Breaking News
Right-click and bookmark into your "links" folder. When viewing a news story (On CNN, Newsweek, etc) that you want to seed, click the bookmarked link.
Here are Instructional Videos to get a better understanding.
|
Nurse claims Jackson begged for sedative
ENTERTAINMENT / NEWS
Wed Jul 1, 2009 @ 9:00am
neoform
LOS ANGELES, California More than two dozen TV satellite trucks lined a narrow, two-lane road leading to Neverland Ranch early Wednesday, jostling to reserve space for a public viewing of pop icon Michael Jackson's body later this week.
Jackson's body will be taken to the ranch, north of Santa Barbara, California, on Thursday in preparation for viewing Friday, a law enforcement official said. The family plans a private service Sunday. The question of what killed Jackson last week has gone unanswered pending toxicology results, but an assertion by a nutritionist who said she worked with Jackson has fanned speculation. Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse, told CNN that Jackson suffered from severe insomnia and pleaded for the powerful sedative Diprivan. Watch the nurse describe Jackson's plea » "I told him this medication is not safe," Lee said. "He said, 'I just want to get some sleep. You don't understand. I just want to be able to be knocked out and go to sleep.' "I told him -- and it is so painful that I actually felt it in my whole spirit -- 'If you take this, you might not wake up.' " CNN could not independently verify whether Lee worked with Jackson. Lee said she had not seen Jackson take the drug. When asked about Lee's account, Jackson family attorney Londell McMillan said, "I wonder why someone would make a comment about drugs when they haven't seen him take the drug or anyone who administered it." Lee's claims were among several developments Tuesday as fans across the globe continued to mourn Jackson five days after the 50-year-old singer went into cardiac arrest. A 2002 will from Jackson has surfaced, but it may be one of several, McMillan said. Until now, the Jackson family has said it had not seen one. In New York, thousands lined the streets Tuesday outside Harlem's Apollo Theater, the hall that helped launch Jackson's career. At 9, the singer won a 1967 Apollo amateur night showcase with his brothers. "We left our house at 4 o'clock in the morning and got here at 9, and we were lucky to get here," said Angela Staples, who came from Pennsylvania with daughter Jasmine. Nutritionist details phone call Four days before the singer's death, Lee said she received a call from a Jackson staff member, who said the performer felt that one side of his body was cold, the other hot. "I could hear Mr. Jackson saying in the background, 'Please have her come see me now. Can she come now?' " she said. Lee, a proponent of holistic alternative medicine, said she met Jackson in January when he called her to treat his children's colds. She said she told the staffers to take Jackson to a hospital. "I was really afraid because of the symptoms they were telling me," she said. "It could have meant something going on in the nervous system or something cardiovascular." Lee could not say why Jackson would call her when the last time she saw him was three months ago. Their relationship ended because Jackson did not pay her, she said. But he wanted her to accompany him during upcoming concerts in London, England, she said. She added she didn't know of any doctors who would have given him Diprivan, known by its generic name, Propofol. "I asked him, 'What doctor gave you this drug?' " she said, when the singer initially brought up the medicine. "He told me, 'Oh, it was a long time ago.' " Dr. Rakesh Marwah of Stanford University School of Medicine's anesthesiology department said the drug can lead to cardiac arrest. "Propofol slows down the heart rate and slows down the respiratory rate and slows down the vital functions of the body," Marwah said. Fans heartened by news of viewing For many of Jackson's fans, the cause of his death bore less significance than remembering his life. On Wednesday, the top nine positions on Billboard magazine's top pop catalog albums chart housed Jackson-related titles. Many said they were heartened to learn of Friday's public viewing. "I came all the way here [to be near where Jackson lived], but to find this out -- that I can make a pilgrimage to his home to say goodbye to him -- that is beyond my wildest dreams," said Donna Lewis, a self-proclaimed "super fan" who drove to Los Angeles from San Francisco to mourn with fellow Jackson lovers. Planning is under way for a 30-car motorcade carrying Jackson's remains to leave the Los Angeles area at 10 a.m. Thursday for Santa Barbara County, a law enforcement official said. Jackson's hometown of Gary, Indiana, angled to have its favorite son buried there and planned a massive memorial service at a local ballpark in July. Gary Mayor Rudy Clay told a Chicago, Illinois, radio station Tuesday that he has been in contact with the Jackson family about the burial. A burial site could be near a proposed Jackson family museum and a performing arts center, said mayoral spokeswoman Lalosa Burns, who said Clay hadn't received any confirmation. Clay told WGN that he expects Jackson's body, at the least, will be taken to Gary for a July 10 memorial service at U.S. Steel Works ballpark. Jackson's father, Joe, has said Neverland Ranch has been ruled out as a burial site, but the family has given no public indication on where the singer's final resting place may be. Michael Jackson purchased Neverland Ranch -- named for the fictional world in J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" -- in 1987 and filled it with animals and amusement rides. Tom Barrack Jr., the billionaire who engineered Jackson's financial rescue last year and gained control of the ranch through his company, said the property's future will be discussed later. The focus now, he said, is to ensure that grieving fans who gather there are treated properly. Will's validity to be tested As for the will, Jackson family lawyer McMillan acknowledged Tuesday that others may exist. "We need a certain amount of time to look at that," McMillan said. "I don't personally know, but it's possible." The 2002 will surfaced Monday after a Los Angeles judge gave the singer's mother, Katherine Jackson, temporary control of her son's "tangible personal property." The pop icon's three children -- ages 7, 11 and 12 -- also were placed under his mother's temporary guardianship. McMillan said he has seen the will but would not disclose its details."There is a process called probating the will that will validate any will in due course," he said.CNN's Kara Finnstrom, Drew Griffin and Don Lemon in Los Angeles and Stephanie Smith and Aspen Steib in New York contributed to this report. Read More
No Comments Yet..
Post Comment
|