Witness debunks Murray's statements about Jackson's propofol dose

Dr. Steven Shafer, an anesthesiologist, sets up a demonstration intravenous drip of propofol to show jurors on Thursday. (Reed Saxon / Pool photo / October 20, 2011)

Drug expert Steven Shafer tells jurors that mathematical models show the doctor gave Jackson 40 times more of the drug than he admitted.

By Victoria Kim and Harriet Ryan,
Los Angeles Times
October 21, 2011

Michael Jackson's personal physician probably gave his patient 40 times more surgical anesthetic than he admitted to police, a drug expert testified Thursday.

Anesthesiologist Steven Shafer also said Dr. Conrad Murray had the drug flowing into the singer's veins even as his heart stopped beating.

The testimony is the most direct refutation yet of Murray's account of what happened in the hours leading up to the pop star's death.

Shafer, a Columbia University professor, said mathematical modeling based on levels of propofol found in Jackson's body debunked Murray's statement that he had given the singer a single 25-milligram dose of the drug shortly before his death.

(More here.)