Propofol, the drug that killed Michael Jackson, isn't 'dangerous'
In this week’s coverage of the trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, articles have been consistent in describing the drug that killed the pop star:
Tuesday: “the dangerous surgical anesthetic propofol”
Wednesday: “a dangerous anesthetic”
Thursday: “a dangerous surgical anesthetic”
Friday: “the dangerous surgical anesthetic propofol”
But reader Jim Gould of Burbank disputed that characterization.
“Propofol is not ‘dangerous,’ as your reporters write, when it is used, as it is thousands of times every day, as an anesthetic agent in proper surgical settings!” Gould emailed.
Indeed, according to the RxList website and drugmaker AstraZeneca, propofol is approved for use in children as young as 2 months.
The key, of course, is in how the drug is used -- a point that Gould also made.
“This is emphatically not to say that Dr. Murray had any business using the excellent, safe anesthetic agent outside an appropriate surgical setting, as a ‘sleeping pill!’” he wrote.
Gould’s point is well-taken. “Powerful” might be a better description for future stories.
-- Deirdre Edgar
Photo: Deputy Dist. Atty. David Walgren holds a bottle of propofol in court Thursday during the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
Amen.
There is no lethal dose of propofol.
Critically ill ICU patients receive propofol for days on end & live because their breathing is mechanically supported.
What IS lethal is the failure to monitor the patient's airway & breathing and appropriately intervene when circumstances dictate.
Read the Michael Jackson chapter in 'Getting Over Going Under.'
Posted by: Barry L. Friedberg, M.D. | September 30, 2011 at 06:27 PM
The standard measure of a drug's dangerousness is it's therapeutic index, also known as therapeutic ratio. Therapeutic index essentially is the difference between an effective dose of a drug and a fatal dose. The smaller the difference between an effective dose and a fatal dose, the more dangerous the drug. Propofol has a "narrow" therapeutic index, which means it is a dangerous drug. With all due respect to Dr. Friedberg, he's wrong.
Posted by: michael | October 04, 2011 at 12:39 PM
I guess what Gould is saying that "Propofol doesn't kill people, people kill people."
Posted by: Interceptor | October 09, 2011 at 07:53 PM
I was given propofol when I underwent a colonoscopy. It was shortly after Jackson's death, so I questioned the anatheasiologist about it. She said that when monitored it is safe. They like it for procedures like colonoscopies because it has a short half life. It makes me wonder about the doctor who was administering it, since a drug with a short half life would not be appropriate for sleep. I take ambien, since like Mr. Jackson, I suffer chronic insomnia. However, my doctor told me if I wake up in the middle of the night not to take the ambien as it too has a short half-life but to take more Seroquel (an atypical anti-psychotic used for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) which is sedating (and that is why I take it). Ambien puts you to sleep but does not keep you asleep and that seems to be the same as propofol. Also, ambien gives you the most "normal" sleep pattern than any of the other sedatives. What a tragedy that such a young, talented man died this way. With an attending MD on hand this should not have happened.
Posted by: Katherine | October 11, 2011 at 06:55 AM
Yet Michael Jackson's doctor was convicted of involuntary man slaughter. It was all over the news.
Posted by: sleep | November 08, 2011 at 05:05 PM