The issue of MJ’s death bothers me not because I was a huge fan. No! I loved his earlier work but I recently realized I don’t have any of his albums! ….and believe me, I collect! It bothers me because it shows physicians behaving badly.
MJ was using several aliases to get narcotics and propofol, and no one noticed or tried an intervention! My only explanation is that, the money all the physicians were getting, bought their silence and compliance! How sad!
Another issue that bothers me is the fact that MJ was using propofol like water! But then there are lots of non-anesthesiologists who demand to use the drug and will probably not appreciate it’s effects.
The practice of anesthesia is a not something one dabbles in. There are peoples’ lives at stake. I know there is a perception out there that “we just put the patient to sleep”! Well, someone just put MJ to sleep, this time eternally!
We as a profession may also have contributed to this perception. True, there is a lot of downtime during certain cases but the probability for loss of life is ever present. Less if you are dealing with healthy, young adults having elective surgery but much higher with the old and very sick.
So we as a profession always stay vigilant. We understand the medications we use, know their effects and appreciate the possible complications. We get to know our patients as well as a physician should and tailor the anesthetic to their needs, the surgical procedure and their general health status. Most important of all, we try TO DO NO HARM! We will not provide an anesthetic for a patient if the anesthetic will endanger his life and the surgery is not life-saving. We will not provide anesthesia at places where we feel the we will not be able to support the patient’s if he needs cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Of course there are exceptions. If one works in developing countries, one makes do with what they have in equipment and supplies. Then also, there are anesthesia providers who may not be conscientious, but that is the minority.
So it bothers me to see how easily our practice was mimicked to someone’s detriment. We don’t know the details yet but a non-anesthesia provider thought administering propofol in someone’s home without the necessary support and know-how was a piece of cake.
Whoever you are I have news for you – IT AIN’T EASY!