SEO

Showing posts with label Dr. John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr. John. Show all posts

July 16, 2009

MJ-Papa Doc, Derm-Spermdonor & Hollywood Scriptwriter Klein's Kill-Pills Bury Popper Doughboy in Dr. DRUGENSTEIN'S COMPLEXION CONNECTION

"Pillsbury"

Michael JacksonBS Top - Posner Arnold Klein


J-Papa Doc Der-Spermatozoon Klein's Kill-Pills Bury Popper Doughnut in the COMPLEXION Connection Arnold DRUGENSTEIN KLEIN

Arnold
'Stash' Klein, one of the Michael Jackson doctors being investigated in connection with the star's death, was kicked out of his first medical residency for peddling prescription drugs,

The Daily Beast's Gerald Posner has learned.

Dr. Arnold Klein, one of Hollywood’s star dermatologists and a doctor for Michael Jackson for nearly 25 years, was apparently forced to leave his residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in the 1970s because of allegations that he was selling unauthorized prescription drugs to fellow students, according to two people who know him.

The Daily Beast has confirmed that Klein is one of the doctors being investigated by authorities in connection with Jackson’s apparent drug overdose. These allegations raise questions about his attitude towards prescription drugs, and also whether Klein would have been licensed for practicing medicine had the Pennsylvania school authorities shared the information with law enforcement or the California medical licensing boards, the state to which Klein moved and established his tremendously successful practice.

Klein’s colleagues recalled that when he left for California, there was no indication of wrongdoing, but that he told them he was moving to the West Coast because he was about to become engaged to a woman living in Los Angeles (Klein has never married).

Dr. Walter Shelley, the former chairman of Penn’s Dermatology Department, where Klein had his residency, often told colleagues about the incident (Shelley passed away this past February at 91). Two of those doctors, familiar with the account as related by Shelley, spoke to me, and independent of each other, verified the same information. Shelley told them separately that Klein’s residency had been terminated because he had sold prescription meds to other students. The Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, Shelley told them, agreed not to turn the information over to local authorities in return for Klein leaving the school. He did so, completing his residency at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was the Chief Resident in Dermatology in 1975.

Klein’s colleagues recalled that when he left for California, there was no indication of wrongdoing, but that he told them he was moving to the West Coast because he was about to become engaged to a woman living in Los Angeles (Klein has never married).

One of Klein’s Pennsylvania colleagues thought that Klein might have been influenced by a book he cowrote, Drug Trip Abroad: American Drug-Refugees in Amsterdam and London, which was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 1972, a year after Klein graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Shelley believed that Klein had obtained his medications from Mexico.

“That book immersed him in the drug world,” a fellow physician told me. “It might have been the catalyst for what got him into trouble with the school administration.”

Klein’s attorney, Richard Charnley, did not reply to two emails, setting forth the details of what The Daily Beast had learned about Klein and his residency problems. I telephoned Charnley and left a detailed message, offering Klein the opportunity to rebut or answer the substance of these new revelations, but Charnley again did not respond . I also telephoned Klein’s office directly and spoke to a receptionist at length.I did not receive a return call. Administrators and lawyers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System (which covers the hospital at which Klein was a resident) declined to comment on why Klein left Penn.

Gerald Posner's tidbit about Dr. Klein being kicked out of UOP Med School for selling unauthorized prescription drugs certainly implies and adds to his appearance of culpability in the Michael Jackson death investigation. It would have been interesting to find out what prescriptions the Dr. wrote during his residency. Another piece to the puzzle has been added.

Gerald Posner is doing a great job of tying together all the dispararte threads of the Michael Jackson tragedy. The plot seems to thicken every day. Reading about Dr. Klein reminds me of another 19702 Penn guy who got into a lot of trouble, Ira Einhorn, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend Holly Maddox a couple of years ago.


As usual Gerald, you have done an outstanding job uncovering little known facts about this case. Please keep up the great reporting. I especially enjoy your comments on MSNBC.


ILLICIT SCRIPTS


A local doctor might be in hot water after recently released photographs on the Web site TMZ.com showed the discoveries of a 2003 raid of Jackson’s Neverland Ranch by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies: a smorgasbord of powerful painkillers and sedatives, some prescribed by a local physician.

The images show several empty prescription bottles of the sedative Xanax for Manuel Rivera and Frank Tyson, Jackson employees, but ostensibly for Jackson himself.

Santa Ynez doctor William VanValin was the prescribing physician.

TMZ reported that notes compiled during the county Sheriff’s investigation back in 2004 said Jackson’s former bodyguard told detectives that the late pop star would use his name and those of other employees to get prescriptions.

It is illegal to issue a prescription under any name other than the actual patient. The Web site also reported that Jackson would have employees pick up prescriptions under his name. When the pharmacy wouldn’t release his medication because it was not under the employee’s name, Jackson would then call the doctor and have the prescription “changed into the name of the person he was sending to pick it up.”

VanValin told the Journal that he was aware of the photographs, but said he declined to comment further.

Sheriff’s spokesman Drew Sugars said his department did not provide TMZ.com with any documents and could not confirm that the documents it referred to were accurate.

Whether or not VanValin committed any wrongdoing, the role doctors played in the death of Jackson is firmly under the spotlight again.

Debbie Nelson, a spokesperson for the Medical Board of California, said cases involving physicians inappropriately prescribing medication is not uncommon, adding that 28 doctors were penalized last year for this offense.

“Depending on the severity of the offense, these doctor could face anywhere from a public reprimand, a requirement to take special classes, such as a medical record keeping course, probation, or they could be stripped of their license to write prescriptions,” she said.

Jackson is not the first Hollywood star whose demise has highlighted the role celebrity-dazzled doctors have played in the deaths of celebrities.

Marilyn Monroe died at 36 from an overdose of sleeping pills in August 1962. She had been under a doctor’s care at the time.

At the age of 42, Elvis Presley died with as many as 10 different drugs coursing through his body. He was known to travel with George Nichopoulos, a former physician who overprescribed drugs to patients. Nichopoulos lost his medical license but was acquitted of criminal charges related to Elvis’ death.

Karen Sternheimer, a sociologist at the University of Southern California who is writing a book on social problems and celebrity culture, says the bottom line is likely why some doctors become drug-pushers for celebrities.

“In the typical doctor-patient relationship, the doctor really holds most of the power: we go to their office, typically wait until they are ready for us, and then see them only briefly,” Sternheimer said. “They have many patients, so if we are unhappy it might not affect their business. But if a doctor treats only one or a few patients, they become important clients financially, which shifts the balance of power and may make them more willing to make ethically questionable decisions.”

Julie Albright, a sociologist at the University of Southern California, said there are a number of reasons doctors may prescribe non-medically called for prescription drugs to celebrity clients.

“Celebrity is a kind of power or influence, which doctors aren’t immune to,” Albright said. “Like other people, they may want to please the celebrity to be a part of their circle.”

Some doctors who treat celebrities gain “bragging rights” with their friends and families. Associating with a celebrity, Albright said, may boost a doctor’s self-esteem and his or her pocketbook. “Lastly, with insurance plans cutting into doctor’s profits, celebrities may add a much needed boost to their finances,” she added. “It’s a boost some doctors are willing to bend their ethical duties to attain.”

Hoydenish doctor practicing in the world’s prescription-drug capital.

The probe into Michael Jackson’s death has now crossed the country and reached Miami. Documents seized in 2003 from Neverland as part of the investigation into allegations of child abuse connected Jackson to Dr. Alimorad "Alex" Farshchian, the medical director of Miami Beach’s Center for Regenerative Medicine. The Daily Beast has confirmed that Los Angeles authorities examining the superstar’s death are now looking to see whether Farshchian and Jackson have had more recent contact than the 2002 broken foot for which Jackson initially sought treatment.

This is the state that has the decades long, well-deserved reputation as being the last refuge where ordinary, everyday people, not just celebrities and pop stars, can easily fill multiple prescriptions for opiates and other addictive pills.

In a July 21,2002, handwritten note, Dr. Farshchian writes to Jackson that he has sent a “package…it’s a 5-7 day program that offers you the solution. Buprinex is the potent narcotic I told you about last week, it is just like the D but better.” Buprinex is an injectable narcotic analgesic. Los Angeles investigators believe the “D” refers to Demerol, another narcotic that was found in Jackson’s house after his death. Chris Carter, Jackson’s then-head of security who went on to be arrested for bank robberies in Nevada, told investigators in 2004 that Farshchian tried to wean Jackson off his heavy Demerol use. Although the “D” could refer to Diprivan, the powerful anesthetic that might have played a fatal role in Jackson’s dosing, investigators have no link between Farshchian and that anesthetic.

Farshchian, a Caribbean-trained physician (he got his degree from St. Lucia’s Spartan Health Sciences University), describes himself on his Web site as limiting his practice to “non-surgical orthopedics and sports medicine.” One of his self-described specialties, as described on his Web site, is cell therapy, using the patient’s own cells in injections that accelerate the healing process, and which helps relieve pain from arthritis or injuries. He also works with human growth hormone.

In his 2002 note to Jackson, Farshchian said about the performer, “You’re the best, you’re an ICON, and you belong to the tops.” A Los Angeles County Sherriff’s deputy believes that Farshchian was “awestruck” by Jackson. A former Jackson employee told The Daily Beast that Jackson also met Farshchian at his house and the two became so friendly that they even talked about opening a children’s hospital in Miami’s Little Havana. They went so far as to come up with a name—The International Childrens Hospital—and to shop for a building before Jackson returned to California and abandoned the idea. According to what Carter told the investigators about their visits to Farshchian’s office, Jackson seemed alert on arrival but was visibly sedated when they left.

Dr. Farshchian, who lives in a $1.5 million waterfront home on Bay Harbor, did not return a call to his office, and a letter to his Facebook account, seeking a comment. Florida records show no prior discipline by state medical authorities and an electronic search of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties show no malpractice suits against him. But the Miami tie-in isn’t surprising. Being a Miami-based reporter, I felt it was only a matter of time until there was a South Florida medical connection to the Michael Jackson death probe. This is the state that has the decades long, well-deserved reputation as being the last refuge where ordinary, everyday people, not just celebrities and pop stars, can easily fill multiple prescriptions for opiates and other addictive pills.

The Farshchian-Jackson connection doesn’t involve these dispensing clinics, or “pill mills.” A celebrity like Jackson doesn’t need to stand in line to get his addictive drugs. There are all too many doctors willing to prescribe for him, thereby gaining access to his celebrity entourage. But it’s emblematic of a culture. Until Quaaludes (a powerful sedative that became a party drug in the late 70s) were made illegal in 1984, South Florida had more Quaalude clinics that the rest of the country combined.

Now the state has become the unofficial national headquarters for a thriving black market in addictive prescription drugs, especially oxycodone, one of the drugs found in the sweep of Jackson’s house after his arrest.

Florida allows pill mills to operate so long as a licensed doctor is on the premises to write a prescription, and the patient shows up for each prescription renewal. Today’s clinics, often in ramshackle buildings in strip malls of borderline neighborhoods, aggressively advertise “Pain Management” on billboards and bus benches.There, patients complaining of chronic pain get prescriptions for the entire range of legal opiates. The initial consultation is $200, and each prescription is for a one month supply. Each follow-up visit for a new prescription takes only a few minutes and costs $100. Word has spread beyond South Florida to West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia, and other states about how easy it is to get a narcotic fix in South Florida.

Because of lax Florida laws, each pill mill employs only a single doctor who prescribes opiates for up to 70 walk-in patients daily. Crimes around the clinics, from robberies of patients with freshly filled prescriptions, to attempted break-ins at the clinics themselves, are a growing problem. But the demand for the pills has caused the trade to boom—in the last year, the number of pill mills in Dade and Broward counties zoomed from 60 to more than 150. Only 45 South Florida doctors are responsible for prescribing nearly nine million oxycodone pills in the last six months of 2008. Thirty-three of the top 50 oxycodone-dispensing doctors in the United States practice in Broward County.

And Florida has no law to track the prescriptions. So someone can walk into 20 clinics a day and walk out with 20 prescriptions. Following the April arrest of 25 Kentucky drug dealers, who got their supply from the Florida pill mills, and an investigation by The Miami Herald, the state legislature passed a law that will start tracking the prescriptions next year. But for the next six months, it’s still a paradise for drug addicts and dealers and anyone can start to get hooked at Florida’s pill mills for a fraction of what it cost Michael Jackson with his celebrity doctors.

Encirclement


BS Top - Posner Jackson Inner CIrcle

Michael Jackson is carried by bodyguard Chris Carter.


Disturbing new details about the men who ran Michael Jackson's security team prior to his child-molestation trial—including their strange job qualifications, an arrest history, and how they helped him get drugs.

Yesterday, CNN obtained a confidential 2004 document from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department containing interviews with two of Jackson's former security guards while officials were preparing for Jackson’s child-molestation trial. The guards interviewed provided information about the extent of Jackson’s drug use, some of the doctors involved, the ways Jackson tried to hide his abuse, and how he obtained extra prescriptions.

CNN refused to disclose the names of the security guards named in the document, but The Daily Beast has learned that one is Chris Carter, who worked as the chief of security for Jackson prior to the first police raid on Neverland in 2003. It was Carter who told investigators that he would get Xanax (used usually as an anti-anxiety and panic-disorder drug) for Jackson under various fictitious names, including even his own and the names of other employees.

Michael spotted an attractive young African-American man across a casino floor as he and his entourage walked through and asked to see if he might be someone worth “hiring.”

But beyond adding to the emerging portrait of Jackson’s longtime drug abuse, the real story about Carter is not necessarily his disclosures about drugs and Michael Jackson five years ago, but rather what The Daily Beast has learned about Carter, and the insights it provides into how badly Jackson chose the people who were supposed to provide his security and safety.

Mike LaPerruque, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sergeant, was Jackson’s security chief from 2001 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2008. When he was with Michael Jackson in Las Vegas during his first stint with the pop star, Michael spotted an attractive young African-American man across a casino floor as he and his entourage walked through. That man was Chris Carter. Jackson asked LaPerruque to talk to the young man and see if he might be someone worth “hiring.”


After a few minutes, LaPerruque returned and told Jackson that the person was not someone Michael wanted on his staff. Jackson ignored the advice and hired Chris Carter as LaPerruque’s deputy. Carter had no background in security work.

When LaPerruque left Jackson’s employment in 2004, Chris Carter replaced him as the chief of security. Later, while Carter and Jackson were in a skateboard shop near Neverland, Jackson spotted a young, attractive blond surfer teenager behind the counter. Jackson this time asked Carter to quiz the 17-year-old, who he subsequently hired as the deputy to Carter. When Carter left a year later, few people knew that Michael Jackson’s entire security team was being directed by an 18-year-old named Joey, who had no prior experience.

This farcical situation, as Jackson’s trial on sexual-abuse charges drew near, prompted Grace Rwaramba, Jackson’s longtime nanny, to seek help. Jermaine Jackson had converted to Islam. He helped bring in the Nation of Islam and the Chris Carters and Joeys were gone. The Nation of Islam employees remained ensconced in key positions around Jackson until his death (those employees have consistently refused any comment despite my many emails and telephone calls).

As Jackson’s former security chief, Carter was expected to be the prosecutor’s star witness in the star’s 2005 sexual-abuse trial. He was set to testify that he saw Jackson and the boy who had been allegedly abused drink wine together. He was also to say that Jackson was an active, involved manager of his ranch, bolstering the prosecution's allegation that no conspiracy could have occurred without the singer's approval. But during the trial, Carter was arrested in Las Vegas. He was charged with several felony counts, including federal bank-robbery charges and state charges of armed robbery and kidnapping. Carter never made it to the stand, leaving a gaping hole in the prosecution's case.