HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, administered a powerful drug that authorities believe killed the singer, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Monday.
Murray allegedly gave Jackson the anesthetic Propofol, an extremely powerful drug also known as Diprivan, less than 24 hours before the music icon’s death on June 25, the source said.
The official said that Jackson frequently used Diprivan in order to sleep. The drug is administered intravenously as a general anesthetic used to sedate patients for surgery and is only available to medical personnel. It is believed that the drug caused Jackson’s heart to stop.
Last week, federal agents raided Murray’s office in Houston, Texas. Court papers used for the search revealed that the cardiologist was the subject of a manslaughter investigation.
Murray was with Jackson when the entertainer fell ill at his home. A police search of the rental later turned up several drugs, including Diprivan, as well as an IV line and multiple oxygen tanks.
Murray’s attorney, Edward Chernoff, has said that the doctor “didn’t prescribe or administer anything that should have killed Michael Jackson.” Chernoff responded to Monday’s allegations by echoing those same sentiments.
“It’s a waste of time responding to all these timed ‘leaks’ from ‘anonymous’ sources,” he said in a statement posted on his law firm’s Web site . “I feel like a horse swatting flies. Everyone needs to take a breath and wait for these long delayed toxicology results. I have no doubt they want to make a case — for goodness sakes, it’s Michael Jackson! But things tend to shake out when all the facts are made known, and I’m sure that will happen here as well.”
Jackson’s toxicology reports are expected back as early as this week.
