On August 1, USC Sociologist Karen Sternheimer was interviewed on National Public Radio regarding celebrity doctors and the possible peril they pose to those they are entrusted to heal. In the cases of Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith, Hippocrates himself might cringe at what he would see as a breach of the sacred, ethics-based oath that bears his name which doctors are sworn to uphold. Were their physicians so seduced by the lure of celebrity they stroked their patients’ egos in plying them with an overabundance of pharmaceuticals? A fine line is drawn between patient care and endeavoring to remain in the celebrity’s employ and “inner circle”, as well as using that status to build cache in the community and their medical practices.
When sizeable amounts of money and reputations are at stake, can these doctors risk alienating patients by not catering to their every whim? MJ and ANS are neither the first, nor the last celebrity patients of this questionable pursuit of wellness. It was announced MJ’s mother is considering filing a wrongful death suit against Conrad Murray who is already the focus of a manslaughter investigation. This litigation coupled with ANS’s physicians, who are already on the criminal hot seat, is just the beginning of a trend that could have Lady Justice prying open a Pandora’s Box of problems for the medical community.
Postponing sounds like a stall tactic, if one waits long enough, witnesses die, papers are lost, prosecutors change jobs, etc.
In a demurrer, the legal cause of action contains certain elements which must be checked off for a valid case, so a good tactic is to make the other side prove in court that all the elements might be able to be proven which sort of shows their hand to the other side. A demurrer also stalls the case.
***Sometimes money can buy enough legal maneuverings to kill a lawsuit.
October??? That’s nuts- my guess is that this never makes it to trial. I don’t pretend to know the merits of the demurrer motion, but with all of the attention surounding the Michael Jackson drug investigation, these two will plead out. No way I would risk it in front of a jury.
Anyone have any thoughts on what a plea would do to HKS’s ability to pursue the Marshall family money in that neverending case? I would think that a plea would lead to his being disbarred, but that’s just a guess!
It does seem like HKS has a special talent for postponing justice.