Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson’s former wife and mother of two of his children, leaves Los Angeles County Superior Court after testifying in the negligence lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, against AEG Live, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013, in Los Angeles. Rowe broke into tears when she took the witness stand in the civil case and described the singer’s fear of pain and reliance on physicians. She said the pop star trusted doctors to prescribe pain medication to him, but they sometimes tried to outdo each other while losing sight of Jackson’s care. AP Photo/Nick Ut
LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson’s ex-wife acknowledged her concerns that some of the entertainer’s frequent medical visits were motivated more by a desire for drugs than by the treatment he received, in testimony to a jury Thursday.
Testifying during a negligence lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother, Debbie Rowe said that she expressed the concerns to Jackson when he would go to his longtime dermatologist more than once a week in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Rowe is Jackson’s ex-wife and worked in the office of dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein.
Rowe, a former medical assistant for Klein, previously told jurors that all of Jackson’s medical procedures were tied to treatments for skin conditions or scars he sustained after being injured during a commercial shoot.
She acknowledged her concerns about drugs under questioning by a lawyer for AEG Live LLC, which is being sued by Jackson’s mother in a negligence case.
AEG denies it is liable for Jackson’s June 2009 death.
Rowe, clutching a tissue and breaking down at times, described Jackson as being in debilitating pain throughout the nearly 20 years that she knew him. She said her husband trusted his doctors and depended on them to give him proper medications.
Jackson wouldn’t specifically demand certain medications but had an intense fear of pain caused by procedures to try to repair his scalp, she said.
“When it came to the pain … it was more begging for relief than anything,” Rowe said. “He respected doctors so he wouldn’t question what they were doing.”
Rowe is the mother of the singer’s two oldest children, Prince and Paris Jackson. She and the pop star were married from 1996 to 1999.
Rowe hugged Katherine Jackson and held her hand during a break in testimony. Rowe was called to the witness stand by AEG Live attorneys but told the jury on Wednesday that she was not testifying for either side and wouldn’t have come to court if she hadn’t received a subpoena.
Jackson’s scalp was badly burned when his hair caught on fire while filming a 1984 Pepsi commercial. The injuries left his scalp with painful scarring that required surgeries and injections of medications to try to lessen the pain and repair the damage.
Rowe said the injuries as well as the effects of vitiligo left Jackson feeling like he was disfigured.
Katherine Jackson claims in her lawsuit that AEG Live failed to properly investigate the doctor later convicted of giving her son an overdose of the anesthetic propofol while he prepared for a series of comeback shows in 2009.
AEG denies it hired Conrad Murray or bears any responsibility for the singer’s death.
Marvin S. Putnam, the company’s lead defense attorney, said in opening statements that the case was about Jackson’s personal choices and his desire to use propofol as a sleep aid.
First posted August 16, 2013 | 8:10 am