Drug Dose 40x What Murray Claimed: Expert

An expert witness has cast some serious doubt on Conrad Murray’s account of Michael Jackson’s death. An anesthesiologist told the court yesterday that the doctor had likely given the singer 40 times the propofol dose he has claimed. Murray kept the surgical anesthetic flowing even when Jackson’s heart had stopped, said the Columbia professor, whose finding was based on the singer's autopsy report and mathematical modeling, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Murray has said he gave Jackson 25 milligrams of the drug, but Steven Shafer said Murray must have administered an intravenous propofol drip—and given him a full 1000-milligram bottle. Then the doctor likely left Jackson and wasn’t aware that his breathing had stopped. “People just don't wake up from anesthesia like that,” Shafer, the final witness for the prosecution, said. “It's a crazy scenario. I've never seen anything—it just doesn't happen.” Shafer also noted that there's no way Jackson could have dosed himself, as attorney for Murray contend: Even if he had given himself six injections, he wouldn't have hit the levels that were found in his blood. (More Conrad Murray stories.)