The use of a cocktail of drugs on Michael Jackson as he struggled to fall asleep was a “recipe for disaster” and ultimately caused his death, a sleep therapy expert said.

Experts repeatedly told jurors that Michael Jackson’s doctor acted with “gross negligence” throughout his treatment of the pop star as prosecutors neared the end of their involuntary manslaughter case against the physician.

Lawyers representing Michael Jackson’s doctor have abandoned the defence theory that the pop megastar swallowed the drug that killed him.