Jackson died 10 years ago at his Los Angeles home after receiving a lethal dose of the drug intended for use only during surgery and other medical procedures — not for insomnia.
Jackson called propofol his “milk.” It’s a white, oily solution injected into a vein. It acts fast, in about 40 seconds, and wears off quickly too. Patients wake up with no hangover or nausea. They don’t remember much, earning the drug its nickname “milk of amnesia.”
Thirteen years after its discovery, propofol rapidly replaced sodium thiopental in most operating rooms. Up to 50 million U.S. patients receive propofol annually.
According to Dr. Christine Quinn, Michael Jackson requested the anesthetic propofol to help him sleep well before before he died from an overdose of the drug in 2009.
Quinn was testifying for the defense in a negligent hiring lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother against AEG Live LLC, the promoters of the singer’s ill-fated comeback concerts.
Dr. Quinn claims that Jackson asked her to give him propofol while he was staying at a Beverly Hills hotel in 1998 or 1999. She said she refused the request and told Jackson it wasn’t appropriate to use anesthesia as a sleep aid.
“I told him that the sleep you get with anesthesia is not real sleep, not restful sleep,” Quinn said.
The doctor said that Jackson responded by saying his time under anesthesia was the best sleep he had ever had.
Jackson died in 2009 from an overdose of propofol that was administered in the singer’s bedroom by Conrad Murray, who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter. AEG denies it hired Murray.
Jurors also heard from Cherilyn Lee, a nurse practitioner who said Jackson said he needed propofol to help him sleep in April 2009, a little more than two months before his death. Lee said she…
…warned Jackson that propofol was unsafe for home use and he might not wake up, but the singer insisted that doctors told him he would be fine as long as he was monitored.
“His demeanor was, ‘I have to have this. I have to have this to sleep. You don’t understand, I have not had a good night’s sleep,'” Lee said.
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