Michael Jackson Begged Nurse for Powerful, Dangerous Sedative

wenn.com

Pop-music legend Michael Jackson, who died last Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest, desperately pleaded with an employee of his to provide him with the powerful sedative Diprivan in the days before his death, ABC reports.

Cherilyn Lee, a nutritionist and nurse in Jackson's employ, recalls that the singer, in discomfort and suffering from insomnia, begged, "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."

Diprivan is typically used only in hospitals.

After consulting with a doctor and discovering how powerful and dangerous Diprivan can be, Lee says, she warned Jackson off using the drug.

"I look at you Michael and I've been around you long enough now, I love you as family," Lee recalls telling him "I would not give this to anyone. I said, 'This is not a safe medicine, please don't take this.'"

Lee says she also told Jackson, "The problem with you telling me you want to be knocked out" and "you might not wake up the next morning. You don't want that."

Unfortunately, Jackson might not have heeded Lee's advice.

According to TMZ, the drug Propofol—which goes under the brand name Diprivan—has been found at Jackson's home by investigators.

The Web site says that Lidocaine—which is used to diminish the discomfort associated with a Propofol injection—was also found near Jackson's body at the time of his death.

One of Propofol's side-effects is that can induce cardiac arrest, particularly if it interacts with narcotic painkillers.

A source tells TMZ, "There is no conceivable way this drug can be properly prescribed for home use."