Los Angeles, Calif. - Dr. Steven Shafer resumed his testimony Thursday at Dr. Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial, saying the physician violated the Hippocratic oath when sedating Michael Jackson with the powerful anesthetic propofol.
Shafer further told the jury the Hippocratic oath has held doctors to high standards since ancient times. According to the Los Angeles Times, he quoted the oath saying, “'In every house where I come, I will enter only for the good of my patients.'”
Murray, 58, who was hired to care for Jackson during his concert tour, 'This Is It,' is accused of administering a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol to the singer on June 25, 2009. Murray's defense attorneys claim that although he may have given the singer the drug, it was not enough to kill him.
To see photos from the first week of Michael Jackson's death trial, click here.
To see photos from the second week of Michael Jackson's death trial, click here.
To see photos from the third week of Michael Jackson's death trial, click here.
Shafer, a propofol expert and a professor at Columbia University, testified that instead of honoring his role as a physician, Murray gave in to Jackson's wishes rather than telling him no regarding the use of the surgical sedative.
“Saying yes is not what doctors do,” he said. “A competent doctor would know you do not do this.”
He also noted he has never seen a case like this before and told jurors, “We are in a pharmacological never-never land here, something that was done to Michael Jackson and no one else in history to my knowledge.”
Shafer also said Murray's lack of record-keeping regarding Jackson's care violated the singer's rights, noting, “He has a right to know what was done to him... With no medical record, the family has been denied that right.”
Murray has pleaded not guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of Jackson. He admits giving the singer propofol, however, his attorneys argue the amount Murray administered was not enough to kill Jackson.
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