Investigators have linked pop star Michael Jackson's death to the drug propofol, which experts say is a powerful anesthetic capable of stopping someone from breathing and that should only be used in a medical setting.
Here are some key facts on the drug:
- Propofol, also known by the trade name Diprivan, is a short-acting, intravenous sedative used for general anesthesia in medical settings, often on patients who are intubated, with a machine to help them breathe.
- It is used in procedures such as colonoscopy, endoscopy and oral surgery.
- Propofol also is known among health care workers as "milk of amnesia" because it has a white, milky appearance and the patient wakes up gently but with no memory of the immediate past.
- The American Society of Anesthesiologists says propofol should "never be used outside of a controlled and monitored medical setting."
- Propofol is often used for procedures requiring sedation but patients have different responses to the drug and some can lose the ability to breathe, the ASA said.
- The drug is used in hospitals, surgery centers and similar locations with strict guidelines requiring special training for those administering it and the availability of resuscitation equipment.
- Court records made available on Monday indicate Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, gave the pop star propofol the day he died. The records also indicate Murray gave Jackson the drugs valium, lorazepam (trade name Ativan), midazolam (trade name Versed) and lidocaine (trade name Xylocaine).
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