Heads up : AEG want to play Jacksons expert Shimelman deposition, Jacksons are opposing. Shimelman is the doctor who said Michael had one week to live (mentioned by Briggs during his testimony). In his deposition he says Michael was addicted to opioids / Demerol since 1993 and never stopped using them (getting injections even when he had the implant) and actively addicted to Demerol at time of his death. He lists almost all of Michael's doctors for giving him not good medical care.
AEG has 2 of their own witnesses to testify to similar things.
I'm going to do this in bullet point format, it's basically shortened versions of what they are saying
Shimelman - Jackson expert
- addicted specifically to Demerol
- addicted to opiates and benzos
- actively addicted to opiates at the time of death
- Q : assuming MJ did not die on June 25th, how much his life expectancy affected by opiod and benzo addiction? A: one week to live
- assuming he's not getting propofol, he was getting benzo and his life expectancy reduced moderately
- if murray is treating, clock is running
- believes active opiate addict after 90 rehab
- was not abstinent during the implant, he had another doctor injecting him
- doesn't believe Michael was clean 02/03, has slight hope but not belief
- doesn't think Michael was successful getting of the drugs between 90s to 2009
- no intention to get clean in 2009
- got bad medical treatment from Klein, Metzger, Van Valin, Farshchian, Forecast and so on
- addicts always hide addiction
Earley - AEG Expert
-doesn't think he could have done a better job to get Michael in recovery in 2009 based on asking for Propofol from multiple people showed drive for it
- addicted to opiods in 2009 , primarily to Demerol
- not enough evidence to conclude addiction to benzos and propofol
- death not caused by Demerol
- synergy between Demerol, Propofol and benzos
- opiods addiction dating back to 90s, the longer someone on it worse chances for recovery
- can't give a number/ age for life expectancy , can give the risk factors
- use of multiple drugs, drugs synergy increases risk of accidental overdose prematurely
- concerned MJ would never would have gotten better, had obstacles for recovery
- propofol is also dangerous due to multiple factors such as setting it's given, synergy with other drugs, effects of it and so on
- propofol causes an aggressive dependency , hard to get off it.
- no liver damage
- spider bite on his leg could be a injection site infection
- scars from needles
- suboxone treatment is discussed. requires giving suboxone, no benzos (which can interact), full disclosure of drug sources, random drug testing.
- uses grave prognosis medical term meaning very serious condition, Jackson lawyer starts referring to MJ as a "goner", asks Jackson lawyer stop referring MJ as goner saying it's offensive.
- several questions from Jacksons lawyers if he is hired to give a low life expectancy for Michael, disagrees with that, saying it's the truth, he is doing his job, this is such a tragic situation
Levounis - AEG expert
- substance addiction, could be underlying psychiatric reasons
- 2009 opiod addiction, Demerol primarily , Percocet second
- cannot say if benzos rises to the level of full addiction
- cannot say alcohol was an addiction
- 2009 reasonably certain of propofol addiction based on frequency and deterioration (missing appointments , not able to function 100%)
- 1993 to 2009 opiod addiction, probably started before 1993
- there are highs and lows in opiod use between 1993 and 2009, wouldn't say there were full remissions
- 93 rehab, Debbie Rowe detox, implants and Dr. Saunders trying another drug are the lows
- doctor shopping well documented
- spent a lot of time and effort to get Demerol shots
- occupational consequences of drugs such as cancelling or postponing meetings
- doesn't think Michael had the motivation or mindset to get clean in 2009, unlikely he would go to a doctor and want to get clean
- if he did want to clean, he would do a full psychiatric exam,give drugs if needed for those, probably Buperborphine, therapy - individually and as a group, 12 steps program, suboxone
- motivation to seek treatment factors: court order (court orders rehab or jail), family members pressure (wife threathening to leave), job pressure (get clean or get fired), person realizing a problem (internal motivation)
- opiod addiction could be due to genetics (some people are more likely to be addicted) or use of the drug itself (use it for a long time brain craves it)
- severe addiction, chronic relapses, life expectancy poor, cannot give a number / age
- significant possibility for accidental overdose
- weight loss and constant dehydration could be the physical effects of opiod addiction
- overall prognosis is poor, addicts could have good days and bad days. some days he can look good and be on the top of his game and other days the opposite
- even if propofol is removed seeking high amounts of demerol every few days, addiction is there, still severe effects on life expectancy
- even without propofol conditions are still very poor but a little better than with propofol
- other doctors giving opiods in addition to Klein, synergy effects
- high possibility of accidental overdose : multiple doctors giving drugs without knowing what the other one giving, unless Michael is calculating / keeping track what he's taking from multiple docs there's a risk, high amounts after a few day breaks is a risk
