If you were to walk down the streets of Times Square and randomly ask passersby, “What is Propofol?” chances are that an answer may be something like, “Oh! That’s the drug that killed Michael Jackson.” While this is not entirely the case, the sedative drug gained much public attention after the pop star’s death and came back to the surface with the pending manslaughter trial of his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.
In the weeks after Mr. Jackson’s death, questions arose over the safety and usage of the drug. As such, anecdotal reports have surfaced about patients’ apprehension toward Propofol, fearing that the introduction of the drug into their body might have the same catastrophic effect it had on Michael Jackson.
“Propofol is a commonly-used anesthetic that is intended to be prescribed and administered by an anesthesiology professional,” says Robert Goldstein, MD, Somnia’s chief medical officer and a board-certified anesthesiologist. “Like any anesthetic, Propofol should not be given until a careful preoperative examination has been completed to evaluate the appropriateness of its use on each individual patient. Once it has been determined to be a viable option for the patient it should be administered only in the proper setting, by proper personnel using appropriate monitoring.”
Somnia Anesthesia
Blog Editor