Michael Jackson Lawsuit: Pop Star's Former Doctor Testifies He Worried About Painkiller Addiction in 1993

A doctor who had previously worked on tour with Michael Jackson testified that he had misgivings about the pop star's use of painkillers as far back as 1993. Stuart Finkelstein spoke during a videotaped deposition from February.

Finkelstein had worked with Jackson during the performer's 1993 "Dangerous" tour. He recounted that he spent 24 hours with Jackson in the star's hotel room, and administered morphine to help the star deal with his pain.

Finkelstein clarified that he gave Jackson morphine because the vocalist already had scarring on his buttocks from previous unidentified treatments, and Finkelstein didn't want to risk injecting him with Demerol.

Finkelstein only gave Jackson one more treatment before the tour was stopped short in Mexico City thanks to an "intervention" by friends including Elizabeth Taylor. He testified that he noticed Jackson was also wearing a patch for the application of another opiate, and that he felt the performer's tolerance to morphine was too high to be safe.

Finkelstein had shared this information previously with Paul Gongaware, an executive with AEG Live who had concerns about Jackson's habits leading up to the "This Is It" concert series in 2009. Finkelstein claims he was asked by AEG to serve as Jackson's home physician, but they reneged when he asked for $40,000 a month. Conrad Murray, the physician who accidentally overdosed Jackson on propafol in 2009, reportedly was paid $150,000 a month.
 
The Jackson family is alleging that AEG is responsible for the death of Jackson due to its hiring of Murray, however the company denies hiring him. The truth behind Murray's hiring is one of the key facts in the family's $40 billion lawsuit against AEG.