I'm No Monster, Says Former Jackson Doctor
1:51pm UK, Monday November 07, 2011
Greg Milam, US correspondent, Los AngelesA doctor who treated Michael Jackson for 25 years claims he has been portrayed as "a monster" during the trial of the man accused of killing the King of Pop.
Dr Arnold Klein's name repeatedly cropped up during Dr Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial in Los Angeles with defence lawyers claiming he addicted Jackson to a powerful painkiller.
But the judge barred them from calling him as a witness because he said the issue was irrelevant to whether Dr Murray was guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
The jury in the trial of Dr Murray is due to continue deliberations from 4.30pm GMT.
In an exclusive interview with Sky News, the Beverly Hills dermatologist, who still calls Jackson his best friend, denied any wrongdoing.
"When they lie about the records, indicating I gave him a dose of medicine I didn't give him and present records that are false, it is terrible.
"Everybody said these things about me with absolutely no proof.
Dr Klein described Michael Jackson as his best friend"They took my records, illegally released them and then they inflated the amount of medicine they say I gave Michael.
"I know what I am doing, it is part of my expertise to understand drugs."
Dr Klein was critical of Dr Murray's use of the surgical anaesthetic propofol for insomnia.
He said: "I think it is horrendous. You have to understand that to administer a drug like that at home is ridiculous unless you are taking out someone's appendix at home.
"You have to have a very close monitoring system, you don't make phone calls during that. I don't make phone calls when I'm injecting people's faces."
Dr Klein was cleared of any wrongdoing by investigators and he says he is satisfied he never did anything to harm Jackson while treating him.
"I would never do anything. When you listen to what they say in the court it is totally abnormal because of course they want to cast blame."
Dr Klein said Jackson got to know propofol during a time when he had over "100 surgical procedures".
He dismisses claims the star was not a drug addict. "That's not who he was," he said.
He spoke to Sky News at a party thrown by celebrity friends to mark the opening of a new practice in Beverly Hills.
Dr Klein (sitting) with Michael Jackson and his three childrenDr Klein was mentioned seven times in defence lawyer Ed Chernoff's opening statement alone. He referred to him as "one of the spokes in Michael Jackson's wheel".
He said: "How would you feel? You can't say anything. To be named as this monster is terrible and losing my best friend at the same time."
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16104819 (Archiv-Version vom 08.11.2011)
