The role of heavy pain-suppressant drugs in Michael Jackson’s life
— and possibly in his death — continues to come into focus ahead of Tuesday’s planned memorial service, with new allegations, Friday, that the powerful anesthetic Diprivan had been
found in the pop-star’s home.
Citing a single, unnamed law-enforcement source, the Associated Press
made the Diprivan claim on Friday. Diprivan, also known as Propofol,
is typically used in hospital operating theaters as an intravenous
anesthetic. Watch TIME Video: Appreciating Michael Jackson, the Musician
Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of “Celebrity Rehab With Dr.
Drew,” says that even he was taken aback by the idea of Jackson, or
anyone else, receiving Diprivan outside of a hospital surgery
situation. “I treat musicians all the time and this is something even
I have never heard of,” Pinsky told TIME. “It’s hard to get my head
around. I’d have an easier time believing Martians set down outside of
this building.” Five Media Myths Debunked by Michael Jackson’s Death
“This is just not something used in the world outside of a
hospital,” Pinsky continued.
The AP report is just the latest in a series of allegations about
Jackson’s possible drug use. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta cited sources from
Jackson’s “History” tour in 1996-1997 who claimed that the singer had
traveled with a “mini-clinic”, which included an “IV pole, drips and
what
looked like a rack with lights and monitors.” See photographs of people around the world mourning Michael Jackson
One of Gupta’s sources went on to a reveal that an anesthesiologist
traveling with Jackson at the time had said “I take him down at night
and
I bring him back up in the morning.”
Further, one of Jackson’s recent nurses, Cherilyn Lee, has spoken out
about repeatedly denying Jackson’s specific request for Diprivan
during the build-up to his ill-fated comeback tour. Pinsky says a
civilian asking for this kind of drug specifically is “another
bizarre, outlandish circumstance.”
“I have never heard of a regular layperson understanding that it’s
even out there for them.”
While the world will not know exactly what role drugs played in
Jackson’s death until the autopsy results are released, observers
expect further accounts of Jackson’s alleged medicating to emerge in
the days and weeks to come.
“This is just the surface still,” Pinsky predicts gravely. “This is
just the beginning.”
