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Open General discussion - Katherine Jackson vs AEG

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Radar Online’s is posting a recycled story with a suspicious source. It will not distract me from Dr. Finkelstein’s video deposition or Ortega’s pending testimony today.

Bubs, again, I posted your original question and my original answer which has no agenda except to impart information to you and you prefer the derivative answer which does not apply to your original question. If you continue with “AP, ABC7 and some articles from newspapers” you will find the information you seek. There is no need for me to fabricate testimony.

Serendipity, no pretending necessary; that sentence you quoted referred to the defense’s opening statements compared to the plaintiffs.
 
ivy said:
well it depends how do you define the case and "justice" I guess.

the proposed verdict forms we have seen asks if Murray was hired, who hired him, if the hiring was negligent, who is responsible for mj's death & how much responsibility and finally the damages.

any restitution from Murray would reduce any damages that can be gotten from AEG - (due to double recovery laws). So if you define justice as amount of money you win then yes restitution would have jeopardize the case. Also think like this $100 Million is an amount Murray would never be able to pay, where as AEG could pay it.

However you determine justice as a verdict that finds AEG responsible for negligent hiring and did not care about what money damages even none you receive than it shouldn't be a factor. .
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I remember having some passionate discussions at the time, this reminder highlights what I have always felt, that this trial has more to do with money than anything else. As you confirmed the only aspect that would effect this trial is the monetary amount, so, KJ could have prevented Murray from profiting AND sought justice from AEG.
 
Ortega, who knew Jackson well and worked with him closely preparing his "This Is It" shows, sounded a warning to AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips in an e-mail on June 20, 2009 -- five days before Jackson's death -- that Ortega did not think the entertainer would be ready for the shows. He described seeing "strong signs of paranoia, anxiety and obsessive-like behavior" with Jackson. "I think the very best thing we can do is get a top psychiatrist to evaluate him ASAP."

Murray has invoked his constitutional protection against self-incrimination to avoid testifying in the trial.

Jackson changed managers twice in the last three months of his life. In late March 2009, he hired Leonard Rowe -- one of his father's friends -- to replace Tohme Tohme, the manager who initially negotiated the deal with AEG for his "This Is It" tour. Jackson lawyers argue that AEG Live forced Jackson to take DiLeo, who had worked for him off and on for decades, as his manager in May 2009 because they did not want to work with Rowe. A cache of 5,000 e-mails has already been recovered and a lawyer in Ohio is reviewing them to redact non-relevant and personal information before handing them over to Jackson lawyers.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/08/showbiz/jackson-death-trial/

And all this time I thought Michael Jackson rehired Frank Dileo because of how bad Thome Thome had scheduled the Shows at the 02 Arena in London. So the Jackson lawyers want to search the 5,000 emails to prove that AEG Live forced Michael to take Dileo. I wonder if the tie-in to the Allgood Concert Promoters and Leonard Rowe and Frank Dileo and Joseph Jackson will come into play. I'm sure it didn't help matters just before Michael died, that this $40 million law suit was hanging over Michael Jackson's head. For Michael Jackson to stand up to his parents was a big deal, especially since Michael did bring Leonard Rowe in for business on account of his Dad, Joe Jackson. Michael would have kept providing for his mother, Katherine, but Michael would have made more money with AEG Live to pay down his debts, than Leonard Rowe, Joe Jackson, and Allgood Entertainment. Did Joe Jackson really think this was a wise business decision or did Joe Jackson even care if working with Leonard Rowe would have ended in another law suit, because R Kelly won his law suit against Leonard Rowe, as recent as 2008. This family pride is not good for Michael Jackson's legacy!
 
Tygger;3863780 said:
It will not distract me from Dr. Finkelstein’s video deposition or Ortega’s pending testimony today.
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don't worry for others as well, I'm pretty sure most fans have the capacity to multitask and they can simultaneously talk about restitution and testimony.

ps: this is not aimed at you personally but I'm kinda offended by all this "distract" claims of some people. Such as "Wade's accusations will distract from AEG trial"., "this and that will distract from testimony". I don't get it. Do people look to other fans as idiots with one track mind that can't handle multiple topics at the same time? Seriously? What's the logic there?
 
Tygger;3863780 said:
Serendipity, no pretending necessary; that sentence you quoted referred to the defense’s opening statements compared to the plaintiffs.
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I know that. I just think the Jacksons have contributed greatly to the drug addict theory and just because they will try and change their tune now because of the higher damages, doesn't make it any less true in my eyes.
 
When the Jacksons are going to be called to the stand ? that's going to be pure entertainment
 
Soundmind said:
When the Jacksons are going to be called to the stand ? that's going to be pure entertainment
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I think they will be called when AEG presents their side. They said they plan on calling all the Jacksons except for Marlon.
 
Serendipity, no issues here.

Ivy, I agree with you that fans can multitask and can focus on both the civil trial, rejected restitution from 2011, and the extortion trial of Robson. During the criminal trial, fans had one legal focus and that was to support the State. With the civil trial, fans are divided and some have decided not to follow the civil trial because of the sobering testimony about Michael. Although they cannot change what happened to Michael during 2009, they can support Michael by battling against Robson.

In addition, the timing of the Robson case and completely fabricated articles about past allegations in AEG sponsored newspapers (like The Mirror as per Charles Thomson) are suspicious as molestation charges will be used to thwart possible damage payout by the defense. Yes, the juror cannot access outisde information, etc. but, it may come through the case anyway. Remember Panish's questions about repressed memories that surface four years later and the judge having a chuckle at that?
 
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It was the biggest mistake what Katherine did letting Murray off like that. Whatever happens when he gets out the blame is on her and the family. He killed her son and only will serve like 2 years out of out of 4 he got sentenced too. There is no justice in that. They chose money over Michael. AEG are not great people in my views at all but she is his mother and her actions are important to me more.
 
Tygger said:
With the civil trial, fans are divided and some have decided not to follow the civil trial because of the sobering testimony about Michael.
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that's by choice and I wasn't talking about that. It's nice to see that you agree. It's something that has been bugging me for a long time - like I said it wasn't personal to you. People can multitask, I never get the logic that fans can be distracted by one thing and forget the other.

In addition, the timing of the Robson case and completely fabricated articles about past allegations in AEG sponsored newspapers (like The Mirror as per Charles Thomson) are suspicious as molestation charges will be used to thwart possible damage payout by the defense.
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I disagree. Jurors were sworn in before any Wade allegations. They are ordered to not follow any media about any people involving the case - that means they should not be reading anything in regards to Michael and any other Jacksons and AEG and so on. So they should not be reading the Wade allegations There has been no attempt by AEG to add Wade's claims to the evidence -which means they would not be mentioned during trial. Hence becomes totally irrelevant as far as the trial goes. Further more AEG agreed to stipulate that MJ was found innocent and mentioned his not guilty verdict twice in their opening statements. Also any specific details of any allegations - true, false , fabricated - doesn't matter to AEG's damages calculation. Their whole point is such allegations has hurt Michael's income capacity. They will not argue for example "FBI files said this and that and that reduced his earnings by 2%".

I see some fans say stuff like jurors will see or hear about it some way and it would affect their decision making. It's a total BS IMO. In 2 trials - 2005 MJ trial and Murray criminal trial - the jurors were not sequestered and were ordered by court to not to read / listen to media. The jurors in both instances were able to come back with favorable verdicts for MJ. Especially in 2005 media was heavily against Michael. There's no basis for any claim that the jurors would not be able to stay away from media and will not be able to come with the uninfluenced verdict this time too. Why wouldn't the system work this time if it worked 2 times before?

If anything such stories can only affect the public perception about MJ and possible Estate earnings. I personally think they won't have any effect on the AEG trial verdict and /or determination of damages.

edited to add: I don't think "sponsored" is a correct word. Don't they buy advertising space in such newspapers? so it's not like they are giving money to "sponsor" them but they are actually paying for a service. you can think they would tend write pro articles so that AEG will continue to buy ad space. But if the newspapers have enough buyers for ad space and they might not care about repeat purchase by AEG. Also if AEG is limited to these newspapers (such as if they want to place the ads on the top selling newspaper), they might have no choice to keep buying the ad space regardless of if the newspaper writes positively or negatively about them.
 
We don't know if the jury would hear the wade accusation in some way and affect their decision making. This civil trial is so different from 05 case and Murray's trial(criminal trial) because the evidence in those trial are so overwhelmingly pro MJ (truth) in spite of the jury's opinion of MJ. However, this AEG CIVIL trial, the evidence is very 50/50, the verdict likely depends on the jury's favor over AEG or The jacksons. we cant deny this new right timing allegation and mirror smear campaign do benefit AEG enormously. those emails revealed what an asshole AEG is, it could damage their image and reputation to the public (I am sure that's what they really care in this trial than anything else). but the new pedo accusation and all the bullshit written about Michael saved them. can you imagine the public uproar if it was Elvis being treated like this by AEG?
 
Tygger said:
Serendipity, no issues here.

Ivy, I agree with you that fans can multitask and can focus on both the civil trial, rejected restitution from 2011, and the extortion trial of Robson. During the criminal trial, fans had one legal focus and that was to support the State. With the civil trial, fans are divided and some have decided not to follow the civil trial because of the sobering testimony about Michael. Although they cannot change what happened to Michael during 2009, they can support Michael by battling against Robson.

In addition, the timing of the Robson case and completely fabricated articles about past allegations in AEG sponsored newspapers (like The Mirror as per Charles Thomson) are suspicious as molestation charges will be used to thwart possible damage payout by the defense. Yes, the juror cannot access outisde information, etc. but, it may come through the case anyway. Remember Panish's questions about repressed memories that surface four years later and the judge having a chuckle at that?
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Personally I don't believe AEG is behind Wade story and the new tabloid trash. It's logical that kind of things would happen during the trial. I think that Michael has enough enemies without this case who will do anything to damage his image. Unfortunately his family did everything to make the situation worse. I feel extremely sorry for Michael Jackson's children for being raised by Jackson family. They are the ones who will suffer the most in future because of this case and I predict that the Jackson clan will have to wake up at last and start to understand that they don't own Michael Jackson.
 
I'm glad this information was finally put out there and cleary stated,

"Jackson also went roughly 13 years -- from 1993 until 2008 -- without the drug..."
 
@ABC7Courts: Dr. Finkelstein said he tried to give him a shot but his butt was so abscessed the needle almost bent. "I thought it was not safe," he said.

Im thinking that in this instance 'abscessed' must be something different to what the doctor is talking about here. To me an abscess is an extremely painful large skin infection (bigger than a boil). If the area were covered with these he wouldn't be able to walk. But I don't see how the needle could almost bend, so I guess it can also mean something else. ?
 
LastTear said:
@ABC7Courts: Dr. Finkelstein said he tried to give him a shot but his butt was so abscessed the needle almost bent. "I thought it was not safe," he said.

Im thinking that in this instance 'abscessed' must be something different to what the doctor is talking about here. To me an abscess is an extremely painful large skin infection (bigger than a boil). If the area were covered with these he wouldn't be able to walk. But I don't see how the needle could almost bend, so I guess it can also mean something else. ?
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my non medical take : when you inject on the same site it can create some hard lumps of fat which makes it harder to inject. for patients that inject medicine regularly - such as diabetics - they recommend alternating the injection site such as inject today to right buttock, tomorrow inject at the left buttock or distance every shot by an inch etc.
 
loveforever said:
I want AEG lose (they should) and the jury only reward money to Michael's children.
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Katherine Jackson brought this lawsuit to court on behalf of herself and Michael's minor children. If money is awarded she gets a portion of it. That money is hers to do whatever she wants to do.

Michael's children don't need more money. What they need (imo) is for their father to rest in peace and his legacy to grow which it will if people stop dragging him through the mud in court. Michael's legacy (if handled properly)will give his children all the money they ever need.
 
Jackson trial breakthrough



  • Last Updated: 12:03 AM, July 8, 2013
  • Posted: 11:53 PM, July 7, 2013



The personal computer of Michael Jackson’s late manager, Frank DiLeo, will be handed over today by his daughter in the hope of finding a “smoking gun” about the star’s death, sources tell Page Six. Lawyers for Katherine Jackson and her three grandchildren hope the hard drive contains evidence that will prove that executives for concert company AEG Live were responsible for *****’s 2009 death by hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, who gave him a fatal dose of medication.

The Post’s Richard Johnson reports that Katherine’s lawyers subpoenaed the computer before the wrongful-death civil trial started in April, but were stymied until an Ohio judge found Frank’s daughter,Belinda DiLeo, in contempt of court last week and vowed to jail her if she didn’t produce the computer by today.

The cigar-smoking, bullet-headed DiLeo was so convincing as a gangster, Martin Scorsese cast the Pittsburgh native in “Goodfellas.” The jury is already familiar with him from testimony of Michael Jackson’s hair and makeup person, Karen Faye, who said she overheard DiLeo dealing with the artist’s severe weight loss by telling a handler, “Get him a bucket of chicken!”

AEG Live boss Randy Phillips testified that he and DiLeo were standing in the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai when they were told Jackson was dead. “Frank collapsed,” Phillips said. DiLeo died two years later, following heart surgery at the same hospital, but he didn’t take his secrets to the grave. DiLeo left a manuscript of the tell-all he was writing. “The truth has to be told,” he said at the time. “I’m going to set the record straight once and for all.” It is in the hands ofMark Lamica, who worked with DiLeo for nine years.

“Frank knew where all the bodies were buried,” said an insider. “If there are new e-mails on his computer, or a copy of his book, it could rip the trial wide open.”

But AEG lawyer Marvin Putnam told The Post, “Unfortunately, this is yet another attempt by plaintiffs to distract the press with a sideshow.”

Putnam said he and his clients “look forward to the production of Frank DiLeo’s computer. Mr. DiLeo’s documents will only confirm what the defendants have said all along — that the defendants were never aware that Dr. Conrad Murray was administering powerful anesthetics to Michael Jackson in Michael Jackson’s private bedroom at night behind locked doors.”
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http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/jackson_trial_breakthrough_Jz8tN3B4bm6Ae5aHD8hudO



:fear:
 
AEG Live boss Randy Phillips testified that he and DiLeo were standing in the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai when they were told Jackson was dead. “Frank collapsed,” Phillips said. DiLeo died two years later, following heart surgery at the same hospital, but he didn’t take his secrets to the grave. DiLeo left a manuscript of the tell-all he was writing. “The truth has to be told,” he said at the time. “I’m going to set the record straight once and for all.” It is in the hands of Mark Lamica, who worked with DiLeo for nine years.

Who's Mark & is he going to testify?

Even when I knew K refused to ask for restitution, it makes mad to know that DW asked to go for it but she decided to go for the bigger fish. What if Conrad ever took a pic of Michael when he was down? Did they ever think about that? No. If he dared to record Michael while he was down and he refused to take any responsibility for his disregard towards Michael, wouldn't that tell them that Conrad is capable of doing & saying anything in order to accomplish what he wants? He's coming out soon. We'll see what happens next.
 
Bubs;3863719 said:
“It absolutely gutted the D.A. because he wanted Murray to be held accountable once he was released from jail. Murray has never accepted any responsibility for Michael’s death, and blames everyone but himself,” the source says."

It also gutted most of Michael's fanbase. Real killer CM got off lightly because there is more money on Jackson's sight than the pennies Katherine could have collected from CM

"If Katherine Jackson had sought restitution, “Judge Pastor certainly would have been inclined to give it to her. Neither Murray, nor his associates would have been able to profit from voice mail messages, future interviews, book deals, etc., because all of that money would go directly to Katherine,” the source explains."

This is what we can start expecting once that loonie is out of jail, and he can keep all the money for himself, courtesy of Jackson's camp.





I'm sure her lawyers got back-up help from certain siblings.




"'Smoking gun' evidence expected in MJ's manager's laptop"
I wonder if they are expecting similar kind of "smoking gun" evidence as the not so smoking gun emails?
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True. I see radar finally wrote about what we discussed since Katherine rejected the restitution. Maybe we should just write articles because we discussed the restitution and why it was rejected, without a "source" telling us what to think.

Oh Goodness another smoking gun. Why don't people wait to see if these guns really smoke before writing all this hype and then having to look like fools when there is no smoke.
 
“It absolutely gutted the D.A. because he wanted Murray to be held accountable once he was released from jail. Murray has never accepted any responsibility for Michael’s death, and blames everyone but himself,” the source says.

AliCat;3863741 said:
It just shows where Katherine's heart is, 'show me the money,' and it isn't with Conrad Murray, it is through AEG Live. This isn't about Justice for Michael's death, it is about feeding her cubs for life!
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I had a feeling Walgren was both stunned and "gutted" after working so very hard to put Murray behind bars. Knowing the punishment in jail was limited (due to CA law & overcrowding issues), he wanted Murray's punishment to go on long after he was released. He could project all the movie, book deals, paid interviews coming his way once he's released. But, sounds like Katherine is A-OK with that.

I find it absolutely revolting that Katherine Jackson would enable the actual killer of her son--who is not remorseful at all-- to reap the "rewards" of his crime in favor of a big personal payday. She is more interested in getting as much money for her cubs--and I agree Alicat 100%--than punish the man who took the life of her son, the father of three now orphaned children.

I hope Katherine Jackson has her karmic moment and loses this AEG trial big. I hope she gets NADA and suffers the consequences of refusing restitution.
 
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Well we all knew about the restitution, but I guess for some just seeing this all over again is upsetting.

I just looked at today's tweets, and I really do not understand what they spent the whole day doing in court. Is Karen done now? We have Schnoll at least putting the medication use in context and saying a lot of what fans said especially before the Muarry trial started. Then we Have the dr that sounds like Frankinstein talking about giving Michel drugs for pain and then he tells Gonga about the pain medicine use. Now this part is interesting because Gonga did not say that he was told this. We will have to go back and see what Gonga said exactly.
 
Ummm what is this bout frank dileo being in "goodfellas"?....i dont remember that :scratchead:
 
Petrarose said:
Well we all knew about the restitution, but I guess for some just seeing this all over again is upsetting.
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It's true--just stirs it all up again. We all knew about the restitution refusal and its potential consequences, but what's upsetting (at least to me) is that we now know why she did it. We suspected it was about the money all along, because Murray had no money and AEG does. So Katherine (with the guidance no doubt of her very helpful kids) decided that even though she knew for sure after the criminal trial what Murray did (& who wasn't appalled by his recklessness) she overlooked that in favor of going after a corporation who had nothing to do with giving Michael propofol--just because they have deep pockets. Follow the money has become the Jackson family's mantra. It's the reality of her value system that I find so disturbing.

Petrarose said:
I just looked at today's tweets, and I really do not understand what they spent the whole day doing in court. Is Karen done now? We have Schnoll at least putting the medication use in context and saying a lot of what fans said especially before the Muarry trial started. Then we Have the dr that sounds like Frankinstein talking about giving Michel drugs for pain and then he tells Gonga about the pain medicine use. Now this part is interesting because Gonga did not say that he was told this. We will have to go back and see what Gonga said exactly.
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Yea, it's more of the same--just a sideshow of irrelevance. I find it interesting that the Trayvon Martin murder trial is about to wrap up after a little more than 2 weeks!!
 
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Crillion we knew why back then too. We discussed all this before and it is all in the trial thread. We had people like Ivy explaining why Katherine declined, that is why this article from radar has nothing new in it. We found this out before and we were all pissed off, disappointed, mad, resentful, angry. However, it is good to see it in the public sphere as well, because some people might not know that the family turned down the restitution and why.

I guess the Martin case will wrap up because it is structured. I bet they are not showing a whole bunch of videos and asking each person for their cv whether they are experts or not. Isn't this the last week for Panish, the week of the 8th?
 
Petrarose said:
Crillion we knew why back then too. We discussed all this before and it is all in the trial thread. We had people like Ivy explaining why Katherine declined, that is why this article from radar has nothing new in it. We found this out before and we were all pissed off, disappointed, mad, resentful, angry. However, it is good to see it in the public sphere as well, because some people might not know that the family turned down the restitution and why.
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You guys knew the lawyers recommended it, or assumed that's what happened? For me, that's new information, but you guys are way ahead of the curve and I wasn't active here then.

I agree that it's good to remind people what happened and why. Soon Murray will be out of jail with an agent & PR firm and the media deals will start rolling in.
 
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Ivy, I believe the fans are distracted but, it is as you said, by choice. Some are choosing to not follow the civil trial and invest their energies into the Robson extortion trial. Some are choosing to ignore the Robson extortion trial in favor of the civil trial. Some are following both and some are following neither. With the criminal trial, fans were for the most part focused on successful prosecution; now the focus is in different areas depending on the fan.

I do agree with Loveforever in that, if this was another artist, it would be interesting to see if fans were divided regarding a wrongful death trial of that artist. With the Elvis example, I believe his fans would not care who originated the civil trial; they would just support it being initiated. With this civil trial, I know there are fans who feel AEG is not culpable but, I am unsure if they would feel that way if the estate initiated the case instead of Michael’s mother who some fans have a distaste for. I believe AEG is culpable so, it would not matter to me if Michael's mother or the estate initiated the case.

I cannot promise jurors are not seeing or hearing things in the media. Ortega testified today he reviewed articles about the civil trial before testifying! There are those who say AEG does benefit from the recent allegations. However, there are those who say the Jacksons benefit from the launch of MJ ONE so it goes both ways. Look at this recycled RadarOnline article. That supports a lower damage payout if the plaintiffs have a successful verdict. It makes no mention that AEG could have also sought restitution from the doctor but did not because not only were they made whole by the estate which invalidated their chances for restitution, they also earned profits from the loss of their star.

In the two examples you gave of the “system working,” I cannot guarantee any juror(s) did not see or hear media rumblings about either of those trials. The public just has to put their trust into the justice system and the jurors staying true to their instructions.

I agree with StellaJackson regarding Dileo’s emails. Emails have not been to AEG’s advantage thus far. laughs

I have notice some discrepancies with the tweets regarding Dr. Finkelstein deposition and Ortega’s testimony and another site. I am not sure if the discrepancies were huge or small errors but, I will have to review all of them again to be sure.
 
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Here's an article about Dr. Stuart Finklestein, I found on a Mariah Carrey website dated Monday 25 February 2002


A California doctor rocks with the stars


Mariah Carey singing a roller coaster of notes. Britney Spears slinking across the stage in a sexy outfit. The Eagles rocking to "Hotel California". Stuart Finkelstein, MD, has seen them all, but not as part of the audience. You'll likely find him watching from just offstage. But you have to look closely: He dresses in black to blend into the shadows.
His inconspicuousness, however, belies his importance. Dr. Finkelstein is doctor to the stars, the one who makes sure Mariah, Britney and the rest are healthy when they take the stage. The Cerritos, Calif., doctor works a handful of concerts a year, showing up at the Staples Center and other arenas to give flu and B-12 shots, treat respiratory infections and tend to the other ills of singers, band members and the crew. He was the doctor for Michael Jackson's world tour in 1993 and was the one who ordered Jackson to bed for dehydration, postponing the star's second Bangkok show.
Hearing Dr. Finkelstein talk about his experiences is like listening to a boy who just got an autographed baseball from his favorite big leaguer. "If you wanted to script this much fun you couldn't," said Dr. Finkelstein, 47, an internist at Cerritos Family Medical Group, south of Los Angeles.
It started with John Denver. Dr. Finkelstein was a medical student during the 1980s when one of his two brothers was a manager for Denver. Dr. Finkelstein said he was asked to take care of skiers participating in Denver's tournament. That meant enjoying free lodging at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe, skiing, flying in Denver's jet and getting a front-row seat to the glitzy world of entertainment, a world that dazzled the young student.
"I remember seeing one of the promoters betting at the craps table what I paid for four years of medical school," he said. Dr. Finkelstein would not work this close again to a music star until 1993, when he was contacted by a road manager he met at the Denver tournament who became connected with Jackson. The doctor was hired to care for Jackson's massive 160-person entourage on the tour. But he soon ended up treating Jackson.
After an outdoor concert in Bangkok, the media reported that Jackson became dehydrated. Dr. Finkelstein gave him saline solution intravenously and told him to get some rest, newspapers said. The doctor's orders postponed the star's next gig for two days. Once Jackson was better, he did the second Bangkok show and worked hard throughout the tour.
"Michael danced so hard in his shows that he would lose 10% of his body weight," said Dr. Finkelstein, whose wife is in practice with him and covered his patients while he toured. As a show went along, Jackson would change into smaller-sized clothing to adjust to the loss. During his 3 1/2 months on the tour, Dr. Finkelstein carried a suitcase full of IVs, antibiotics and decongestants - supplies ready to treat just about anything.
In Mexico City, Jackson's dancers struggled with the thin air and needed oxygen between dances. At one show, actress Elizabeth Taylor, a good friend of Jackson, was watching from one side of the stage when the show's pyrotechnics were set off. "She ended up getting something in her eye that we had to take out," Dr. Finkelstein said.
It wasn't all work and no play for the doctor. "We would have squirt gun fights and watch the Three Stooges," he recalled. One time, Jackson and the others played a trick on a valet, calling him into a room for a bogus emergency then dousing him with water guns.
Dr. Finkelstein saw parts of the world some people only imagine visiting: Singapore, Moscow, Paris, Switzerland and Chile. "We stayed in five-star hotels. When you came into town [with Jackson], you were happening," he said. It was the only time Dr. Finkelstein toured with a pop star. Mostly, he does individual concerts in Los Angeles.
He has been there for Nine Inch Nails. At Carey's rehearsal, Dr. Finkelstein's son and daughter got their picture taken with basketball legend Magic Johnson. When he worked a show for Spears this winter, the doctor said he was a bit stunned. "She was so gorgeous, I couldn't talk," said Dr. Finkelstein, who will work another Spears concert in May.
Promoters who hire the doctor say he plays a vital role in keeping a show healthy. "He's a great guy and a great doctor. We love to have him around," said Paul Gongaware, co-CEO of Concerts West in Beverly Hills, Calif. Dr. Finkelstein said he is well-paid for his work, but he won't divulge his fee.
And then there are the perks: His two children going onstage with Jackson; autographed photos with Jackson; free concert tickets for the family; and travel bags, T-shirts and other freebies. They help keep the memories from fading like a tour bus as it drives into the distance. "I wear my Michael Jackson raincoat every time it rains," Dr. Finkelstein said.

http://mcarchives.com/index.asp?id=2120


Finklestein.jpg
 
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