George Nichopoulos knows all too well how it feels to be Michael Jackson’s doctor, says Gerald Posner in TheDailybeast.com. As speculation swirls about the role that Dr. Conrad Murray played in Jackson’s demise, Nichopoulos, Elvis Presley’s personal physician, remains embittered that some people still blame him for the King’s death. “That’s all I hear in Memphis. It drives me crazy. I was one of his closest friends.” When Elvis died, in 1977, a toxicology report found significant amounts of codeine, Quaaludes, and other drugs in his bloodstream. Nichopoulos had provided most of them. “I don’t regret any of the medications I gave him,’’ he says. “They were necessities.” In 1995, Tennessee officials permanently suspended Nichopoulos’ medical license for overprescribing medications to other patients, but he says that was part of a vendetta. As for comparisons to Jackson’s doctor, the 82-year-old Nichopoulos points to an important difference—one, in fact, that could help exonerate Dr. Murray: Nichopoulos was Elvis’ only physician, while Jackson employed multiple doctors. “If you added up all their prescriptions, they’d be a lot more than mine.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
‘My donation felt like a rejection of the day’s politics’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump wants a weaker dollar but economists aren’t so sureTalking Points A weaker dollar can make imports more expensive but also boost gold
-
Political cartoons for February 3Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include empty seats, the worst of the worst of bunnies, and more
