\"Heal the World\" by Michael JacksonWhen I started blogging a few years ago, I certainly never thought there would be a connection between Michael Jackson, music and anesthesia. And yet, in the final hours of his life, it was quite possibly a dose (or overdose) of one of the most potent anesthetics available; the drug is Propofol, known by its commercial name of Diprovan.
I never met Michael Jackson or heard him perform live, but my daughters were fans and his music was heard in our home and in our car. The price of fame, infamy, success and accusations, was that he came to have chronic insomnia. You can imagine that someone who expends so much energy on stage and in life, sleep, quality sleep, is critically important.
When the usual sleep-aids quit working for him, he looked around to see what else was available. My understanding is that since he had had so many surgeries that he was well-acquainted with the drugs that anesthesiologists use to put people to sleep before surgery. Unfortunately, the choice of propofol was a deadly one. One anesthesiologist said that with this powerful drug, the difference of 1cc is the difference between sleep and death.
If only music could have put him to sleep. I know that we musicians have music playing in their heads all the time anyway, but when you add the voices of such severe critics, from his father to youngs boys he entertained at Neverland to the media and the press around the world! May he rest in peace now and may more people realize that anesthesia is powerful medication that must only be used in a hospital setting by trained professionals!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
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