The doctor accused of killing Michael Jackson with a lethal dose of surgical sedatives is fighting to keep his medical license. The Los Angeles attorney general recently issued a statement suggesting the court should strip Dr. Conrad Murray of his license to practice medicine in California.

According to Murray’s lawyers, however, such a move would be devastating, leaving him with no way to pay his legal fees.

“[Murray] is, without fear of overstatement, hanging on by a thread,” his attorney wrote in court papers. “His ability to pay for his own defense depends almost entirely on his ability to continue to treat patients.”

Murray’s lawyers go on to suggest that stripping the doctor of his medical license would also put him at a legal disadvantage in the case.

“If Dr. Murray is unable to practice medicine in Texas, and especially Nevada, he will likely be faced with the inability to adequately defend himself of the charges facing him in the Superior Court of California.”

In the Photo: Dr. Conrad Murray (R) stands near defense attorney John Michael Flanagan as he appears at Los Angeles Superior Court on April 5, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of pop singer [lastfm]Michael Jackson[/lastfm]. The doctor was personal physician to Jackson when he died from an overdose of a powerful prescription sedative at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009.  (Photo by David McNew-Pool/Getty Images)