MJ + RX = DOA
And now, a Michael Jackson update. Seriously. The BBC reports as follows:
The powerful anaesthetic Propofol and Lorazepam, a sedative, were the “primary drugs responsible for Mr Jackson’s death”, the [coroner's] report said.
And one never, ever takes the two together: Propofol and benzodiazepines do not get along at all.
Still, the real eyebrow-raiser came yesterday via a BBC newsreader on the radio, who said that these were very powerful drugs generally available only in hospitals. Maybe that’s the case in the United Kingdom, but I picked up 30 Lorazepam tabs (generic for Ativan, if you’re wondering) last week at Target.
Further:
A cocktail of drugs — including Midazolam, Diazepam, Lidocaine, Lorazepam and Ephedrine — were detected in his body, the report said.
The full toxicology report remains sealed, at the request of the LA Police Department (LAPD) and the city’s district attorney.
Diazepam is another benzo, better known as Valium; Midazolam is a benzo with more kick, which I know as Versed. (Which is hellaciously good stuff, I say, based upon my experience with it during a colonoscopy.) None of these play nicely with Propofol. The Lidocaine is also easily explained: Propofol is injectable, sometimes painfully so, and evidently this was used to kill the pain.
Given the vast quantity of drugs I take, and the potential for mischief and/or disaster accompanying that pharmaceutical cocktail, it’s difficult for me not to feel at least some sympathy for Mr Jackson.
Venomous Kate »
29 August 2009 · 11:34 am
I’ve been on all of those at one point or another in the past, too, with the exception of propofol, so I share your sympathy. But compounding MJ’s situation, it sounds like his various doctors didn’t necessarily know what the others had/were prescribing, so who could have warned him that taking any of these on top of the others might create a lethal chemical cocktail in his bloodstream?
CGHill »
29 August 2009 · 11:50 am
The only reason I know all this stuff is that I’ve been researching these matters on my own for several years, basically to save my own ass. I realize there’s a tendency to think “Doctor = God” and follow the
commandmentsinstructions explicitly, but I’ve always considered biting the hand that feeds me to be one of the four basic food groups. MJ, however, was never one to question. Maybe growing up working for Berry Gordy does that to you.fillyjonk »
29 August 2009 · 3:38 pm
I thought it was only the Propofol that was supposed to be not-available-outside-a-hospital.
I’ve suffered off and on (mostly off now, thank God) from insomnia, but even at its worst, I don’t think I’d be asking a doctor to give me what is literally general anesthesia just to sleep…
Donna B. »
29 August 2009 · 4:54 pm
hmm… benzos and propofol don’t get along? My husband just a week ago had a little procedure and got some versed to “relax” him, then propofol to put him out when they got him to the OR.
I know this because we were the first patients of the day and the anesthesiologist was very friendly.
Darling hubby has got versed many times for colonoscopies (he had colon cancer, so there were many) and I looked forward to those days because he was such an agreeable, lovable, half-drunk little boy for most of the day. I think they reduced the dosage in the last few years.
CGHill »
29 August 2009 · 5:03 pm
Versed has a shorter elimination half-life than most benzos (two hours or less, versus 10 to 20 for, say, Ativan); perhaps they figured it would be safe by the time he got to the table.
canadienne »
1 September 2009 · 8:02 pm
I’ve had enough insomnia to understand the wish for sleep.
But it is so, so sad that nobody could get through to MJ as he was spinning out of control, and say “no more surgery, no more drugs, we need to work some things out…” Or is it impossible to intervene in these self-destructive arcs? I’m thinking of Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse…