Was Michael Jackson Responsible for His Own Death? Did Michael Jackson Kill Himself with Propofol
Michael Jackson was a 50 Year Old Adult Who Asked the Doctor for the Medications He was Given, so Did He Kill Himself?
This week in English classes I teach in Thailand, I talked about the latest Michael Jackson news and gave them a printout of a news story talking about the Jackson homicide ruling. Then I asked my adult students if they thought Dr. Murray was to blame for Michael Jackson's death or if Michael Jackson had some responsibility. Here's what most of them said.
Michael Jackson was a 50 year old adult man who should have been able to make rational, educated decisions when it came to taking drugs - even Propofol, a powerful anesthetic and one of the drugs that killed him. They almost all believed he had as much responsibility for his death as did Dr. Conrad Murray, and most of them believed Michael Jackson was more to blame.
From numerous news stories and sources, it looks like Michael Jackson had repeatedly asked for higher and higher doses of medicines and more and more drugs - anything that would make him sleep. As someone who was, for all intents and purposes, a drug addict, just like other drug addicts my students felt Michael Jackson should be responsible for the drugs he took. And, therefore, was ultimately to blame for his own death. In my students' minds, Michael Jackson killed himself.
Now, as an educator and someone who believes you cannot always blame a person for what happens to them, I'm not actually sure if I agree wholeheartedly with my students, although I do agree somewhat. After all, Michael Jackson did plead for drugs from several doctors, and he took the drugs that were given to him. In this case, how is getting drugs from Dr. Conrad Murray any different? Michael Jackson has to bear some responsibility for his own death as every functioning adult knows without a doubt, overdosing on drugs can kill you.
But, a doctor often takes the Hippocratic Oath when he graduates from medical school, and even if he doesn't every doctor knows what it means. In that oath are the words, "to do no harm" and, no lawyer alive can seriously argue when Dr. Conrad Murray gave Michael Jackson several medications, including Propofol, over a few hours time, he "did no harm".
What will be interesting will be the likely upcoming court case against Dr. Conrad Murray in the homicide death of Michael Jackson. Will a judge decide? Or will it be a jury? Either way, I'm going to use the case to have my students in Thailand act out a mock trial and see if, at the end of it all, they still believe Michael Jackson killed himself. After all, opinion is one thing, but evidence is something else entirely.
Published by Cassandra James
I'm a British-American writer currently living in Bangkok, Thailand. I've been writing for Associated Content since 2007 and was named one of AC's Top 100 Writers for 2008, 2009 and 2010. I primarily write a... View profile
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14 Comments
Post a Commentwhy is everybody arguing? do you really think this is what micheal would have wanted? honestly just let it go whether he was murdered or not he would want us to get over it.hes in a better place now and he needs his peace. micheal was truely like a father to me and he deserves the best,all he wanted in the world was to bring peace to the world and fuck! when he died imade a promise that iwould help him out i love him to death and i hipe he looks down at all of us someday and smiles we need to bring his message to the world and we aint gonna do that with all of yew arguing over who killed him or why he overdosed just let it go and help out(:
ilove yew micheal(r.i.p.)
No, sc341, ASIANS take responsibility for their OWN actions. Americans like to blame other people for what THEY did wrong. Why do you think the US justice system is in such a mess?
Doctors are held to a higher standard. Also, Murray is the person who administered the propofol at home when the label states that it should not be used without resusitation equipment. WHY IS ANYONE EXCUSING WHAT THIS DOCTOR DID??? ALSO, regarding your Asian students I am not surprised they blamed the patient. In Japan Toyota is not taking responsibility for their cars' problems. Customers in Japan can't get recourse because the Auto Company's needs come first. That is the Asian way. Blame the victim. Also, MJ paid with his life. Also, what part did AEG play in this, follow the $$$.
For the love of God people. Micheal did this him self%252C perhapes he just got to comfortable with the use of these drugs. %250D%250ACould you say know to Micheal Jackson. And besides he is not really dead.
I'll go with them both (MJ and his doc(s)) sharing the blame. Hippocratic oath is NOT broken if the doc didn't realize and/or didn't intend to do harm to his patient! They way Jackson went about securing the dangerous meds from different drs using fake names should be taken into account. How the heck are the drs supposed to be able to keep track of what meds Jackson was on when he went and did that? They aren't omnipotent and omniscience gods... The people piping up from extreme positions have got to cool down a bit, imho.
Monique, it will be interesting to see if a) he is charged and b) what a judge or jury decides. Until then, he's not guilty.
The doctor is to blame 100%.
1st- As a doctor you take an oath to protect your patient no matter what.
2nd- If you know someone is an addict- it is illegal to prescribe them medicine-narcotics, anything addicting.
3rd- the drug Conrad Murray gave Michael is only to be given in a hospital setting.
The doctor broke several laws and his oath. Sorry...yes Michael was an idiot to use drugs but the doctor let his love of money cloud his judgement.
He acted illegally and immorally. His license should be taken away at least. Definitely manslaughter, definitely 100% preventable.
Case closed.
....cope and in doing so, threaten to return him to the pain of the void. Who would want that?
All of life's dysfunctions stem from a disconnect from spirituality (God). We try to fill that void with worldly things like money, fame, success, drugs, ambition, but none of that brings lasting happiness. If you try to take away the material things without first filling the spiritual void, you will just end up substituting one addiction for another.
I only feel sad that Michael never met anyone who could help him, but then again, who could understand the depths of his pain? Ultimately, he didn't die of drug abuse but of a broken heart.
I'm done now, thank you. :-)
perspective, people imposed their perspective on him and accused him of "reveling" in it. Can you blame him for being pissed off at us? Nobody enjoys being a victim. If he acts like a victim, that's because he is. He has not vanquished his father's ghosts, and no-one helped him. Perhaps we feel that he plays "poor me" once too often, but then we might not say that, if you truly understood where he's coming from.
His dysfunctional life was merely a symptom of deep emotional problems which he has never ironed out. We think we understood him, but perhaps Michael might disagree. Perhaps that's why he pushed people away. Addicts cannot give up their drugs because it was filling a void. If you take the drugs away, what is he going to fill that void with? He should have been helped to fill the void first (with spiritual love), then there will be no more need for drugs and they will eventually fall away of their own accord. Instead, he's asked to give up the one thing that had helped him
......He was seeking, seeking, trying to fill a void and never quite figuring out what he was after and what he was lacking. He worked himself to death to gain his father's love and approval - something he could never have. As such, he could never be happy.
Surrounding himself with children was perhaps one way for him to get a little love because young children love unconditionally. He says that when he looks at children, he sees the face of God. God is unconditional love. What he was seeking was unconditional love, because his whole life, love was only granted to him conditional upon his success - from his father, from his fans, and not least from those around him who only "loved" him for his money. "He reveled in feeling he was a victim."
He was indeed a victim - of serious abuse - which he never recovered from. Later, he was victimized by the press and money-grubbers who took away every shred of his dignity and killed his spirit. Instead of trying to understand things from His per