Coroner rules Jackson's death a homicide

And now we're going to hear about investigation for the next 10 years. I just really don't care anymore.

Not surprises. Any doctor that would give someone that amount of medication, especially when it's not needed, is bound to end up in trouble sometime.

---

The doctor administered an anesthetic that is only appropriate to the operating room where it's administered by an anesthesiologist and the patient is on monitors with resuscitation equipment around. No where is insomnia an approved indication for use. Clearly, he was trying to give the patient what he wanted (and was willing to pay for), but what he did WAS illegal, unethical, and yeah, probably homicide. He is in deep sh*t.

---

The doctor administered an anesthetic that is only appropriate to the operating room where it's administered by an anesthesiologist and the patient is on monitors with resuscitation equipment around.

for the record, it can also be used in intensive care units to sedate patients while they are on the vent. you do not have to be an anesthesiologist to give it.

but what he did WAS illegal, unethical, and yeah, probably homicide

unethical and stupid, yes. illegal... i'm fairly certain there's no law that forbids it, per se, any more than any other controlled substance (though i would imagine it would raise the DEA's eyebrows to have an MD giving that to someone). using a drug for a non-FDA approved use is much more common than you think. giving propofol for insomnia just defies common sense, so i just can't imagine there's a "law" that forbids it.

all that said, it was very ill-advised, and he IS in a lot of trouble.

I stand corrected on the hospital realms in which Diprovan is used.

It'll be interesting to see the letter of the law as it pertains to this MD prescribing and administering the drug in the manner it was used.

---

giving propofol for insomnia just defies common sense, so i just can't imagine there's a "law" that forbids it.

If the act of giving propofol for insomnia "defies common sense" and leads to someone's death, that in itself can make it an illegal act - it can constitute a criminally negligent or reckless homicide.

Updated On: 8/25/09 at 12:05 AM

Diprivan is a trade name for propofol.

What really surprised me (and what no one here has mentioned) is the compiled dosages he was given, from the first Valium up until the administration of the Diprivan. Almost everything listed has a synergistic effect - piling on pills and injections to that degree then following up with an injection seems pretty negligent. And it's a testament to his degree of addiction that he was resistant to the effects of the earlier meds and didn't sleep until getting the propofol.

Updated On: 8/25/09 at 12:24 AM

The Doctor is in major caca. UGH. POOR MICHAEL. I really feel bad for him and his gorgeous kids.

Doctors should be more careful. A life is lost.

Classy, Corine.

---

And Michael BEGGED that he absolutely needed it...

---

we live in a society where people seem to think that every problem should be medicated away

Because they pretty much can be medicated away.

Another issue to me is- where was the MD obtaining the drug? This is NOT your average pharmacy stock. The drug manufacturer,
never tipped that they were selling this stuff to a private physician's office, not a hospital or @ least a procedure clinic?
Yet a doctor who writes "too many" ( what exactly IS that number?) scripts for Tylenol # 3 will get hisself investigated by 3 different agencies. And don't say the potential for addiction is less. As a "gaspasser"'s kid, I know anasthesiologists have wholesale access to these drugs and yes they DO get addicted so their drug use/administering is monitered.
The synergistic effect is a definate element,(and in fact I believe that is what killed Heath Ledger) but if his tolerance was as high as it certainly appears to be it's the propofol that is the main culprit. It puts you to "sleep"- and stops your breathing- that's why most people( and animals) who receive it are intubated and placed on a respirator.
IF the manufacturer did not put in issuing safeguards I think there is a hell of a wrongful death lawsuit in the wings.