Charge against Michael Jackson's doctor leads MSNBC to invoke cases of "Heath & Anna Nicole & Danny Gans"

The death of Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans by overdose of a powerful opiate called hydromorphone at the prime of his life and career raised few, if any red flags among the members of the Las Vegas news media. The mysterious and untimely passing of the injury-riddled Born Again Christian athlete, corporate entertainment favorite and longtime Steve Wynn showpiece in the middle of the night, and all the strange occurrences before and after his tragic last breath rated little more than cursory coverage and police report transcribing, and the acceptance of one of Danny Gans' doctor's claims that the star may have died from the ingestion of a single hydromorphone (also known as Dilaudid or "drugstore heroin") pill left over from an unused five-year-old prescription.

The willful and shameful avoidance of the Gans story and all its many avenues, including Gans' ownership of a pharmacy supply house, was made more obvious when compared to the national media's vigilant and responsible coverage of the death of entertainer Michael Jackson.


Now, the manslaughter charge lodged yesterday against Conrad Murray, the doctor who allegedly administered the fatal dose of drugs that Jackson ordered up, has again brought the Gans case into the national spotlight.

An item on the MSNBC.com website titled Murray's case up stakes in world of celeb drugs notes that

"...the state of California, weary of growing number of celebrity prescription drug deaths, is seeking some control over a festering doctor-patient dynamic that has taken bold-faced names from Heath Ledger to Anna Nicole Smith to Danny Gans."

While those among the Las Vegas news media would claim that Gans is an unimportant figure, known to few outside the market, others know better. In this case, the musical impressionist is mentioned in the same sentence as two legends, in a story about a fellow legend. Of the four cases, his is the only one that was closed along with all its mysteries left hanging. Yet, according to the MSNBC report, Gans' death, coming weeks before Jackson's, may have been a factor in the decision to prosecute in the Murray case-- "to put a dent into Hollywood's pill pipeline."

Danny Gans' tragedy may, in the end, help future celebrities. But most important: Will there ever be justice for Danny Gans?

Surely, some of the curiosity will spread. After all, they cared about Farrah's hair...

Rumor Rat's sweat lodge death guru jailed

Oprah-endorsed New Age guru James A. Ray, who led a sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona last year in which three people died, is being held tonight on $5 million bond on three charges of manslaughter.

Kudos are in order for our pal The Big Cheese and the other busy newsvermin at Hollywood's Rumor Rat, who were on the story from the start and led the way in coverage of the scandal even before it was recognized as such and, while the morons at the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com chase around interchangeable basketball players nabbed on drunk driving or gun raps or keep posting bum information on Michael Jackson's doctor until they get it right, showed how an entertainment site can expand its scope and cover serious news to great effect.

Propofol was Michael Jackson's "milk"

Court records unsealed this week add an intriguing clue to the mystery of why Michael Jackson used propofol, the powerful anesthetic that the coroner says killed him.

We reported yesterday on a report in the May 2007 issue of Anesthesiology News that many revealed many propofol addicts were not only insomniacs like Jacko, but victims of childhood sex abuse, looking to block out the painful memories. The report raised the questiom of whether Michael Jackson turned to propofol to escape memories of his own molestation and abuse.

According to court records, Dr. Conrad Murray, who may be charged for giving Jacko his lethal dose, says he feared the star was addicted to the stuff. Jacko, he told police, spent his final hours pleading to be shot up with propofol.

Murray said that Jackson referred to propofol as "milk."

Did Michael Jackson take propofol to block out memories of childhood sexual abuse?

Did Michael Jackson use the drug propofol to block out memories of being sexually abused as a child? A recent study of propofol addicts indicates the possibility is highly likely-- and could explain why Jacko chose to combat insomnia with a hazardous, stupefying anesthetic-- and perhaps explain a few other things about his life, as well.

We'd never heard of the propofol before Jacko's death case (if we did, there was never a reason for it to register in importance), and like most people were pretty shocked at reports that canisters of a drug that’s usually limited to surgical theatres had been trucked into Jacko’s bedroom so his doctor could shoot him up and knock him out.

What we didn’t suspect-- and what we haven’t seen reported in the weeks since Jacko’s death— is a study that shows a great number of propofol addicts are not only insomniacs—but victims of sexual abuse (coincidentally, one expert estimates that forty percent of sexual abusers were sexually abused as children).

Proopofol, says one doctor, “blocks out the world. One of the hallmark symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder is hyperarousal. Folks with PTSD want to block that out.”

Today’s news that the LA County Coroner is ready to call Jackons’s death by propofol an act of homicide led us back to an article handed to us by a top Tabloid Baby pal a few weeks ago.

"Propofol Abuse Growing Problem for Anesthesiologists," from the May 2007 issue of Anesthesiology News, says propofol is among the most widely-used anesthetic agents in both hospitals and doctors’ offices (“It’s everywhere,” says one doctor). It’s also the drug of choice among doctors and anesthesiologists looking for a quick high.

Real quick.


“Because propofol is such a short-acting substance, heavy abusers must inject it frequently to stay high— as many as 50 to 100 times during a using session is not unheard of…”

Yet, “only a few cc’s more than what’s required to put a person to sleep can trigger fatal respiratory arrest. That threat is an insufficient deterrent for determined users; 40% of residents who reportedly abused the anesthetic died from the high—the peril of propofol’s exquisitely narrow therapeutic window.”

The article contains lots of medical journal statistics on the number of doctors and medical workers who use propofol—and die from it. But Jacko watchers will be most interested in the section at the end:

“'Propofol is a drug that in a sense doesn’t get you high,' said Omar S. Manejwala, MD, associate medical director at the William J. Farley Center at Williamsburg Place, an addiction treatment clinic in Virginia that, like Talbott, also focuses on physicians. 'It blocks out the world.'

"In his experience, Dr. Manejwala said, nearly every propofol addict started injecting to overcome persistent insomnia. That aspect of the medication fits neatly with the link both Drs. Manejwala and Earley have observed between propofol abuse and a history of trauma. 'One of the hallmark symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] is hyperarousal. Folks with PTSD want to block that out,' Dr. Manejwala said.

"What’s puzzling, experts said, is the strength of the connection. 'I don’t know of any other drug where the perceived incidence of trauma, particularly of sexual trauma [in abusers], is so high,' Dr. Manejwala said. 'It’s really quite remarkable.'"

According to court records, Dr. Conrad Murray administered 25 milligrams of propofol at 10:40 a.m. on the day Jacko died, after Jackson repeatedly demanded the drug.

Las Vegas pharmacy raided in Jacko probe shares name with druggists indicted in steroids ring; no connections to Danny Gans

The Las Vegas pharmacy raided by federal agents as part of the investigation into Michael Jackson's doctor has the same name as an Alabama pharmacy indicted earlier this year in a steroids distribution scandal.

A spokesman with the US Drug Enforcement Administration confirmed that the two-hour raid by DEA officers and police of Applied Pharmacy Services at 6370 West Flamingo Road was related to the investigation centered on Dr. Conrad Murray-- Jackson's personal physician and the man who was with him when he died.

A law enforcement official ssaid agents uncovered evidence that Dr. Conrad Murray legally purchased the anesthetic Propofol there. It's believed Propofol contributed to Jacko's death on June 25th.

The Nevada State Board of Pharmacy took action against two of the company's pharmacists in July 2008 for failing to keep proper records.


As we have stated, Dr. Conrad Murray never treated Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans, who died May 1st from an overdose of Dilaudid.

The Las Vegas Sun reported, and a Google check confirmed, that Applied Pharmacy Services was indicted in January along with a dozen people by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alabama for distributing anabolic steroids in a nationwide sports drug scandal. That Applied Pharmacy Services is located in Mobile. There has been no official connection made between the two operations.

While there had been reports and much talk around Las Vegas that that Danny Gans, a former athlete as well as philanthropist and unique talent, had been a steroids user, the Las Vegas coroner refused to confirm that. Nor would he name or confirm that any other drugs were in Gans' system at the time of his death.

Las Vegas Sun photo

Retraction: Danny Gans was not treated by Dr. Conrad Murray

We've gotten word from the attorney for Danny Gans' estate, family, DG Entertainment and other affiliated entities that our story, "Did Dr. Conrad Murray provide prescription drugs for Danny Gans?" was "outlandish, defamatory and false" and that we have caused, among other things, severe emotional distress to Danny Gans' family.

As it turns out, Danny Gans did not receive any prescriptions from Dr. Conrad Murray, and, as we reported, Dr. Murray's attorney Ed Chernoff made it clear that Dr. Murray never treated Danny Gans, nor did he have anything to do with Danny Gans' tragic death.

Our report was not malicious and we have always paid respect to Danny Gans' tremendous talents, influence and good works. Tabloid Baby is interested only in getting answers that have not been reported or sought by the Las Vegas news media.

In this case, the "talk around town" that we reported on was obviously inaccurate and our call to the Las Vegas news media to investigate was overshadowed by the publicity surrounding the questions we posed.

We therefore retract the story and apologize to Danny Gans' family and estate and organization.

Gans to Jacko to Murray: Las Vegas news media hometeam drop the ball again

Interesting to see this morning that once again the Las Vegas print media is not exactly providing blanket coverage of its most far-reaching news story of the day. The police investigation into celebrity drug addiction and the issuing of fraudulent prescriptions is the biggest of its kind, is receiving international coverage and is centered on Flamingo Road in Las Vegas, where investigators searched the offices of Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.

One Los Angeles detective only hinted at the scope of the scandal when he said:

"It’s long been suspected that friendly doctors have been enabling celebrities in Hollywood to feed their habits. However, the real extent of what’s been going on is truly shocking. We are uncovering a massive trade in fraudulent prescriptions.”

So where are the Las Vegas newsmen? The Las Vegas Sun is on its third day of covering prostitution at the Rio pool, The Review-Journal notes that Wynn resorts profits freefell 91 percent in the second quarter (the one during which his star attraction Danny Gans died), but they continue to shy away from the big embarrassments.

In fact, Vegas McCloud impersonator and Review-Journal editor Tom Mitchell has yet to assign a reporter to follow upon his gossip columnist's July 11th item about a local doctor aproached to provide drugs to Jacko:

"How widespread has the practice of doctor-shopping become in Las Vegas? Will the investigation into Jackson's prescription drug abuse lead back to the Las Vegas medical community, given Jackson spent a good deal of time here in recent years? Will the intense scrutiny uncover more leads in Danny Gans' drug-related death?

"Doctor-shopping 'has become very common'...

"The physician felt pressured to accommodate a VIP. He treated a high profile casino executive who wanted sleeping pills. A week later, the executive wanted a refill and a week after that he requested another refill 'and I said no'...

"The sad thing, he said, is that someone else filled the void. "'It's Elvis Presley all over again.'"

As we'd predicted, the Danny Gans story has become a watershed moment for the news media in Las Vegas. How long can they run? And what's their excuse this time?

(UPDATE: The Sun posted a brief story on the records seized from Dr. Murray on its website at 2:55 pm. The Review Journal ran five sentences at 3:12 pm.)