Oops is now a medical term

Rico says it couldn't happen to a nicer guy, but Randal Archibold has the story in The New York Times:

Nearly eight months after Michael Jackson died, his personal physician was charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter for providing him with a powerful anesthetic that was ruled a primary factor in his death. At his arraignment at a Los Angeles County courthouse, witnessed by several Jackson family members and a crush of news media from around the world, the doctor, Conrad Murray, pleaded not guilty through his lawyer, Ed Chernoff. The filing of the charges capped an investigation that revealed Mr. Jackson’s heavy reliance on narcotics and propofol, an anesthetic normally used in surgery but administered to Mr. Jackson, 50, as a sleep aid.
Mr. Jackson’s use of the drug brought attention to so-called Hollywood health care, in which the rich and famous manage to persuade doctors to treat their maladies, real or perceived, with specific prescription medicines.
Dr. Murray, a cardiologist with offices in Houston and Las Vegas, acknowledged giving Mr. Jackson the drug shortly before he was found unconscious on 25 June in a rented mansion here, according to police affidavits. The coroner determined that Mr. Jackson had died from “acute propofol intoxication,” and an autopsy report released Monday said the level of propofol he received had been similar to that used in major surgery. He had also been given other sedatives. “The standard of care for administering propofol was not met,” the report said.
Dr. Murray, 56, who arrived in Los Angeles last week trailed by paparazzi, has maintained through his lawyer that nothing he gave Mr. Jackson should have caused his death. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum four-year state prison term.
In a twenty-minute hearing, Judge Keith L. Schwartz of Los Angeles Superior Court said he planned to treat the case like any other, despite the presence of several members of one of the most famous families in the world and more than two dozen satellite and television trucks in the parking lot. Such was the frenzy that at one low point the news media swarm nearly engulfed Mr. Jackson’s mother, Katherine, as she left the courthouse.
Inside the courtroom, Judge Schwartz rejected prosecutors’ request for $300,000 bail, saying it was far above the standard $25,000. But he agreed to $75,000 bail, in part because Dr. Murray does not live in the state. Dr. Murray posted the bail and, his lawyer said, planned to return to Houston. The judge also granted the prosecutors’ request to confiscate the defendant’s passport— Dr. Murray’s mother lives in Grenada, and one of his children in Trinidad— so he cannot leave the country.
Judge Schwartz paid little heed to prosecutors’ claims that Dr. Murray’s financial and civil legal entanglements— he has been sued several times for failing to pay child support, and has missed court hearings in those matters— made him less inclined to show up for his criminal case. The judge did forbid him to administer anesthetics. “I don’t want you sedating people,” he said.
The California Attorney General’s Office served notice at the hearing that the state’s medical board would seek to revoke Dr. Murray’s license. Mr. Jackson’s autopsy report said the use of the anesthetic did not meet professional guidelines.
After the proceedings, Mr. Jackson’s father, Joseph, who attended along with other members of the Jackson family, was asked his reaction to the charge. “We need justice,” he said.
The charge came after a week of negotiations between Dr. Murray’s lawyers and prosecutors bogged down over whether Dr. Murray should be handcuffed and arrested, as opposed to surrendering in a more low-key way.
In the end, he walked in wearing a light gray suit and red tie, without handcuffs. He said little besides the occasional “Yes” to the judge’s routine questions, as Mr. Jackson’s parents and siblings Jermaine, La Toya, Randy, and others looked on.
It is another high-stakes case for the District Attorney’s office here, which has had mixed results in celebrity trials (the acquittals of O. J. Simpson and the actor Robert Blake and the conviction, after an initial mistrial, of the music producer Phil Spector.)
The investigation has offered a tantalizing behind-the-scenes glimpse of Mr. Jackson, who zealously guarded his privacy. He was on the verge of a comeback tour at the time of his death.
The charge against the doctor came during a resurgence of Mr. Jackson’s popularity, which had waned in recent years after accusations that he molested young boys during their overnight visits to his Neverland Ranch near Santa Barbara.
He was acquitted of child molesting charges in 2005, but, along with intrigue over his ever-changing appearance and bizarre behavior, the charges left a stain on his reputation, and he never recovered the adulation he enjoyed at the pinnacle of his career with the 1982 album Thriller.
Still, Mr. Jackson seemed to find new and renewed fans after his death. He was the best-selling artist of 2009, and a film, Michael Jackson’s This Is It, made from recordings of rehearsals for his final concert tour planned for London and other material, has grossed nearly $260 million worldwide. His children Prince Michael, 12, and Paris, 11, received a sustained standing ovation when they appeared at the Grammy Awards last week in Los Angeles to accept a lifetime achievement award on their father’s behalf.
Dr. Murray, according to police affidavits, was administering propofol to Mr. Jackson, which the singer called his “milk”, to help him sleep on the morning of 25 June. Dr. Murray left the room for approximately two minutes to use the bathroom, he said, and found that Mr. Jackson had stopped breathing when he returned. The police have said in court papers that it appears Dr. Murray was on his cellphone for 45 minutes before an ambulance was called.
Dr. Murray began working as Mr. Jackson’s personal physician in May, after meeting him through an acquaintance in Las Vegas. His representatives said he was promised $150,000 a month and had planned to accompany Mr. Jackson on his comeback tour.