A Precedent Set
By Charles Karel Bouley II
"If it were anyone other than Michael Jackson, this would have never gotten to trial..." seemed to be the mantra from the defense team in the Conrad Murray criminal trial for his role in the death of Michael Jackson.
Maybe that is true. And maybe that will change.
In 2001 I began my journey in the arena of wrongful death lawsuits, filing one on behalf of my late partner Andrew Howard.
When he died, I truly felt someone was negligent, not financially, but criminally. I know so many of those that lose loved ones to medical mistakes feel the same, as I have spoken with so many through the years and through my journey. Yet, that's not how medical mistakes are typically handled; they are a matter for insurance and lawyers, not police and jails.
It's odd to survivors of medical mistakes or those who have lost loved ones to them; because to them, dead or injured is the same whether it was a drunk driver or a doctor whose negligence inflicted the harm. But somehow the law makes an exception because of the nobility of the medical practice; most doctors, unless they go WAAAAY beyond the pale, pay their way out of killing or harming people.
Dr. Conrad Murray went beyond that pale.
And instead of his case being an exception, maybe it should be more the rule. If your negligence directly results in the death of another, and then you try to cover it up, you should be tried criminally. I fought the wrongful death suit for six years, and over that time learned quite a bit about them. 98% of them fail. Of the ones that make it to trial, most settle on the side for the doctors. As my lawyer said, "in the jury room, most jurors want to believe their doctor wouldn't make a mistake, so they side with them out of allegiance to the profession and hope that theirs won't mess up."
And they are expensive. In other words, most doctors get to walk away from malpractice and negligence because A: finding a lawyer to take the case on contingency is nearly impossible; B: most of the cases never go to trial; and C: If they do, juries often side with the doctors.
That leaves many out in the cold, never getting any kind of justice for the loss they or their loved ones have suffered. They can't get satisfaction through the courts, and the police simply don't get involved.
This time they got involved. And they should more.
I know Janet Jackson was screaming today when she heard the judge say, no bail, go directly to jail, you are a convicted felon and the public may be at risk with you around; when she saw handcuffs put on him and saw him perp walked back in to lockup. I know Kathryne and Prince, Paris and Blanket will sleep better tonight, LaToya, all of them. Whichever one it was in the courtroom that was shushed as they read out the guilty verdict... they are happy.
And more families need that. And more doctors need to know it can happen. If you take great risks, become negligent, performs surgeries while impaired... on and on, then it could cost you more than an insurance increase. If you get greedy and do things outside the standard of care, it can cost you more than money.
That's the point. Medical mistakes cost the families involved more than money, so why is money their only recourse, and a faint one at that?
When anyone's negligence causes someone else to die -- white coat, stethoscope or not -- there must be repercussions.
Dr. Murray may end up under house arrest. If he gets the maximum, four years, it's already cut to 18 months due to jail overcrowding. All nonviolent felons in California are being transferred out of the state system and in to the county's to ease overcrowding on a state wide level. And in L.A. County there is a house arrest policy in place and good lawyering could end up getting it for him. If he had sexually molested Michael while alive, he could go to jail for thrice that time, or if he had sold him a pound or two of pot, much, much longer. But kill him, and you may get house arrest.
It's still not the most just, but it's better than nothing, and better than a check. The Jackson family didn't need a check from Conrad Murray's malpractice insurance company. They needed to know the man that put their relative in to a near coma then left him alone and lied about it all was going to pay.
And so he is. And more should.
Because everyone is a star, a superstar, in their own universe, and each family deserves this satisfaction.
Follow Charles Karel Bouley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thekarelshow
Christina Patterson: It Wasn't Just One Man Who Killed the King of Pop
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Conrad Murray's Conviction Has Left Everyone Else Off the Hook
The care of a superstar addict is already fraught with potential hazards, particularly when the doctor is being provided large sums of money sufficient to cloud the physician's judgement. The patient has all of the control. Murray took a bite of the tainted apple and the result was inevitable. Clearly, that does not excuse Murray's prescription of a dangerous drug not intended to be given in a home setting. His actions are well beyond what a reasonable physician would do, and criminal penalty is appropriate.
As a physician, I disagree with many of the points made by the author. I don't see barriers for patients or their families seeking redress for real or imagined injuries. But understand that most harms occur without forethought or malice; they are unintentional or accidental. Criminalizing these circumstances serve no purpose. Juries will award damages and the MD may lose his license, which is their livelihood. I no longer see the MD being held in such high esteem that juries are biased in their favor.
The premise is totally wrong. The man knowingly prescribed horse tranquilizers.
British Food
Yes Doctors make mistakes, nurses makes mistakes, technicians make mistakes, and everyday millions of people make mistakes that impact others lives…..
Let’s not condemn the entire medical profession based on a single case….discounting the millions of people that helped each and every day by health professionals…….
Here is the bottom line in Murray’s case…. His actions fall well out of the standard of care for administrating propofol…. That directly led to Michael death…… Murray had full knowledge of the effects of the medication he was giving and that it could lead to immediate death……. That makes it Manslaughter….. However…. He clearly did not what Michael to die…… thus involuntary Manslaughter….
Murray and Murray alone is directly responsible for the immediate cause of Michaels death….. that is what this trial was about.
MJ might as well could've hired a nurse....or even better..a pro-junkie, to perform the same things on him. For a fraction of a cost.
This was not negligence, it was illegal distribution of dangerous drugs.
But it is more likely that the Conrad Murray case will end up being just an overpublicized exception to the pattern he finds so lamentable rather than being anything like a turning point.
And his piece would have actually been more effective if he had deleted "Because everyone is a star, a superstar, in their (sic) own universe..." from the final sentence, and merged the final sentences to read as follows: "And so he is. And more should, because every family deserves this satisfaction."
It would have avoided the Lady Gaga-derived knife wound that he inflicted on his own piece of writing.
Not likely.
We've witnessed the public ritual of Conrad Murray being made to pay for the unacceptable death of America's supreme pop-god figure.
The people have been ritually satisfied, atonement has been witnessed and made, and now everyone will move on.....
MJ was an addict.
Both equally guilty.
One dead and one in jail.
End of story.