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LOS ANGELES – Investigators are focusing on at least five doctors who prescribed drugs to Michael Jackson as they try to unravel the circumstances surrounding the pop star’s death, according to law enforcement sources.
Authorities removed drugs and other medical evidence from the Los Angeles mansion where Jackson was stricken and are trying to determine whether the medications were prescribed properly and whether they played any role in his death.
Some of the prescriptions were made out in the name of Jackson pseudonyms, and in some cases, the drugs had no prescription labels on them at all, the sources told the Los Angeles Times.
One of the most tantalizing clues so far is the discovery of what one source described as “numerous bottles” of the powerful sedative Diprivan at the home.
Diprivan, the market name for propofol, is one of the most widely used IV drugs for general anesthesia. The product label from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a patient being given the drug should be monitored at all times for early signs of abnormally low blood pressure, low oxygen levels and stopped breathing. Heart or breathing problems are more likely after rapid administration of the drug.
The label says equipment for providing artificial ventilation, supplemental oxygen and CPR “must be immediately available.” It’s unclear whether such equipment was found at Jackson’s home.
Randy Taraborrelli, a Jackson biographer, said the pop star was in pain in recent years and had trouble sleeping.
“This was a person who would have paid anything – done anything – to get a decent night’s sleep,” he said. “I’m not sure Michael Jackson got a decent night’s sleep without medicinal aid.”
But medical experts said Diprivan should never be used for insomnia. John F. Dombrowski, a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ board of directors, said that in a hospital setting, he always must have an EKG, a blood pressure cuff and an oxygen saturation monitor to be able to watch a patient’s status, as well as supplemental oxygen.
“But unless you have a trained physician to rescue that patient, all of the monitors in the world mean nothing. Machines are great, but this is where you need the skill set of a physician.”
