Dr. White’s testimony torn apart by defense – Day 21

Dr. White was on the defensive when he was questioned on day 21 of the Michael Jackson manslaughter trial how much he was being paid by the defense to take the stand defending Dr. Conrad Murray’s actions.

Along with his fee debate, it was almost comical when he explained that the doctor not telling medics about Propofol was a small ommission and that having equipment without sound monitoring while out of the room was pointless.

He told the court that he usually charges $3,500 per day but he noted that he had only so far received $11,200. Considering that he has already spent 12 days sitting in the courtroom a lot of money seemed to be owed.

To be fair to Dr. White he said he wouldn’t expect to be paid $11,000 or even $3500 for every day.

This doctor will probably never see the total amount normally demanded because let us not forget that Conrad Murray could not afford to buy a pulse oxymeter for some $750- $1200 and monitored Michael with a device which costs $275.

David Walgren finally got Dr. White to admit that using a pulse oxymeter without an alarm when the doctor is out of the room is a pointless thing to do.

Now the 911 excuse was even more infuriating for anyone watching this testimony. He told the court that calling 911 in that setting was difficult as there was a gate with security outside and the telephone was not working! He finally agrees that making a 911 call from a cell phone is a quicker thing to do than sending a voice mail to Michael Jackson’s assistant Michael Amir Williams. Seems Dr. Murray had no problem using a cell phone to call his girlfriends so why would calling for help be so difficult.

Dr. White also had to admit that his oral drinking theory was baseless.

The doctor had to admit on the stand that Dr. Conrad Murray had deviated care for the King of Pop although he tried several times to get into evidence conversations he had with the doctor which the judge reminded him were not to be included in court (only the official interview given to the police was admissible).

Now when it came to administering Propofol in a home setting, Dr. White said that for about two months Murray had been giving to Michael Jackson a bolus of Propofol followed by a drip. His understanding was that it was nearly every night and that the initial bolus was 25-50ml mixed with 50ml of lidocaine. Each bolus was followed by an infusion (drip).

Based on the statement to the police Dr. White could not say how Murray would administer Propofol by infusion as he did not know the exact details. And since he didn’t know them, he agreed that the two infusions lines demonstrated to us by Dr. Shafer were quite possible.

Dr. White said that he had administered propofol in different types of setting (but not at home) and different settings required different type of monitors. Some Dr. White said were “desirable” to have, while others outside hospital setting “might not be available”.

Dr. White had to eventually agree that certain equipment was required (Pulse Oxymeter, EKG machine, Capnography (a device for analyzing exhaled air), and blood pressure cuff).

Debate also occurred as to whether a doctor should keep medical records. It was sad to watch a doctor try to fend off complaints when everyone knows a doctor is supposed to keep records. Just sad!!!!

What even became more outrageous was watching Dr. White wiggle when the prosecution used his own articles against him. Reading from a series of articles and chapters in textbooks where Dr. White was teaching others that under no circumstances the standard of care could be violated. The same care is to be provided independent on whether it is mild sedation or general anesthesia and no matter where the drug is being administered.

Dr. White tried to dance around his words stating they referred to a procedure also being done but Walgreen cornered him not allowing him to imply that less monitoring was required if a procedure was not being done but Propofol was being administered.

He tried to also imply that the words were being misrepresented but after checking, he could no longer imply the prosecution was mixing up his own words.

“Vigilant monitoring is required because patients may rapidly progress from a “light” level of sedation to “deep” sedation (or unconsciousness) and thus may be at risk for airway obstruction, oxygen desaturation, and even aspiration”

Here are his words as well.

To add more insult to Dr. White’s testimony he had to admit that he did not conduct the studies, relied on others, passed them off as his opinion and relied on defense studies without even reading the reports. In addition, he used outdated articles and did no use articles that clearly stated Propofol taken orally has no effect. This doctor did no work or research other than to google on a computer the word Propofol.

His testimony was pathetic.