Jackson's King Of Collagen: I Didn't Help Kill Michael
Dr. Arnold Klein might have done some work on Michael Jackson, but the so-called King of Collagen swears he didn't off the King of Pop.
And he's got a brand-new lawsuit to back him up.
Klein has sued a fellow physician for slander, claiming Dr. Steven Hoefflin passed himself off as spokesman for Katherine Jackson and made comments to Britain's Sun tabloid that opened up Klein to "contempt, ridicule and shame" and caused him to be "shunned and avoided and have injured his reputation as a person."
The suit, filed Monday in Los Angeles, claims Hoefflin linked Klein to Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist who was the last to see Michael alive. The tab reported that Murray called Klein in the moments after Michael died because the dermatologist had schooled Murray on how to administer the powerful anesthetic propofol.
"Dr. Klein and Conrad Murray have never met, spoken, nor communicated with each other," read a statement from Klein's attorneys, Richard L. Charnley and Bradley P. Boyer.
"Indeed, Dr. Klein did not know that Conrad Murray even existed until his name came out in the press. Further, Dr. Klein did not provide Propofol to Conrad Murray and obviously did not teach him how to administer it."
Hoefflin's claims step "over the line of decency and cannot be allowed to stand," the lawyers said.
The coroner has ruled Jackson's death a homicide from an overdose of propofol, but no charges have been filed. Klein's lawyer has previously said the dermatologist has been "fully cooperative" with the investigation.
—Additional reporting by Lindsay Miller
EOnline / Thanks Joy C!