Medical manslaughter

On November 29, 2011 Dr Conrad Murray was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson. Expert witness statements indicated that Murray's actions were an "extreme departure from the standard of care", particularly with regard to (1) inappropriately treating insomnia with a surgical anaesthetic (propofol); (2) failing to acquire sufficiently informed consent; (3) administering propofol without the necessary monitoring equipment; (4) delaying contacting the emergency services; and (5) making ineffective resuscitation efforts. Further medical evidence argued that Murray's care of Jackson contained "17 egregious violations", defined as acts that posed a foreseeable danger to the patient's life. These deficiencies, it was stated, constituted gross negligence. Such events might seem remote from daily medical practice in Ireland. However, medical errors resulting in patient death are reported to be unfortunately frequent, even if such fatalities are rarely as dramatic, or as public, as that of Michael Jackson. Medical care is not necessarily straightforward, and any treatment outcome is dependent on clinician skill, the nature of the intervention, and on the pathological condition of the patient. Regardless of these latter two factors, a poor outcome still may occur through physician omissions or the commission of errors or violations. Merry and McCall Smith distinguish between errors and violations on the following basis: (1) errors are not deliberate, and result in unintentional actions and consequences; (2) violations, on the other hand, entail a deliberate deviation from accepted rules or norms. It was alleged that much of Dr Murray's professional conduct in this case fell into the latter category.