jackson."
"The most meaningful justice for Jackson's family will be to have Michael's death serve as a wake up to all Americans about the critical need for brain monitoring to avoid anesthesia over-medication," adds Dr. Friedberg, "Jackson's death is the sad and preventable tale of anesthesia over medication. Yet the vast majority of Americans are routinely over-medicated every day when getting anesthesia for surgery because their anesthesiologist is not measuring their brain."
Anesthesia over medication is especially perilous for people older than 50, says Dr. Friedberg, who notes that nearly 40 per cent of people leave the hospital in delirium, commonly known as "brain fog," or clinically called Post Operative Cognitive Dysfunction (POCD).
One person dies daily from anesthesia over-medication. But death is not the worst result of the nefarious practice of routine anesthesia over-medication.
The movie "Awake" terrorized Americans about being awake during surgery. However, waking up in the middle of surgery is a very slight risk that's 82 per cent reduced when a brain monitor is used. The most serious risk faced from routine anesthesia over-medication is waking up with dementia and never again being the same person who went under anesthesia for surgery.
"Going under anesthesia without a brain monitor is like playing Russian roulette with your brain," says Dr. Friedberg. "You have to live with the long-term effects of your short term care."
To avoid the risks of over- and under-medication, Dr. Friedberg has developed Goldilocks anesthesia which is not too much or too little but always just the right amount. Over- and under- anesthesia is two sides of the same coin -- failure to measure your brain! Download three free letters to help you get Goldilocks anesthesia when you visit www.drbarryfriedberg.com
An anesthesiologist with more than 30 years' experience, Dr. Friedberg has developed a new standard of care for the administration of anesthesia that virtually eliminates any damage to the brain during surgery and prevents nausea and vomiting after the patient wakes up. By adding the use of a brain monitor, the Friedberg Method of Goldilocks anesthesia eliminates the danger of over-medication and almost all risk of the patient waking up during surgery.
Dr. Friedberg formed the Goldilocks Foundation to educate the public about the hidden dangers from anesthesia over-medication and what can be done to eliminate those dangers. All proceeds from the sale of Getting Over Going Under are being donated to further the public education mission of the not-for- profit Goldilocks Foundation.
About Dr. Barry Friedberg
A board certified anesthesiologist for more than three decades, Dr. Friedberg is author of Anesthesia in Cosmetic Surgery as well as Getting Over Going Under. He developed The Friedberg Method of administering anesthesia in 1992 and the Goldilocks Anesthesia protocol in 1997. Dr. Friedberg was awarded a US Congressional award for applying his methods on wounded soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. The founder of the Goldilocks Foundation, Dr. Friedberg has been published and cited in several medical journals and textbooks. www.drbarryfriedberg.com.
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