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LOS ANGELES - Conrad Murray, the doctor who allegedly gave Michael Jackson the drugs that induced his death, has returned to work at his clinic, according to a statement from his lawyer.

“Because of a deteriorating financial condition and prompting by many of his beloved patients, Nov 20, 2009, Conrad Murray resumed his cardiology practice in Houston, Texas,” his attorney Edward Chernoff said. “Dr Murray plans to attend to patients in both Las Vegas and Houston.”

Murray, 56, was at Jackson’s bedside at his death. He has told police that on the night before Jackson died he gave the former King of Pop a dose of the hospital anesthetic propofol, which a coroner attributed to Jackson’s death. Police have searched his home and office in Las Vegas but have not charged him with a crime.

Chernoff told The Houston Chronicle that Murray has not been paid by the Jackson estate and that he was without work since he had given up his private clinics when he took the $150,000 per month job as Jackson’s personal physician.

“He had been hiding in his home in Las Vegas, but he needs to earn a living,” Chernoff told the Houston Chronicle. “He’s under siege from creditors, has enormous legal fees and doesn’t know whether he’ll be able to support his family.”

The report said that patients in the African-American neighbourhood of his Houston clinic were glad to see him back. “I welcome him back here,” said patient Ransom Craddock. “He’s a good doctor for the community. He’s a good man. A kind man.”