View Dr. Henry Lee discussing “Michael Jackson Drug Abuse Details Emerge” during two segments on CNN's Larry King Live:
Play the footage from Larry King Live, July 2 >>Play the footage from Larry King Live, July 10 >>
Read the transcript for the July 10 segment below:
CNN's Larry King Live, July 10, 2009
Michael Jackson Drug Abuse Details Emerge
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, Michael Jackson's shocking pill habit and what he allegedly did to feed it. Confidential documents reveal that he popped dozens a night just so he could sleep.
Plus, Joe Jackson, the singer's dad, speaks out and blames foul play for his son's passing.
Then, the investigation into Michael's mysterious death -- where does it stand right now?
And we're going to go live to the memorial service in Jackson's hometown. Fans in Gary, Indiana say good-bye to a favorite son next on LARRY KING LIVE.
Good evening.
You're now looking live at a memorial service for Michael Jackson taking place at a baseball field in Gary, Indiana. The singer's father, Joe Jackson, is there. And we'll be bringing it to you throughout the hour.
But first, let's talk about developments in the investigation today.
KING: Joining us now in Pittsburgh, Dr. Cyril Wecht, the forensic pathologist and former coroner of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
And in Stanford, Connecticut, Dr. Henry Lee, professor of forensic science at the University of New Haven and author of "Blood Crimes."
Now, Dr. Wecht, what about this, from a toxicology report, would tell you there was a homicide?
DR. CYRIL WECHT, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, homicide determination is a legal one, as Miss. Sax and Mark have already portrayed. It will be the determination of the prosecutor's office.
I've been involved in a few cases at the federal level, one now in West Virginia, in which charges of homicide have been brought. There's a specific federal statute if somebody supplies drugs, sells or just gives drugs resulting in someone's death...
KING: All right. Will -- all right.
Will the report then, in your opinion, be definitive?
WECHT: It will be definitive in terms of the drugs that led to his death. It will not necessarily be definitive in terms of all the drugs that have been prescribed indiscriminately, improperly for him over the years. And there's no way to determine that. He doesn't have lengthy hair which can be studied through segmental hair analysis. So you can only go back a matter of a few days or so on in the tissues...
KING: I got you.
WECHT: ...and the metabolites.
KING: Dr. Lee, how long do drugs stay in the body for determination at autopsy?
DR. HENRY LEE, FORENSIC SCIENCE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: Well, it depends on the type of the drug. Of course, this investigation involves a multi-faceted -- toxicologist's report, medical examiner, of course, forensic scientists and homicide investigator, if it's a homicide.
We have to look, say, use two different approaches, one called data mining. The second one is a record cross checking.
The data mining, you have to seize all the records from the physician's office, including the computer. Then we look at all the drugs seized in any pills or vials from his home, try to cross check them, look at the names, look at the date, look at the pharmacy, whether or not it was prescribed to Jackson himself or his friends or an employee -- try to do a data mining and determine that's a homicide or not.
KING: I've got you.
Dr. Wecht, if it...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Dr. Wecht, if Diprivan is found, which is an anesthesia, performed in a hospital, would that automatically indicate, to you, foul play? WECHT: Well, I would not call it foul play as we use it as forensic pathologists in coroners and medical examiners' offices. That is used to indicate that somebody did something of a deliberate nature.
However, if Diprivan was given to Michael Jackson -- prescribed by some physician -- and it was administered by him or anybody else at his home, then as far as I'm concerned, it goes beyond negligence. It goes beyond simple malpractice. It rises to the level of gross wanton negligence, which, as I understand it, is manslaughter.
Diprivan is a hypnotic anesthetic. It is to be used only in hospitals by an anesthesiologist, a trained nurse anesthetist. You have to watch the respiratory rate. You have to watch the heartbeat, the pulse, the blood pressure, because that drug can produce a marked drop in blood pressure, all of a sudden can lead to respiratory depression. And you have to have all of the armamentarium that an anesthesiologist has at his or her...
KING: All right...
WECHT: ...disposal. You don't have that at somebody's home. That goes beyond simple negligence, well, I prescribed...
KING: Yes. And Doctor...
WECHT: ...a few more drugs unnecessarily.
KING: Doctor Lee, I had Diprivan recently in a hospital for a cataract surgery. It was very simple and very effective. And I woke up and in a minute it was like gone.
How long does it stay in the system?
LEE: Well, it's supposedly only a few hours after you wake up and -- but some, you know, it depends on what the dose is and how long, you know, being -- you being used that quite a bit with other drug and maybe it will stay in your system longer.
KING: Would an autopsy show it, Dr. Wecht -- always, would it show Diprivan if that was in the body?
WECHT: Well, as -- as Henry has pointed out, it does lead to a metabolism very quickly. But it will be present for a few hours. And they will be looking for it not only in the blood, but in the tissues. And that kind of analysis will take a while.
And by the way, Larry, I think that they would be very wise if they also sent specimens to a separate, independent forensic toxicology lab for corroboration, for backup in a case of this nature. And I would be willing to bet that they -- they may well have done that.
So they'll look for metabolites of all the drugs that have been mentioned on your program and that have been referred to previously...
KING: So...
WECHT: ...to see whether there's any evidence of those drugs in his system.
KING: So, Dr. Lee, then, this -- if you're going to send it to other labs, this is not an exact science?
LEE: Oh, that's an exact science. Of course, you know, any leading toxicologist, they can do a lot of different analysis to confer. And to date, the instrumentation is so good and I don't think any problem. Just confirmation, basically, to back up the study.
KING: All right. I got you.
Thank you.
Thanks, Dr. Cyril Wecht and Dr. Henry Lee, two of the top pathologists in the country.
We'll be back with Dr. Reef Karim, Mark Geragos and Robin Sax.
What, if any, are the similarities between the Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith cases, if any?
We'll talk about that after the break.
Don't go away.