Propofol Addicition In The Medical Community

[simplyme]

A GERALD POSNER ARTICLE FROM  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

I've written snippets here and there about people in the medical community using propofol and dying from it.  Propofoll didn't get any attention until last year.  Anywho,  came across this article and thought I'd post it.
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But the largely untold story of Propofol addiction is that of the steadily increasing numbers of abusers among medical professionals, primarily anesthesiologists and the nurses who work with it. The Talbott Recovery Campus, in Atlanta, is the world’s largest and oldest treatment center for addicted medical professionals. In 2006, the center had 8 cases of Propofol abuse, 12 in 2007, and 27 in 2008.  The numbers are small compared to problems with other prescription pills, especially with anesthesiologists who historically have one of the highest addiction rates among doctors.  But the trend is moving in a worrisome direction for those who study it.

“In 2006, it was a phenomenon,” says Dr. Paul Earley, “but now it’s grown to the point where a year ago we instituted on our regular questionnaire whether there had ever been any Propofol abuse.”

Michael Jackson traveled with an anesthesiologist during his mid-1990s tour. It’s not yet known if he was then being administered the white milky substance that had been introduced in 1986. It was only in 1992 that the first human addiction case was recorded, a 31-year-old anesthesiologist who had begun injecting himself up to 100 times daily “to reduce his feelings of boredom, inner tension, and depression.” His addiction was only uncovered when he was found unconscious on the hospital’s bathroom floor one evening.

“There is a very narrow window between getting high, going unconscious, and dying, when it comes to Propofol,” says Dr. Earley. “Only a few cc's more than what's required to put a person to sleep can trigger fatal respiratory arrest. We see impaired professionals who have contusions on their face or body. That’s because they fell unconscious at a desk and hit their face, or literally fell out of a chair. And as you develop a tolerance to the drug, you need more to get high, and that brings someone close to the lethal level.”

Paul Wischmeyer, a University of Colorado anesthesiologist and one of the leading experts on Propofol addiction, became interested in the problem in when he learned that some colleagues were giving themselves minute injections of Propofol, producing a mellow, somewhat spacey high, that lasts only a few minutes. But even that high makes it impossible to function. “It’s not a subtle drug,” says Dr. Earley. "It's not like opiate narcotics, where you can be slightly inebriated on the drug and show up for work. Most of the time on propofol, you inject it and pass out.”

Three years ago, Wischmeyer began the first formal study of Propofol addiction in the medical community, “A Survey of Propofol Abuse in Academic Anesthesia Programs.” One hundred and twenty six anesthesia departments across the U.S. participated. Twenty percent admitted having encountered an addiction problem among staff. Although the numbers were small—25 abusers—Wischmeyer calculated a fivefold increase in Propofol abuse over the past decade. Nearly 40 percent of residents who abused Propofol ended up dead. Others, when confronted, left the medical field instead of staying in a line of work that put them in regular contact with such a powerful addictive substance.

There is some evidence that Propofol is so strong that just the fumes from concentrations around the patient’s mouth during a surgical procedure, where anesthesiologists spend many hours, lead to a secondhand exposure to “aerosolized Propofol,” which can create an increased risk of full-time abuse in susceptible persons. Another part of the problem, according to Wischmeyer, is that despite the evidence of its strong addictive potential, Propofol remains mostly unregulated. The FDA does not consider it a controlled substance, and surprisingly, there are no laws requiring the drug to be registered or accounted for at hospitals or medical clinics. Traditional pharmacy rules do not apply to it. Wischmeyer discovered that 71 percent of the medical facilities he polled did nothing to regulate Propofol. As opposed to the more heavily regulated opiates, it’s easier for an addict to take a supply of Propofol from a medical stockroom and not to have the missing stock noticed.

Dr. Earley has seen firsthand evidence of the power of Propofol’s addictive ability. A family physician he treated was so desperate for a fix that he started hunting through hospital sharps bins for discarded needles that might have a trace of the drug so he could inject himself. And among those who have sought help at the Talbott Recovery Campus, Earley has found two common threads: almost every Propofol addict started injecting to overcome insomnia, and many had endured abusive childhoods. Two factors that could well have played a role with Michael Jackson, from the abuse dished out from his father, to his own two decade problem with sleeping.

Wischmeyer and others who have studied the drug believe that Jackson’s death might be the final wake-up call for the federal government to institute some strict controls for Propofol. That is especially true since Michael Jackson’s death likely brought Propofol to the attention of a wide field of risk takers and drug abusers who might now want to experiment with the drug that probably killed the King of Pop. As Wischmeyer concluded in his study, “With the increasing availability and ease of obtaining Propofol along with its difficulty of detection, its abuse will probably continue to grow.”

“We’re just now learning how to best treat these patients,” says Dr. Earley.

[reading_on]

I am glad you posted this article. A lot of people do not know this about the drug. Years ago when I was toying with the idea of becoming a medical professional it was talked about. It would not be something that the general public would have known, and they would not go as far as to say that people were injecting themselves, but would rather talk about the risk of aerosol in the operating room can cause addiction without noticing.

I see now in the medical field it has been a growing problem. This is posted in several medical forums over the years.

 Dr Klein also talked about this in his live interview with TMZ.

[2good2btrue]

Thanks for sharing this article. It's puzzles me, why MJ chose this drug when there are so many other alternatives to help you sleep.  He was well educated, read alot, and I still find it difficult to believe he would risk his life over sleep.  He has 3 beautiful children to take care of.  He didn't use it for the "High" effects either.  I just hope this is all a lie to coverup his death hoax.  With L.O.V.E  xox

[Grace]

Interesting comments on the article - worth reading the link.

Who's behind the publication site?
The media group behind the publication site is one of the powerful internet only businesses, IAC. Why a web publication only was chosen? Our physicians are still reading printed professional magazines.
Either the problem is US-related only where web use is more popular or the target audience should be US-connected. Why was IAC group chosen?
Some data on IAC:
[The Daily Beast is a business of RTST, Inc. RTST, Inc. is part of the IAC family of businesses. IAC is an interactive conglomerate with more than 60 brands, including Ask.com, Citysearch, CollegeHumor, Evite, Gifts.com, Match.com, ServiceMagic, Shoebuy and many others. For a list of all of IAC's businesses, please visit You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login.]
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VERY interesting IMO was the series of Propofol recalls in 2009 due to improper production:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[Grace]

Thanks for sharing this article. It's puzzles me, why MJ chose this drug when there are so many other alternatives to help you sleep.  He was well educated, read alot, and I still find it difficult to believe he would risk his life over sleep.  He has 3 beautiful children to take care of.  He didn't use it for the "High" effects either.  I just hope this is all a lie to coverup his death hoax.  With L.O.V.E  xox

We don't know whether that drug was at all in the house of MJ.
We don't know whether MJ did consume any painkillers at all or used any medication to find sleep.
Everything we know was published by media.

I think that at least 95% of what TMZ and all others published was pure nonsense.
"Prop of fool" is one of those stories that have no proven substance.

[simplyme]

Interesting comments on the article - worth reading the link.

Who's behind the publication site?
The media group behind the publication site is one of the powerful internet only businesses, IAC. Why a web publication only was chosen? Our physicians are still reading printed professional magazines.
Either the problem is US-related only where web use is more popular or the target audience should be US-connected. Why was IAC group chosen?
Some data on IAC:
[The Daily Beast is a business of RTST, Inc. RTST, Inc. is part of the IAC family of businesses. IAC is an interactive conglomerate with more than 60 brands, including Ask.com, Citysearch, CollegeHumor, Evite, Gifts.com, Match.com, ServiceMagic, Shoebuy and many others. For a list of all of IAC's businesses, please visit You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login.]
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login


VERY interesting IMO was the series of Propofol recalls in 2009 due to improper production:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Are you suggesting a conspiracy?  I've read articles on propofol abuse before by doctors on their own site/blog.  I don't think the article on the Daily Beast is part of a conspiracy.  It's topic of interest and easier to find than some of the smaller pubs.

[reading_on]

Absolutely what I was saying. Propofol is addictive and was spoken about way back.

I am not saying the scenario is correct, but if Michael had a lot of surgeries (not just cosmetic, but rather for his scalp and other injuries), there is a chance he could have became addicted. Surgeons and most specifically anesthesiologists are at high risk with repeated exposure to just the aerosol that is aspirated in the OR. If Michael's system was as pure as we thought way back when he was injured in the 80's, how could his poor body deal with the onslaught of heavy drugs and anesthesia?

[Grace]

Are you suggesting a conspiracy?  I've read articles on propofol abuse before by doctors on their own site/blog.  I don't think the article on the Daily Beast is part of a conspiracy.  It's topic of interest and easier to find than some of the smaller pubs.

Not everything is a conspiracy. But it's always worth looking into who is behind a publication and why would they choose that publication channel before believing it.
I am not doubting the content - I am too far from knowing what US docs are doing or not doing.
So I am not giving a comment on the content.
I am asking why, why then, why there? We are used to not ask anymore. So I am training to ask again. There is no stupid questions btw.

What is interesting to me in the whole context is the more or less successful attempt of pharma industry to control medical staff, phycisians and therapy responsibles.

Nobody talked about the Propofol recalls due to improper production - even though even a Michael Jackson had his name connected to this substance.

The pharma industry in the US obviously may do whatever they like and no matter how improper they produce, public eye will not notice and does not care.

This is a covered scandal if you ask me.

The worse if docs and staff become addicted to the substance themselves.
This is a scary scenario where responsibles are to keep their mouthes shut.
Foggy clouds over some deaths and nobody cares.

[simplyme]

Thanks for sharing this article. It's puzzles me, why MJ chose this drug when there are so many other alternatives to help you sleep.  He was well educated, read alot, and I still find it difficult to believe he would risk his life over sleep.  He has 3 beautiful children to take care of.  He didn't use it for the "High" effects either.  I just hope this is all a lie to coverup his death hoax.  With L.O.V.E  xox

We don't know whether that drug was at all in the house of MJ.
We don't know whether MJ did consume any painkillers at all or used any medication to find sleep.
Everything we know was published by media.

I think that at least 95% of what TMZ and all others published was pure nonsense.
"Prop of fool" is one of those stories that have no proven substance.

Looking at Michael's scripts, their dates and the number of pills remaining, Michael didn't strike me as a pill popper so I think his primary aide was the propofol.  As for all the oxygen tanks........he could have been receiving oxygen therapy for alternative general health therapy or for his either acute or chronic health problems.  And if it turns out that he was receiving oxygen therapy for his lung problems then I think that will be another snag for Dr. Murray - as he knew full well of Michael's condition and omitted that at the hospital according to reports.  On another note, any rigorous physical the insurance company has a physican put you through would have detected his lung problems.  Been there, done that.

[simplyme]

Are you suggesting a conspiracy?  I've read articles on propofol abuse before by doctors on their own site/blog.  I don't think the article on the Daily Beast is part of a conspiracy.  It's topic of interest and easier to find than some of the smaller pubs.

Not everything is a conspiracy. But it's always worth looking into who is behind a publication and why would they choose that publication channel before believing it.
I am not doubting the content - I am too far from knowing what US docs are doing or not doing.
So I am not giving a comment on the content.
I am asking why, why then, why there? We are used to not ask anymore. So I am training to ask again. There is no stupid questions btw.

What is interesting to me in the whole context is the more or less successful attempt of pharma industry to control medical staff, phycisians and therapy responsibles.

Nobody talked about the Propofol recalls due to improper production - even though even a Michael Jackson had his name connected to this substance.

The pharma industry in the US obviously may do whatever they like and no matter how improper they produce, public eye will not notice and does not care.

This is a covered scandal if you ask me.

The worse if docs and staff become addicted to the substance themselves.
This is a scary scenario where responsibles are to keep their mouthes shut.
Foggy clouds over some deaths and nobody cares.

I remember the recall of propofol. I follow the FDA from time to time.  I wrote about the recall on the original forum.  I was very curious to know the lot numbers.

[reading_on]

Are you suggesting a conspiracy?  I've read articles on propofol abuse before by doctors on their own site/blog.  I don't think the article on the Daily Beast is part of a conspiracy.  It's topic of interest and easier to find than some of the smaller pubs.

Not everything is a conspiracy. But it's always worth looking into who is behind a publication and why would they choose that publication channel before believing it.
I am not doubting the content - I am too far from knowing what US docs are doing or not doing.
So I am not giving a comment on the content.
I am asking why, why then, why there? We are used to not ask anymore. So I am training to ask again. There is no stupid questions btw.

What is interesting to me in the whole context is the more or less successful attempt of pharma industry to control medical staff, phycisians and therapy responsibles.

Nobody talked about the Propofol recalls due to improper production - even though even a Michael Jackson had his name connected to this substance.

The pharma industry in the US obviously may do whatever they like and no matter how improper they produce, public eye will not notice and does not care.

This is a covered scandal if you ask me.

The worse if docs and staff become addicted to the substance themselves.
This is a scary scenario where responsibles are to keep their mouthes shut.
Foggy clouds over some deaths and nobody cares.

Oh, I agree, doctors using this stuff is scary as heck. When you read about interns passing out and such, it's really scary/