DR. CONRAD MURRAY CONVICTED OF INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, WILL LOSE LICENSE TO PRACTICE MEDICINE

A Los Angeles County jury convicted Dr. Conrad Murray of involuntary manslaughter on Monday, November 7, 2011. Lost in all the media hype and outrage by the throngs of fan of the deceased pop icon, is the reality of the greatest penalty Dr. Murray faces. And it is not time in prisonBwhich will be minimal, if any. The greatest penalty Dr. Murray suffered is the loss of his license to practice medicine. Sure the felony conviction and some limited time in jail is an inconvenience. And the public embarrassment stings as well. The real problem Dr. Murray faces is the inability to work in his profession for the rest of his life. Dr. Murray’s case illustrates the risks people of notoriety face in legal proceedings. Had Dr. Murray been an unemployed construction worker with a prior criminal record the risk to him would have been minimal, and no one in the media would have noticed or cared. But for people of noterity, who do not have prior criminal records, and who have high profile, high investment careers, a criminal conviction is the least of their worries. The biggest risk they face is expulsion from their profession and the financial ruin that certainly follows. Unlike the construction worker who can simply go back to his construction job when he gets out of jail and the economy picks up, Dr. Murray will not have many career options. For nurses, paramedics, physicians, and the dozens of other licensed professionals, the biggest risk they face is the loss of their professional license. Had Dr. Murray been aware of this risk he might have wanted to administer a little of that propathol to himself.