Michael Jackson was not abusing pain medication in the years leading up to his comeback tour deal with concert promoter AEG Live, a doctor testified on Wednesday.
Dr. Sidney Schnoll, who based his opinion on medical records, stated that the late singer required only 100 milligrams of the narcotic pain medication Demerol to knock him out for a dermatology procedure in late 2008, the New York Daily News reported.
Schnoll, who was acting as a paid expert witness for Jackson's mother, Katherine, told jurors that the King of Pops would have built up too much tolerance for that dose to work if he frequently abused opioids during the era of his 2005 molestation trial and subsequent travels abroad.
Katherine is suing AEG Live for wrongful death of the late singer, while claiming that the concert promoter negligently hired Dr. Conrad Murray as tour physician and set the stage for her son's fatal 2009 overdose.
During his testimony, Schnoll said that he didn't believe Michael was an addict who craved and used drugs recreationally; instead he was a patient who developed an opioid dependence because of legitimate pain related to his burned scalp.