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Expert claims lifting MJ's chin could have saved his life

Updated on: 20 October,2011 03:48 PM IST |
Agencies |

A leading anaesthesiologist told the jury at the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's personal physician Dr Conrad Murray, that the late singer's life could have been saved had his chin been lifted

A leading anaesthesiologist told the jury at the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's personal physician Dr Conrad Murray, that the late singer's life could have been saved had his chin been lifted.
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Dr. Steven Shafer, an Ivy League professor, said that lifting the chin of a patient under anaesthetic to clear the airwaves should be the first thing a doctor tries to revive someone who has stopped breathing.

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The jury in the trial of Murray at the Los Angeles Superior Court was also shown a dramatic video re-enacting how the singer stopped breathing after taking a deadly cocktail of drugs to help him sleep.
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Shafer also claimed that Murray didn't try the life-saving technique after the late 'Billy Jean' singer stopped breathing on 25th, 2009 at his home.
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"The most likely thing that happened was that his airways were obstructed. Michael Jackson was trying to breath but his tongue got stuck in the back of his throat," the Daily Mail quoted Shafer as saying.
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"A simple chin lift or the use of an instrument to move the tongue may well have been all that was needed to save his life.
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"Michael Jackson died because he stopped breathing - that is expected when you administer intravenous sedatives. You just have to open the airways so oxygen can get through," he added.
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Shafer, a world expert in Propofol, said that he was giving evidence for free at the trial because he wanted to defend the reputation of other doctors.