Topic: Michael Jackson

Tony Bennett Says Legalizing Drugs Could Prevent Deaths Like Whitney Houston’s; Prescription Drugs Aren’t Safer

Whitney Houston‘s death weighed on the Clive Davis Pre-Grammys Show on Saturday night, where she was scheduled to perform. Producers decided that the show must go on, but performers, including Tony Bennett, grappled with the news of her death on stage. Many honored the late singer, but Bennett took it a step further, urging for the legalization of drugs, which he implied might prevent tragedies like Houston’s early passing. But as more evidence comes out about Houston’s death, it seems that it was likely caused by legal prescription drugs. So while Bennett’s suggestion may not have prevented her death, we do need a better solution. More »

Janet Jackson Explains Nutrisystem Results And Her Questionable ‘Big Butt’

‘Tis the season for celebrity weight loss commercials. Making her debut this week for Nutrisystem is Janet Jackson who is the latest spokesperson of the dieting brand. The commercial features the 45-year-old looking quite health and happy as she tells the world to “get on it”. And although she doesn’t say so in the ad, we have to wonder if her new weight-loss goals are the result of her late brother Michael’s former teasing about her supposed “big butt”. More »

Prosecutors OK With Slap On The Wrist For Conrad Murray, But It’s Not Right

Yesterday, the judge handed Dr. Conrad Murray a maximum four-year sentence for his role in the death of Michael Jackson. And while the prosecutors for the high-profile case are OK with this term (knowing that Murray’s actual time served is likely to be significantly less), it’s simply not right. More »

Karly Long Died Of Prescription Drug Overdose At 29; Are Doctors To Blame?

This week, Michael Jackson‘s physician Dr. Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. It’s a huge headline, and not just because it involves the death of a celebrity. Prescription drug abuse is a huge epidemic, and celebrities aren’t the only ones involved. Around the world, there is shockingly little oversight over the drugs that are prescribed by doctors and filled by pharmacists every day. In Jackson’s case, he was taking a highly potent drug cocktail and Dr. Murray had more than enough information to do something about it before the singer died. More »

Kim Richards Isn’t Drunk; She’s On A Dangerous Cocktail Of Prescription Drugs

Kim Richards‘ bizzare behavior, slurred speech, half-closed eyes, and other symptoms that would seem to indicate that she’s drunk are apparently not due to alcohol; they’re due to a dangerous combination of prescription drugs, according to Dr. Paul Nassif. Like Michael Jackson, whose recent death trial verdict has put prescription drug overdose in the spotlight, it appears that Richards has likely accumulated her collection of pills to formulate a potentially risky prescription med cocktail. More »

Why Dr. Conrad Murray’s Guilty Verdict Is A Watershed Moment For Medicine

Dr. Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter yesterday, the jury unequivocally placing blame on his bad medicine–specifically, an irresponsible propofol prescription–for Michael Jackson‘s death. Their verdict isn’t just a moment to be remembered by Jackson’s family, or the throngs of fans that could be heard cheering outside the courthouse in Los Angeles yesterday; it was a watershed moment in medicine, setting a precedent for medical ethics, declaring that it’s time for more doctors to take greater responsibility for patient care in their medical practice. Which, frankly, if we look around us at the crumbling condition of America’s health: It is. More »

Michael Jackson Death Trial Verdict: Dr. Conrad Murray Found Guilty Of Involuntary Manslaughter

On day two of deliberations, the jury in the Michael Jackson death trials reached a verdict, finding Dr. Conrad Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The prosecution’s argument was that Dr. Murray violated all kinds of medical ethics by administering propofol, a highly dangerous drug, to a patient who was clearly addicted to the drug. The defense argued that he couldn’t have been responsible for such an erratic patient’s health. More »