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Doctors Abuse Drug That May Have Killed MJ

Propofol induces short nap, nice high between shifts

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 6, 2009 10:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – Abuse of propofol, the potent sedative suspected in Michael Jackson's death, isn’t common among the general public, but it’s a growing problem amongst doctors and nurses, the Wall Street Journal reports. Addicts refer to the habit of injecting propofol, which doesn't show up in standard drug tests, as “pronapping”—using it to induce brief rests between shifts and enjoying the brief high they experience on waking.

Three days before Jackson’s death, an group of nurse anesthetists warned hospitals that they should restrict access to propofol, which is often stocked, unmonitored, in supply rooms alongside Band-Aids. “I was injecting it 50 times a day when I was in my worst period,” recalls one anesthesiologist who recently went into rehab. One 2007 study found 25 cases of abuse over the past decade, including seven deaths, but the study’s author thinks the actual numbers are much higher, with several dozen deaths in recent years.

[Images (4)]

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A bottle of the drug Propofol is seen at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles on Tuesday July 28,2009. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

In this Nov. 8, 2007 file photo, pop star Michael Jackson poses on the red carpet during the RainbowPUSH Coalition Los Angeles 10th annual awards in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok, file)

The Teva Pharmaceuticals building is shown Tuesday July 14, 2009 in Irvine, Calif. Teva produces propofol. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

In this image released by Time Inc., the cover of a special commemorative 64-page issue of "Time," magazine, dedicated to the late Michael Jackson, is shown. (AP Photo/Time Inc.)

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There is a very narrow window between getting high, going unconscious, and dying, when it comes to Propofol. - Dr. Paul Earley, expert on propofol addiction

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Doctors Abuse Drug That May Have Killed MJ