Nurse: Jackson Begged for Insomnia Drug

By the Associated Press

Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:07 PM CDT

(AP) – Michael Jackson was so distraught over persistent insomnia in recent months that he pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be harmful, says a nutritionist who was working with the singer as he prepared his comeback bid. Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse, said she repeatedly rejected his demands for the drug, Diprivan, which is given intravenously. She said he kept insisting that another doctor, unnamed, had given it to him and told him it was "safe medicine."

On June 21, four days before Jackson's death, Lee said she got a frantic call from a member of the singer's staff. "I could hear Michael in the background (saying,) 'One side of my body is hot, it's hot, and one side of my body is cold. It's very cold,'" Lee said. She wanted Jackson to go the hospital, but that never happened. "I knew that somebody had given him something that hit the central nervous system. He was in trouble Sunday and he was crying out."

[Images (3)]

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Nutritionist Cherilyn Lee, who worked with Michael Jackson, is shown during an interview in Inglewood, Calif., Monday, June 29, 2009. (Jae C. Hong)

Nutritionist Cherilyn Lee, who worked with Michael Jackson, poses for photos after an interview in Inglewood, Calif., Monday, June 29, 2009. (Jae C. Hong)

Nutritionist Cherilyn Lee, who worked with Michael Jackson, is shown during an interview in Inglewood, Calif., Monday, June 29, 2009. (Jae C. Hong)

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He wasn't looking to get high or feel good and sedated from drugs. This was a person who was not on drugs. This was a person who was seeking help, desperately, to get some sleep, to get some rest. - Cherilyn Lee, nurse working with Jackson

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