Michael Jackson Wrongful Death Trial’s First Closing Arguments

ORIGINAL STORY

Attorneys for Michael Jackson’s family began the first day of closing arguments Tuesday in a wrongful death suit that claimed entertainment company AEG, which was in charge of the Jackson’s “This is It” tour, negligently hired, retained and supervised the doctor responsible for the star’s death.

Jackson died June 25, 2009 from an overdose of propofal, an anesthetic, administered by Dr. Conrad Murray, who was subsequently convicted of manslaughter and whose involvement with AEG and Jackson has become a crucial point in the 21-week civil case against AEG.

“Michael Jackson had a well-known problem. He had abused prescription medications during times of pain and stress,” said Brian Panish, an attorney representing Jackson’s mother, Katherine and Jackson’s three children. “It’s not disputed. But AEG, when they brought Dr. Murray in, resumed responsibility.”

AEG and Murray communicated multiple times and agreed on payments of $150,000 per month, Panish said. Additionally, he said AEG asked for Murray’s bank information and budgeted for his cost.

The plaintiff played a video of Randy Phillips, the CEO of AEG, saying “[Murray] is willing to leave his practice for a very large sum of money, so we hired him.”

These factors were all used to show that even though Jackson never signed the contract for treatment, which was signed by Murray the day before his death, AEG was still responsible for the doctor’s actions because the communications used legally binding actions of employment.

Had AEG simply let Jackson hire Murray, according to Panish, they could have avoided all responsibility, but instead wanted control of every aspect of the tour.

AEG’s hiring of Murray also created a major conflict of interest, Panish said, because it created a third party in the doctor-patient relationship that led to Jackson’s mistreatment.

The plaintiff displayed an email written by Paul Gongaware, promoter of the “This is It” tour for AEG, saying, “we want to remind [Murray] that it is not [Jackson] who is paying his salary. We want him to know what is expected of him.”

While promoters often agree to pay for additional services such as private planes or masseuses, Panish argued that Murray’s position on AEG’s payroll while treating Jackson was an unreasonable and unprecedented agreement because of the risks associated with such a decision.

“A reasonably careful person would never hire a doctor with a third party contract,” he said. “That’s why you never see it.”

They argued Murray’s inexperience with sleep disorders, drug addiction and administration of anesthesia made the cardiologist a poor choice as Jackson’s doctor. Panish also pointed out Murray’s criminal conviction as evidence of the doctor’s incompetence.

Police testimony said the contract with AEG and Randy Phillips’ card was found in Murray’s car during the initial investigation of Jackson’s death, and both detectives on the case believed Murray was willing to violate his hippocratic oath for financial gain.

“People do things for money that they shouldn’t do,” Panish said. “It’s common sense.”

At the end of his statements, Panish played footage of Jackson playing with his three children.

The plaintiff has not released their demands from AEG, but it is speculated to be upwards of $1 billion.

The defense will present its closing argument tomorrow, and a verdict is expected by the end of the week following the plaintiff’s rebuttal on Thursday.

California Healthcare Groups Gear Up For Obamacare

LA citizens can begin enrolling for health insurance starting Oct. 1

ORIGINAL STORY

To anyone walking past Martin Luther King Jr. Park in South Los Angeles, the second annual Powerfest Music Festival would seem like a rockin’ block party.

Live reggae, rhythm and blues, and hip hop music filled the air as farmers markets sold produce, kids got temporary tattoos and people from the South L.A. community danced the afternoon away.

But this all came after the majority of people went through a large tent that said “Enroll in Obamacare Here.”

Earl Jones was the one of the people who happily came out from under that tent with an appointment to enroll in health insurance in just a few days. More importantly, he was leaving with the satisfaction of knowing he will soon have affordable health insurance.

“It was real simple and I didn’t have a long wait,” said Jones. “It’s always complex, but it’s a little bit easier knowing that every American can be qualified for health insurance. And that’s great.”

Earl Jones’s story is one that the vast conglomerations of health care advocacy organizations across Los Angeles County hope to repeat about 2.7 millions times as fast as they can, ideally by the end of this year.

Starting Tuesday, California residents can begin enrolling for new health insurance plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the monumental health reform bill signed by President Barack Obama in 2010.

Among the highlights of the legislation are guaranteed preventative care coverage, easier access to plans and protection from insurance companies charging more for a pre-existing conditions when enrolling.

But what the organizations are most concerned about is the individual mandate, which requires that every American citizen be insured or face penalties starting Jan. 1.

With roughly 27 percent of LA county currently uninsured–the highest rate of any county in the United States according to one health official–the goal of getting them coverage is one that is being addressed aggressively.

According to Mayor Eric Garcetti, it’s even become competitive.

“I got a call from the White House, and they wanted me to challenge other mayors in the area,” he told the crowd at Powerfest.

The hardest part of this challenge might be that many of those 2.7 million people are either unaware of the new laws and services available to help them, or they just don’t think it will work.

Take Joe Green, for example. Sitting outside the In-Home Supportive Services building on S. Grand Avenue with his right arm in a cast, Green was doubted that Obamacare would be able to help him.

“It ain’t gonna make or break me,” he said. “I’m already broke.”

Officials like Eric Walsh, director of the Pasadena Public Health Department, want people like Green to believe otherwise, but realize it will require extraordinary effort on their part.

“We want to be advocates, which means we want to be intentional about how we approach all of these things,” he said at a public information session in Pasadena, Calif. Sept. 19.

When the ACA act was passed, California was one of the leading states to implement changes to assist its residents in preparing them for the changes coming just under four years later.

The biggest product of this movement is a new online marketplace run by Covered California, an organization devoted to providing easier access to more affordable health insurance.

The marketplace, also known as the exchange, opens on Oct. 1 and will allow open enrollment for insurance plans that start at the beginning of next year, when all citizens are required by law to have health coverage.

Officials hope that the exchange will be able to simplify the shopping process, which was previously an immediate challenge and possibly a turn-off to potential buyers, particularly those on the fence about whether they could afford it.

“The website is a really good tool to get a sense quickly of what [the coming changes] are going to mean for you,” said Steven Abramson, marketing manager of the Community Health Alliance of Pasadena.

To enroll, applicants will supply Covered California’s website with basic information along with their household income and then be shown different plans (bronze, silver, gold, platinum) that all have varying levels of coverage and premiums.

For example, the bronze plan has the lowest premium, but the least comprehensive coverage plan while the platinum has higher payments but provides more assistance.

Despite the website streamlining the process, Mary Donnelly-Crocker, executive director of Young and Healthy, estimates that 80 percent of all applicants will need help during the enrollment process.

She said this shouldn’t deter people, however, because Covered California has specially trained enrollment specialists available to provide assistance at any point in the process. Donnelly-Crocker envisioned the process of buying health insurance being similar to how everyone uses cell phones, despite not knowing how they actually work.

“Do you know how to make a call? Do you know how to send a text? That’s all that matters,” Donnelly-Crocker said. “And that’s what we want to say about Covered California. All you have to know is how to get help.”

Donnelly-Crocker also said that as many as 90 percent of people don’t know about the ACA, but there are forces of work to negate this issue, such as the Insure The Uninsured Project in Santa Monica.

Prior to Obamacare, ITUP’s work was aimed at helping get more uninsured Californians coverage by creating discussion about specific issues, such as the residually uninsured, among the leaders of the healthcare community.

But with the new legislation, ITUP has been able to receive more funding to get people out into communities, which according to Carolina Coleman, research manager of ITUP, is an ongoing project.

“This money hasn’t really existed before, so the groups haven’t really had the ability to go out and reach this many people,” she said. “It’s kind of a ‘guinea pig’ stage to see how the best ways are to handle the money.”

Coleman pointed out that language barriers are a crucial challenge, which has led them to try marketing campaigns with Telemundo and other non-english media to inform its target audience.

Walmart Protest in L.A. Ends with Arrests

David Vargas worked at Walmart for two years, but quit because “it was just too much.”

ORIGINAL STORY

Twenty-one demonstrators, including nine former or current Walmart employees, were arrested while protesting against the company at Thursday’s rally in downtown Los Angeles, according to CNN Money.

Hundreds rallied in the morning at Pershing Square in support of Organization United for Respect at Walmart, or OUR Walmart, a national group of associates organizing for better and improved working conditions.

 
The rally was one of many across the country sparked by 60 employees who claimed they were fired as punishment for striking against the company. Thursday’s events were a response to Walmart ignoring the demands of OUR Walmart, which were to be met by Labor Day.

 
“We’re here to call on the reinstatement of Walmart workers that were retaliated on for speaking out,” said Anthony Goytia, a Duarte Walmart employee. “We have the right to stand up to our employers and say that they’re not treating us right. Walmart, you’re not treating us right.”

 
The group then marched to the gates of Chinatown on West Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, stopping along the way for additional speeches. Once at the gates, demonstrators sat on the road in protest against the opening of a new Walmart nearby.

 
Walmart spokesman Dan Fogleman claimed the demonstrations, despite the attendance of Walmart employees, were not an accurate representation of the company’s workforce.

 
“Walmart will continue to serve our customers in more than 4,600 locations today,” he said. “A handful of union-orchestrated media stunts made up of primarily union members and activists don’t represent the views of the vast majority of the 1.3 million associates who work for Walmart.”

 
Jovani Gomez was fired from the Walmart in Lakewood two weeks after returning from a 10-day protest in Arkansas. Gomez was a sales assoiate for five years and said he was fired specifically for the days he was absent.
“I am still here fighting for my coworkers,” he said to the crowd.

 
Among the protestors employed by the company was Denise Barlage. For the past seven years, she’s had to fight constantly just to get 35 hours of work a week.

 
“People are always fighting for their hours, especially full-timers like myself,” she said. “They’re always trying to cut us back and I know down the line they will start cutting more and more as they build more and more stores.”
City Councilmen Gil Cedillo and Curren Price supported the rally and each spoke to the crowd. Price emphasized how improving the conditions for families would help the economy as a whole, while Cedillo highlighted the growing gap between the rich and poor.

 
“As we live today in the greatest divide between wealth and poverty since the Great Depression, the only way to fight is to organize,” Cedillo said, standing in the middle of the street.

 
The 21 arrests in L.A. were the highest among the cities that held protests Thursday.