It has been over two years and the tragedy of Michael Jackson’s death has finally been laid to rest. The verdict of accidental manslaughter highlights how dangerous medications of any kind can be. A couple of years ago I wrote about the events surrounding Michael Jackson’s death and tried to look at why Dr. Conrad Murray was being tried for manslaughter rather than some other charge like murder. I also took a look at what happened and how.
Now that the verdict is in, it looks like Dylan Schaffer was right and the verdict does match what we knew publicly. There are a great many lessons that can be learned from the whole saga, but the biggest one is that people really need to try to understand what the medications prescribed for them do, why they should and should not take them and most importantly, really know what the right dosages are. And please do not be fooled by the fact that the drug in question is a rare and powerful one that requires prescription and careful administration.
It is all too easy to die from taking simple over the counter medications in the wrong amounts and at the wrong time. And mixing and matching medications and other substances makes things worse. Probably the easiest way to get yourself in trouble with medications is something like getting a headache and the flu, taking a heavy dose of paracetamol, then a couple of stiff drinks and a big slug of something like Nyquil. Suddenly you are getting awfully close to liver damage or death.
