Officials Find Diprivan in Michael Jackson's Home

ABC News confirms: Police found the anesthetic Diprivan among other drugs.

ByABC News
July 3, 2009, 10:22 AM

July 3, 2009— -- Law enforcement sources have told ABC News they discovered the powerful sedative propofol in the home where pop icon Michael Jackson's suffered a fatal cardiac arrest last month.

The drug was just one of many among the pharmacopeia found in his Holmby Hills home. Officials have previously said that they believe the star was addicted to a daily dose of the pain medications OxyContin and Demerol and that Jackson was injected with Demerol shortly before his death June 25.

The medications found in his home included ones prescribed by multiple doctors to multiple patient names, some believed to be aliases, the sources told ABC News. The use of an alias may not be a crime, federal authorities said at this early stage of the investigation.

The finding appears to confirm reports by those close to Jackson, 50, that the singer had been abusing prescription drugs. On July 1, Los Angeles registered nurse and nutritionist Cherilyn Lee, who worked for Michael Jackson, came forward to saythe pop star begged her to help him obtain the drug in the days before he died.

The drug -- also known by the brand name Diprivan -- is most often used to sedate patients before a medical procedure, but it is also one that palliative care workers have been known to administer to terminal patients who are in pain or who have weeks or days to live.

Lee said during a call from a Jackson staffer, she heard Jackson in the background requesting the sedative.

"He said, 'Find me an anesthesiologist. I don't care how much money they want. find me an anesthesiologist to be with me here overnight and give me this IV,'" she said.

Jackson, Lee said, said he was in extreme discomfort, was desperate for sleep and said that one side of his body was hot and the other side cold.

Lee said she wasn't familiar with the drug when he first asked for it three months ago but after consulting with a doctor, warned Jackson it could kill him.