Rowe took the stand as a witness as part of the negligence lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother against concert promoters AEG Live LLC.
The 54-year-old was crying as she described the late pop star’s fear of pain and trust of physicians during her testimony.
Witness: Debbie Rowe testified in ex-husband Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial in LA on Wednesday
Emotional: The 54-year-old broke down in tears as she described Jacko's 'incredible fear of pain'
‘Michael had a very low pain tolerance and his fear of pain was incredible,’ Rowe said. ‘I think the doctors took advantage of him that way.’
Rowe described how Jackson trusted doctors to prescribe pain medication to him, but felt his longtime dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein and plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Hoefflin sometimes tried to outdo each other while losing sight of Jackson's care.
‘These idiots were going back and forth the whole time, not caring about him,’ Rowe told jurors.
The mother of Jackson’s eldest two children, Prince and Paris, added that the one doctor she did trust was Allan Metzger, and she told him she was concerned that Klein and Hoefflin were giving the singer too many medications.
Somber: Debbie claimed doctors were 'over-medicating' the star who had a low tolerance for pain
‘The only physician who ever did anything, the only physician who cared for Michael was Allan Metzger,’ Rowe said, fighting back tears.
A phone message left at Klein's office was not immediately returned.
An email sent to Hoefflin's former practice was returned, stating the plastic surgeon retired five years ago and no longer practiced medicine.
Katherine Jackson sat in the front row of the courtroom and leaned forward in her seat during portions of Rowe's testimony.
Courtroom sketch: Debbie is depicted as she described how she believed doctors took advantage of the star
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.
Rowe described her first meeting with Jackson in the early 1980s, when he came into Klein's office for treatment of acne.
She said Klein often met with celebrity patients on weekends and after-hours so they could avoid scrutiny, and in her first meeting with Jackson she asked him to come into the office for future visits at a more convenient time.
'That's when our friendship started,' she said.
Rowe said she would frequently talk to Jackson on the phone and eventually started to accompany him to his treatments with Hoefflin.
She added that the plastic surgeon would give Jackson Propofol during procedures and the singer would be unconscious for several hours.
Getting close: Debbie has grown close to her daughter Paris, who she is seen with in May, in recent months
