Lawyer for Jackson’s doctor fights bid to suspend his medical license in California

Jackson’s doctor fights to keep medical license

LOS ANGELES — A lawyer for Michael Jackson’s doctor filed papers Friday fighting new efforts by California’s attorney general to suspend his license to practice medicine in the state.

The lawyer for Dr. Conrad Murray accused prosecutors of renewing an old motion before a new judge in hopes of winning a different result.

Another judge previously declined to suspend Murray’s license but ordered him not to administer anesthetics such as propofol, a drug that was implicated in Jackson’s death. Attorney Ed Chernoff argued that restriction is sufficient.

Murray has a pretrial hearing before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor on Monday in his involuntary manslaughter case. The medical license issue is expected to dominate the hearing. Murray has pleaded not guilty in the death of the pop legend a year ago.

Chernoff said in his filing that a motion filed last week by Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office is the fourth identical effort filed on behalf of the state medical board. He said it has already been ruled upon and there are no changed circumstances in the case.

Pastor took over the case after Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz set Murray’s bail at $75,000. It was Schwartz who refused to suspend Murray’s license and barred him from administering strong anesthetics.

Murray’s lawyers have previously argued it is unnecessary to revoke his California license since he does not practice in the state. They also cautioned that a suspension would have a domino effect leading to his inability to practice at his clinics in Nevada and Texas, where he is also licensed.

Chernoff argued that a full evidentiary hearing would be required before action was taken on the license issue.

“The order the attorney general is seeking would be financially and personally devastating to Dr. Murray,” Chernoff said.

Last month, the cardiologist stabilized a woman who fell unconscious and had a weak pulse on a US Airways flight from Houston.