LOS ANGELES – A medical device used to monitor Michael Jackson was "inadequate".
Dr. Conrad Murray - who stands accused of he involuntary manslaughter of the star, who died from acute Propofol intoxication on June 2009 - used a $275 fingertip device to read the star's pulse and blood oxygen levels when drugs were being administered, but evidence given in the medic's trial Friday claimed the system was not appropriate for the star's needs.
Prosecutors called Nonin Medical executive Bob Johnson to the stand, who said the model of the device used by Murray had no audible alarm in case it went wrong.
Also testifying yesterday was Dr. Rochelle Cooper, the emergency room doctor who treated the King of Pop when he arrived at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
The doctor told the court that she asked Murray what medications the singer - who she said was "clinically dead" on arrival - had been given, and he said only four milligrams of Lorazepam and that the star had been suffering from dehydration.
Paramedic Martin Blount stated that, when he attended the scene he saw three open bottles of lidocaine on the floor, but Murray - who appeared "agitated" - never mentioned giving them to his patient.
The paramedic also told the jury he saw the doctor scoop up the vials and drop them in a black bag, and while in the ambulance heard him making a phone call.
According to Mr. Blount, the physician said: "It's about Michael and it doesn't look good."
Murray has been accused of administering the lethal dose of the Propofol that killed Michael and if found guilty, faces four years in jail.
The trial continues.
- Comment
