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Elvis' Doctor Fails To Have License Restored

September 15, 2000 | Other
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - The one-time personal physician to Elvis Presley lost his bid on Wednesday to have his medical license restored by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners.

In 1980 Dr. George C. Nichopolous, now 73, had his license suspended for over prescribing to Presley and he was put on probation for three years. Presley died in 1977. At a hearing before the board Nichopolous asked that he be judged on the basis of his entire medical career and not just the eleven years spent treating Presley and subsequent later events involving over prescribing to patients. The board had revoked his license in 1995 for over prescribing to patients including country-rock singer Jerry Lee Lewis and had turned him down in 1998 when he sought to have his license restored.

Members of the board, all physicians, voted four to one against the restoration of the license, even after Nichopolous said he would accept a restriction on his medical practice barring him from dispensing drugs to patients. The board said in a statement their ruling was made ``for the welfare and benefit of the citizens of Tennessee.''

Source:Reuters