(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Dr. Conrad Murray ordered an extraordinary amount of the powerful anesthetic Propofol in the months leading up to the death of Michael Jackson, a court heard yesterday.

Pharmacist Tim Lopez testified that the former physician of the King of Pop ordered 15 litres of the drug from Applied Pharmacy Service in 2009.

He said that Murray told him that he ran a clinic in Los Angeles and the drug was going to be used on several patients. But authorities have said the doctor did not in fact have a clinic in California.

"[Murray] asked me specifically to find pricing and availability of Propofol and normal saline IV bags," Lopez told the court.

He added that he sent the vials to what he thought was Murray's Los Angeles clinic but it turned out to be the apartment he shared with his girlfriend Nicole Alvarez and their newborn son.

After an initial shipment of 10 bottles of 100ml size and 25 of the 20ml size, Lopez claims that Murray placed another significant order three weeks later of 40 more of the large and 25 of the 20 mil vials.

Lopez said that Murray placed a final order just 15 days before Jackson died of 40 large vials and 50 of the smaller ones.

The pharmacist testified that he first met Murray back in 2008 when the doctor was looking for a medication cream used for whitening skin because he said his patient had pigmentation disease, vitiligo, which Jackson apparently suffered from.

Murray is on trial for involuntary manslaughter over the death of the Thriller star but has denied the allegations.

He will spend up to four years in prison if convicted at the end of the trial that is expected to last up to six weeks. (C) Cover Media