LOS ANGELES — A Las Vegas pharmacist testified
Tuesday that he shipped large amounts of propofol to Michael Jackson’s
personal physician in the months leading up to the singer’s death.
Tim
Lopez told jurors that Dr. Conrad Murray said the powerful surgical
anesthetic was intended for a number of patients at a clinic he ran in
Los Angeles. In fact, Murray didn’t have a clinic in L.A. and was
treating a single patient: the pop star.
Murray contacted Lopez’s specialty pharmacy, Applied Pharmacy Services, about the drug in April 2009, he testified.
“He asked me specifically to find pricing and availability of propofol and normal saline IV bags,” Lopez said.
Lopez
had never sold the drug before but called suppliers and sent an initial
order of 35 vials to Murray’s Las Vegas practice three days later. He
said the doctor removed some of the vials from the package, and then
requested the rest be shipped to his clinic in L.A. The address he
provided was actually that of the apartment he shared with his
girlfriend and newborn son.
Lopez said three weeks later, Murray asked for 65 more vials.
Jackson
stopped breathing in his Los Angeles mansion on June 25, 2011. Lethal
amounts of propofol were found in his system. Murray faces a maximum of
four years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
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©2011 the Los Angeles Times
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