Is propofol a killer?

By Alan Dronsfield and Pete Ellis2010-01-01T00:00:00

Michael Jackson's star on the walk of fame

Source: iStock

Few people will not have been touched by the tragic death of musician and pop icon Michael Jackson last summer. The cause of his untimely death has been linked to the drug propofol. What is propofol and is it lethal?

Conrad Murray first met Michael Jackson in 2006 when he was treating one of his children. He became the star's personal physician a few weeks before Jackson's death. In police reports, he admitted injecting the singer with 50 mg of propofol each night to help him get off to sleep, which is about half the dose used to induce anaesthesia for major operations.

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