Was anyone else shocked with this propofol story?

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So like the rest of the world, I have been loosely following the MJ story with slight interest. Though the other day I was reading a story on CNN, where it was reported that the sedative he was requesting was propofol- to help him just sleep. I immediately thoughts went to propofol- cardiovascular collapse. HMMM.... I am just shocked, but then I guess in these days nothing should really surpise me anymore.

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Specializes in Trauma acute surgery, surgical ICU, PACU.

lol... yes! Shocked and amused! I wasn't really following the MJ story that closely until I heard the propofol bit. I was half expecting drugs, but not this particular drug!

Insomnia treated with general anasthesia... wow.

I wonder how he would even have known about it - most people who've even had procedural sedation know nothing about propofol. He must have had some doctors who REALLY enabled for him to have it in his home.

Also hard to prove if this was the cause of death, due to the short half-life.

The nurse who talked about it on CNN had been his nurse I think from Jan to March. The doctor who was with him at the time of death (his private physician) had been his doctor for only a month or so. Makes me wonder how many professionals in a revolving door have "treated" this person....

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Like the previous poster, I almost immediately chalked his death up to an OD. I was very surprised to hear about the alleged propofol use however. Money talks..........

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Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.
lol... yes! Shocked and amused! I wasn't really following the MJ story that closely until I heard the propofol bit. I was half expecting drugs, but not this particular drug!

Insomnia treated with general anasthesia... wow.

I wonder how he would even have known about it - most people who've even had procedural sedation know nothing about propofol. He must have had some doctors who REALLY enabled for him to have it in his home.

Also hard to prove if this was the cause of death, due to the short half-life.

The nurse who talked about it on CNN had been his nurse I think from Jan to March. The doctor who was with him at the time of death (his private physician) had been his doctor for only a month or so. Makes me wonder how many professionals in a revolving door have "treated" this person....

I know!!! As soon as I heard that, I thought "WHAT??????" Now I have had a lot of insomnia recently, but Diprivan here?? Uh?! I don't think so! A little dose of Ambien was as far as I went. And the half life really is short enough (I think),that I wasn't sure if it would be noticed at all. I don't think I would have even considered something like that. I didn't think the med could be given any route but IV, but who knows what was going on there??

Anne, RNC :banghead::banghead:

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MJ had several surgeries and during those surgeries he probably rested well and was informed that dip. was used. He had the money to get it from anywhere around the world, not just the U. S. Was I surprised, maybe about dip., but definitely not about the use of drugs.

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Specializes in ICU, Research, Corrections.

And what the heck is that RN (or NP), acting as a nutritionist, blabbing about. I would be very afraid for my license if I were her. Someone had to start an IV and keep a drip going or the Diprivan would be ineffective due to it's short half life.

You have to wonder why she is blabbing? Notoriety?

Never considered Diprivan for insomnia. What's wrong with Ambien, Lunesta, Restoril?

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Specializes in MICU/SICU/CVICU.

When the propofol element of the story broke my first thought was, "Damn! From now until the end of time every vented patient with a propofol drip is going to have family freaking out." Sure enough, every single family member since that time has said, "Oh! That's the medicine that killed Michael Jackson! I'm not sure I want granny/mom/dad/brother on that medicine," or some variant thereof. Ugh.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
When the propofol element of the story broke my first thought was, "Damn! From now until the end of time every vented patient with a propofol drip is going to have family freaking out." Sure enough, every single family member since that time has said, "Oh! That's the medicine that killed Michael Jackson! I'm not sure I want granny/mom/dad/brother on that medicine," or some variant thereof. Ugh.

OMG! I know! I actually feel weird now with it hanging up in the room. Now all families are worried about the pt dying from propofol, or when the pump beeps they are all paranoid.

Thanks a lot MJ! As if my work wasn't hard enough!

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When the propofol element of the story broke my first thought was, "Damn! From now until the end of time every vented patient with a propofol drip is going to have family freaking out." Sure enough, every single family member since that time has said, "Oh! That's the medicine that killed Michael Jackson! I'm not sure I want granny/mom/dad/brother on that medicine," or some variant thereof. Ugh.

We in the pharmacy have been making some rather warped jokes about this ("So THAT'S why his skin turned white!"), that sort of thing.

The nurse said that he had been doing research online for sleep aids and asked about this. A lot of us are wondering where in the heck he got it, because you can't just walk into a pharmacy and buy it. I seriously doubt that a Mexican farmacia would have it, simply because there would be no demand.....until, maybe now. There are also very reliable reports that his entourage included an ANESTHESIOLOGIST. Now, you know he wasn't getting intubated because that would destroy his voice.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

He could have used an LMA.

We have people who are still stable and breathing on low dose propofol all the time (and some stubborn people on high doses as well).

If they found that right dose, he could sleep without the need for airway management or even CV monitoring.

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Specializes in ER.

Since I moved to Canada I've seen a lot of Propofol in the ER for concious sedation. I've refused to give it, so the docs push it and I stand there and wait for the other shoe to drop. Amazingly, at low doses people don't stop breathing and maintain sats on 100% O2. And they wake up within 5-10 minutes depending on how much is given. Maybe MJ was going with the Canadian dosing system- seems darn risky to me.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Prehospital.

Low dose or not, you wont find me putting any of my non-tubed pt's on propofol. There are plenty of other sedatives that dont cause the resp. compromise and do a good job.

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