Personal Injury Law

Exclusive - Jackson & Diprivan - FDA Issued Alert Two Years Ago

By Jane Akre

IB News Exclusive - FDA Issued Alert On Drug Two Years Ago

As the world prepares for Michael Jackson's funeral, ABC News is reporting that his former nurse and Los Angeles nutritionist, Cherilyn Lee, says she refused Michael's calls for Diprivan, a sedative he wanted to be able to get to sleep.

Lee also spoke to CNN's Campbell Brown Tuesday after an exclusive interview with AP.

Lee says she rejected Jackson's demands for the drug four days before his death, but feared somehow he had obtained Diprivan to induce sleep.

Diprivan is used primarily in hospitals to knock out patients. 

Lee says Jackson said he was extremely uncomfortable and desperate for sleep and she warned Jackson the drug could kill him.

"'I look at you Michael and I've been around you long enough now, I love you as family. I would not give this to anyone,'" Lee said she told Jackson. "I said, 'This is not a safe medicine, please don't take this.'"

Lee says four days before he died she urged Jackson to go to the hospital after he complained his body was alternately hot and cold.

"He was in trouble Sunday and he was crying out" she says.

He never went to the hospital.   She never saw him again. 

What is Diprivan?

In a hospital setting Diprivan, (also called propofol), a general anesthetic, is used to start or maintain anesthesia during surgeries.  Drugs.com reports you should not use the drug if you have allergies to medicines, foods or eggs.   It is commonly used in veterinary medicine as an agent of choice for use on small animals. 

AP reports, "An overdose of a sedative like Diprivan can cause a person to stop breathing, leading to a buildup of carbon dioxide in the body that ultimately leads to erratic heartbeat and cardiac arrest."

IB News finds two years ago the FDA issued an Alert to inform healthcare professionals that several clusters of patients had experienced chills, fever, and body aches shortly after receiving propofol for sedation.  The agency tested several vials in the lots used to treat patients with those symptoms. The tests did not identify any contaminants in the vials.   

Dr. John Dombrowski, of the American Board of Anesthesiology, speaking to ABC News, says that the hot - cold feelings in the body could result from someone receiving IV drugs.  He says the patient risks respiratory failure and the collapse of the heart rate and blood pressure, especially if other painkillers and prescription drugs were involved. 

The toxicology tests, which could take up to eight weeks to conclude, should show what was in the singer's system at the time of his death. 

Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray says he never gave Jackson either OxyContin or Demerol. He has said nothing about Diprivan.   # 

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on July 01, 2009 (boomark / email).