Death of Michael Jackson

===Drug-use allegations===
Marc Schaffel, Jackson's former video producer, said that the singer had used propofol, [[alprazolam]] (generic name for the [[benzodiazepine]] Xanax) and [[sertraline]] (generic name for the [[Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor|SSRI antidepressant]] Zoloft).<ref name=Donaldson>James, Susan Donaldson. [https://abcnews.go.com/Health/MichaelJackson/story?id=7938918&page=1 Friend Says Michael Jackson Battled Demerol Addiction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519033540/https://abcnews.go.com/Health/MichaelJackson/story?id=7938918&page=1 |date=May 19, 2022 }}, ABC News, June 26, 2009.</ref> Other drugs included [[omeprazole]], [[hydrocodone]], [[paroxetine]], [[carisoprodol]], and [[hydromorphone]].<ref name=Crawford>{{cite news |last=Crawford |first=Carly |title=Michael Jackson injected just before death |work=Herald Sun |date=June 28, 2009 }}</ref> After his death, police found several drugs in his home, which included propofol. Some of these drugs had labels made out to fraudulent names, and others were unlabeled.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/MichaelJackson/story?id=7994823&page=1 | title=Officials Find Diprivan in Michael Jackson's Home | agency=ABC News | date=July 3, 2009 | access-date=July 17, 2011 | first1=Richard | last1=Esposito | first2=Vic | last2=Walter | first3=Dan | last3=Childs | archive-date=October 19, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019070719/https://abcnews.go.com/Health/MichaelJackson/story?id=7994823&page=1 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=GloverJuly4/> A 2004 police document prepared for the 2005 ''[[People v. Jackson]]'' child abuse trial said that Jackson was taking up to 40 alprazolam pills a night.<ref name=BoneJuly9/> Alprazolam was not found in his bloodstream at the time of death.<ref name="Jackson investigator's errors"/> Jackson's friend A. J. Farshchian stated that Jackson was scared of drugs.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hlntv.com/video/2011/09/29/jacksons-health-over-exaggerated?clusterId=#videoplayer | title=Jackson's health 'over-exaggerated?' | publisher=[[HLN (TV network)|HLN]] | date=April 23, 2012 | access-date=May 5, 2013 | archive-date=October 18, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018215909/http://www.cnn.com/specials/videos/hln#videoplayer | url-status=live }}</ref>

Eugene Aksenoff is a Tokyo-based physician who had treated Jackson and his children on a few occasions, and he expressed concern about Jackson's use of various drugs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Matsutani |first=Minoru |date=2009-07-16 |title=Tokyo doctor refused Jackson stimulants |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/07/16/national/tokyo-doctor-refused-jackson-stimulants/ |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=The Japan Times |language=en-US |archive-date=October 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022012649/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/07/16/national/tokyo-doctor-refused-jackson-stimulants/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He said that Jackson asked for stimulants so that he could get through some demanding performances, but Aksenoff said that he refused to prescribe them. He recalled that Jackson had chronic fatigue, fever, insomnia, and other symptoms, and he took a large amount of drugs. He suspected that one of the major factors causing these symptoms was excessive use of steroids or other skin-whitening medications.<ref name="Aksenoff">{{cite news |last=Matsutani |first=Minoru |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/07/16/national/tokyo-doctor-refused-jackson-stimulants/ |title=Tokyo doctor refused Jackson stimulants: Late 'King of Pop' asked for drugs in 2007 |work=[[The Japan Times]] |date=July 16, 2009 |access-date=19 February 2022 |archive-date=October 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022012649/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/07/16/national/tokyo-doctor-refused-jackson-stimulants/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

His sister [[Janet Jackson]] claimed that their family tried to stage an intervention in early 2007 when Michael was living in Las Vegas.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/MichaelJackson/inside-michael-jacksons-family-finances/story?id=10052695 |title=Michael Jackson: Inside His Finances and Family |agency=ABC News |access-date=July 13, 2021 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018225757/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/MichaelJackson/inside-michael-jacksons-family-finances/story?id=10052695 |url-status=live }}</ref> She and a number of their brothers allegedly traveled to his home but were turned away by security guards who were ordered not to let them enter. He was also rumored to have refused phone calls from his mother. However, the family denied that they had tried to intervene.<ref name="DukeJuly8" />

====Propofol====
[[File:Propofol.jpg|thumb|upright=0.45|alt= An ampoule of propofol |An [[ampoule]] of propofol]]
Of all the drugs found in Jackson's home, the one that most concerned investigators was [[propofol]] (Diprivan), a powerful anesthetic administered intravenously in hospitals to induce and maintain [[anesthesia]] during surgery.<ref name=APJuly3>{{cite news |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/powerful-sedative-found-jackson-s-home-wbna31725355 |title=Powerful sedative found in Michael Jackson's home |agency=Associated Press |work=Today |date=July 3, 2009 |access-date=March 8, 2010 |archive-date=April 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411141226/http://www.today.com/popculture/powerful-sedative-found-jackson-s-home-wbna31725355 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nicknamed "milk of [[amnesia]]" because of its opaque, milk-like appearance (and a [[play on words|play on the words]] "[[milk of magnesia]]"), the drug has been associated with cardiac arrest,<ref name=APJuly3/> but it still may be increasingly [[Off-label use|used off-label]] for [[anxiolytic]] and other medically unsubstantiated purposes.<ref name=GloverJuly4/> Several propofol bottles—both opened and not—were found in his home.<ref name=GloverJuly4>{{cite news |last=Glover |first=Scott |display-authors=etal |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/07/investigation-into-michael-jacksons-death-looks-at-doctors.html |title=Michael Jackson investigation focuses on doctors |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 4, 2009 |access-date=July 4, 2009 |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004232806/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/07/investigation-into-michael-jacksons-death-looks-at-doctors.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On June 30, Cherilyn Lee, a [[nurse practitioner]] who had worked as Jackson's nutritionist, said that he had asked her in May to provide propofol to help him sleep, but she refused. He told her he had been given the drug before for persistent [[insomnia]], and that a doctor had said it was safe as long as he was being monitored. Lee said she received a telephone call from an aide to Jackson on June 21 to say that Jackson was ill, although she no longer worked for him. She reported overhearing Jackson complain that one side of his body was hot, the other side cold. She advised the aide to send Jackson to a hospital; Lee thought she recognized the symptoms, and suspected that Jackson was on propofol.<ref name=Elber>{{cite news |last=Elber |first=Lynn |title=AP Exclusive: Michael Jackson, bedeviled by insomnia, begged for drug, says nurse-nutritionist |agency=Associated Press |date=June 30, 2009}}</ref>{{verify source|reason=Article not available online and AP is not a paper publication – where was it published?|date=February 2022}}

Arnold Klein said that Jackson used an anesthesiologist to administer propofol to help him sleep while he was on tour in Germany. The anesthesiologist would "[[Depressant|take him down]]" at night and "[[Stimulant|bring him back up]]" in the morning during the [[HIStory World Tour]] of 1996 and 1997.<ref name=DukeJuly8>{{cite news |last1=Duke |first1=Alan |last2=Ahmed |first2=Saeed |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/09/jackson.wrap/index.html#cnnSTCVideo |title=More associates link Jackson to prescription drugs |agency=CNN |date=July 8, 2009 |access-date=July 9, 2009 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060913/http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/09/jackson.wrap/index.html#cnnSTCVideo |url-status=live }}</ref>