LA Coroner Visits Dr. Klein`s Office

On Tuesday, an official from the LA Coroner's office, which is one of several law enforcement agencies investigating Michael Jackson's death, visited the office of Dr. Arnold Klein, Michael`s dermatologist, to serve a second subpoena seeking additional medical records.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter went to Arnold Klein's Beverly Hills office around midday. Speaking to a throng of reporters outside the office, he said Klein had been cooperating in the investigation.

Craig Harvey, chief of operations for the coroner’s office, said the subpoena was served at Klein's Beverly Hills dermatology office in an effort to obtain "additional medical records." Harvey said his investigators had previously served a subpoena on Klein but would not elaborate on the nature of the records that were provided or what additional information led to the subpoena.

Experts said the task before detectives and coroner's investigators amounts to a medical jigsaw puzzle. They must get a strong handle on his medical status at the time of his death, including preexisting conditions, previous medical procedures and his drug-use history. After gathering information about what was prescribed and in what quantity, investigators with medical training look at the patient's history, the possible reasons each drug was prescribed, the side effects and the interactions with other medications. Investigators must also cross-reference files to try to recreate what a physician knew at the time he or she wrote a prescription.

Klein has recently given TV interviews saying he sedated Michael Jackson for medical procedures. However, he denied ever giving the entertainer an unnecessary dose of drugs.

Meanwhile, Craig Harvey, a spokesman for the LA Coroner, said results of an autopsy on Michael Jackson will not be released this week or next, as final work is being completed on the case.

Source: MJFC / Reuters /Daily Herald / LA Times