Basically, Murray was charged with manslaughter by the Los Angeles court system, to which he plead not guilty.  If convicted, he could serve four years in prison.   He was charged based on evidence the district attorney’s office presented that indicated Murray acted “without due caution and circumspection.”  Basically – he is charged with accidentally killing MJ by performing a medical procedure without the proper knowledge or training to do so.

Should he be charged?  Absolutely!  He had no idea what he was doing.  Anesthesiologists spend years learning to administer these drugs in controlled settings, with appropriate monitoring devices and support staff.  It cannot be done in the home, and it must not be done by those who have not undergone the proper training.  I wouldn’t go perform a heart catherization on somebody just because I could get a hold of the equipment.  Let Murray stick to cardiology, and the anesthesiologists will stick to anesthesia.

You can comment and blog all you want on Nancy Grace’s blog too.  Medical Barista’s own Double Shot has appeared on Nancy’s program several times regarding the Michael Jackson case.

As it turns out, the patient has a mutation in a liver enzyme that metabolizes medicine.  Her specific mutation causes her to metabolize medicine quicker than the average person, which they use as an explanation for why the patient wakes up from anesthesia.  Although this seems a plausible explanation, it would likely not happen in real life.  The mutation certainly does exist; however, because of the use of continuous monitoring during anesthesia care, it would become apparent to the anesthesiologist that the patient was starting to respond to the surgical stimulus long before she would be fully awake.  She would be given additional doses of analgesics, hypnotics, and muscle relaxants to make sure that she would remain anesthetized, in spite of her quick metabolism of these drugs.

Does awareness under anesthesia occur?  Yes, but exceedingly rarely.  Dr. Dhar has information on it in her book, Before the Scalpel, which you can find on amazon.com.  With all the monitoring that takes place, it is highly unlikely that an event such as the one portrayed on Grey’s Anatomy would happen.

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