Abuse of Diprivan a Growing Problem
A toxicology report determining cause of Michael Jackson's death is expected next week. A preliminary autopsy points to a powerful drug Jackson never should have had access to may have been what killed him. And abuse of this drug is a growing problem.
Doctors call it the "milk of amnesia." Its real name is Propofol or Diprivan, a powerful anesthetic used in surgical settings to sedate patients. It can induce unconsciousness in 30 seconds, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy.
"It's given through an IV and it's designed to produce deep sedation or coma," said Dr. Omar Manejwala, an American Psychiatric Association Fellow.
Sophisticated equipment to monitor breathing and heart rate is required so the drug is never given outside a medical facility. Yet, just days after Jackson's sudden death, investigators found Propofol inside his rented mansion. On Wednesday, police raided the office of Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, looking for evidence that Jackson was given Propofol.
The singer's former nurse says he asked for the drug to battle his insomnia.
"I understand it," said Thane Flora, who abused Diprivan. "I understand that desperation."
Flora is now in recovery. But she abused Diprivan in the 1990s while working as a nurse anesthetist. She used it to fight insomnia brought on by an addiction to painkillers.
"It's real simple," Flora said. "You use it to go to sleep. Wake up a few minutes later and use it again."
That's because the drug wears off in about five minutes, leading addicts to constantly inject themselves.
"The patients we've seen who used Diprivan will often self inject 50, 70 times per day," Manejwala said.
And despite the short-term effect, most addicts report experiencing a sense of euphoria when they wake up.
"What makes sense to an active addict makes no sense to someone that's not an active addict," Flora said.
And almost all Diprivan addicts are medical professionals. They have easy access to the drug because it's not controlled and tracked like narcotics. Dr. Paul Wischmeyer found that 28 percent of the medical professionals who tried Diprivan even once died.
"It is very easy to make a mistake and they do it until they are not breathing and then they are dead," Wischmeyer said.
In 2008, the FDA reported 43 Diprivan-related deaths. In the previous decade, there were an average of just 22 deaths per year.
Even before Michael Jackson's death, the DEA was considering making Diprivan a controlled substance. Meaning every milligram of the drug would be tracked and a record made of every person using it.
And now, with the added attention, tighter controls are likely - an unexpected addition to Michael Jackson's legacy.
