ElvisNews.com: Dr. Nick Writes A Book

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Dr. Nick Writes A Book

After years of silence, Dr. Nick (Nichopoulos) has decided to put his memoirs to paper. In a 10 chapter book, he tells the story of his first meeting with Elvis, and how he became to be the always-stand-by physician for the biggest celebrity in the world. Scheduled date of release: 2007. Although 77 years old, Dr. Nick still works at Fed-Ex in Memphis.

Source: ElvisMatters / Updated: Apr 14, 2006

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Devon (profile/ contact) wrote on May 6, 2006report abuse

Any Elvis fan knows that while Elvis was in the army he started to take speed to stay up at night when he had gaurd duty, im not saying this started his drug use. But we all know that there was drug use thru the sixtys till his death. Was DR. Nic. helping him to get them........Ya you know he was but Elvis could get what he wanted from any where, any time. Myself i have no intrest to read what he has to say,but i cant tell anybody else what to do!!

see see rider (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 29, 2006report abuse

I'm not gonna deny that Elvis didn't take Pills, like Ton Bruins mentioned, I think Elvis had already started taking pills in '72 on till '77. You can see it in his eyes in live shots. I just don't think during the Aloha show he was high. I also don't deny that after the Aloha show he didn't start putting the weight back on, You can plainly see that in live pictures how he gradually started getting heavier and heavier till he got too the size he was at when he died. As far as Elvis drinking, he didn't drink..in fact, he never allowed booze in the house. But like I also said before, I don't believe the pills is what killed him even for as much as what he may have been taking and for as long..maybe at first, but not now.

Ton Bruins (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 25, 2006report abuse

Gladyslove is right. From 1973 on Elvis had big problems with his health and with his intaking of pills. As a matter of fact it started all ready in 1972, but because of the Aloha show he did fight back one more time....but after that Elvis went down, slowly but surely.

cathyreno (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 25, 2006report abuse

anyone see the press conference before the Aloha hes definatly high or drunk (no offence ) he wasnt well yet when he went onstage he was excellent ... great showman, It was highlighted in 'all the kings men'. the memphis mafia wanted to go to the arizona memorial there in hawaii but when they went to Elvis's room he was back 'in it' (memphis mafia italics) but lets not dwell on this basially Dr Nick wants to make money and its up to the elvis fan whether he's going to or not T C B Everyone

Gladyslove (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 25, 2006report abuse

Oh see, see see rider. Some rumours going around that Elvis sniff cocain before he enters the stage at the Aloha show. But he never sniff cocain again, he only takes medications.
It is the truth that he was in coma for a few days cause he experiment with different drugs at that time. But in 1972 at the time they filmed On tour you can see that Elvis was not really the Elvis like 1970 or 1971 he was mysteriously different also the following years. It is the truth that there was something going wrong in 1973 it is bitter but that is the fact.

see see rider (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 24, 2006report abuse

You seem to know what was going on with Elvis at the time he did "Aloha" and the rest of 1973 Gladyslove? Was you there???? Cos' you sure went into great detail of Elvis's life during that time. I like to think I have somewhat of knowledge myself on the Man just like anybody else....But you just stole the show.

sunrecords56 (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 24, 2006report abuse

Cool DR Nick writes a book, yep another RAT or an old "hanger On" trying to make a BUCK

Ton Bruins (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 24, 2006report abuse

First of all it was Elvis who toke the pills. And Yes I also think that his healh was increasing after the Aloha show. 1973 is the year that he was having huge problems. He even was in a coma some days. Dr. Nick is not to blame for Elvis taking all those pills. And no, I will not buy this book.

RacingRocks (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 23, 2006report abuse

A friend of mine's brother-in-law was gambling down in Tunica a few months ago with good ol Dr. Nick. After a few drinks he accused Dr. Nick of killing Elvis. Dr. Nick's response was "No, I kept Elvis alive". Take it for what it is worth. No matter what Elvis' personal problems may be, he could never drown out the tremendous amount of talent and charisma that he possessed. No one today can even come close to the Superstar he was and still is.

Gladyslove (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 23, 2006report abuse

see see rider: Elvis health is getting down from 1973 on. He was not in fine voice or mood at the Aloha show and after the Aloha concert in Vegas January/February. He had height problems in April, he looked heavier as ever before and in summer the airplane must landed cause Elvis can´t even breath well. In the middle of Oct. till the 1st of Nov. he was in hospital cause of hepatitis, for pneumonia and pleirisy and an enlargd colon, and you will tell us that he had no health problems in 1973? This was just the beginning of his self destruction with drugs from Dr. Nic who´s book I never will buy and chunk food and the endless touring stress. Sad to say but it is the truth.

see see rider (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 23, 2006report abuse

I'm sorry but I don't believe Elvis health had started fallen just yet at the time he did "Aloha". The man still looked and sounded supurb. If there was a hint of pain & sadness in his eyes it WAS because if his recent divorce. Just because he didn't move around like he did in the '68 special doesn't mean anything..You have to keep in mind, Elvis was 38 yrs. old in '73 and 33 in '68..That's 5 year difference.. and people do mellow out the older we get. Someone said on here that Elvis didn't put his voice out there during the "Aloha" show like he did in the "68 special"..I don't what you've been watching, but the show I've been watching since it originally aired, the man sang his heart out. You can't really pin-point when Elvis started feeling bad (only Elvis really knew that) just when he started looking bad..But even then..it was still Elvis. But as far as Elvis's Death goes..In the beginning, I did think it was a Drug related, but anymore I think it was heart disease. I mean, look at the foods Elvis loved to eat, most of which was fried foods..The Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches the Burnt Bacon etc. And Elvis's arteries from what I've read in later years after the '94 re-opening of the Autopsy report was in very bad shape, so there's a Heart Attack waiting to happen right there....Makes since.

Tony C (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 21, 2006report abuse

It's very easy to throw stones at Dr. Nick, a man who I have no feelings for either way. Elvis was a grown man, and not the only person in the world who had to endure a failed marriage. I think Dave Hebbler summed Elvis' sad demise up when he said "How can you help a man that won't help himself?". As for Dr. Nick's book, it will probably tell a few stories that we did not already know.

Sal (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 19, 2006report abuse

Hillybilly, my point was Elvis LOOKED good, TRIM and certainly not ill in Aloah. True he didnt move like '68 nor did he put his voice out like then. He actually seemed 'put out' in the added clips like 'No more' etc. He looked nervous and seem to play it safe, and we all know he was sad to lose Priscilla. But there are many photos of our man still looking sharp in 74' (Memphis shows) and even in 76'. Colon problems, poor diet, water retention, glaucoma, arthritis.....pills. Dr Nick tried at least, so did Linda and a few others and that includes the Wests ( im NOT condoning the book by the way!) Elvis was here, graced our lives with that irreplaceble voice and defined the whole pop culture. at the end of the day thats whats important, not the human frailties we all have.

hillbillycatlover (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 17, 2006report abuse

Don't get me wrong--I definitely believe Elvis IS the one and only American Idol. Actually he is the one and only Earth Idol ! I was just pointing out how devastated he was when his baby was taken from him. I bet he was tempted when he sang "You Gave Me a Mountain" during Aloha to substitute "she took my small my baby girl" instead of my baby boy... You can see and feel his passion when he sings that. It is riveting ! I am so sad still that he was not helped, but let's face it, you have to help yourself. Sure, Dr. Nick gave him pills, and maybe he was strongly persuaded by Elvis to give him what he wanted. Elvis was even seen taking sample pills out of doctor's desk drawers ! To his credit Dr. Nick did give him placebos, and nurse Marion tried to wean him off the pills, they both tried, and Priscilla tried before she left to get Lisa away from it all--he was addicted, plain and simple...and that addiction started with uppers he was given starting in 1958 to pull all night duty in Germany, so the one we should be pointing our finger is at the US Army, not Dr. Nick !

pasa-ryu (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 17, 2006report abuse

i will have to get this book,just to see if their is any admittance of wrong doing concerning his over-prescribing drugs to elvis?,he has always denied it and not only gave large amounts of drugs to elvis but to countless other celebrities-he was taken to court in 1981 and still tried to blame others,instead of himself!(which is unforgiveable)i remember when he recieved "death threats" to overprescribing to elvis and i hope from then he now said sorry?,but i get the feeling he's just cashing in like joe esposito??..or will he be genuine and tell the true facts?-i sincerely hope so!.he knew what was he was doing and got paid good money and even a mercedes xar given to him by elvis..maybe thats why he did it all?.

elvislady (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 17, 2006report abuse

efan4ever we are all only responding to what the forum puts to us. and some fans are really passionate about how elvis lived his life and what happend to him in it so they just write there natural response, and some of us agree ,some dont,

efan4ever (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 17, 2006report abuse

It will be 29 years this August. Why bother with all the sad times. Remember all the great things he did. Just my two cents.

hillbillycatlover (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 16, 2006report abuse

Sal, Elvis in Aloha '73, while he gives a wonderful vocal performance and looks trim, acts way different from the '68 Comeback Special, where he was happy, athletic, funny, all over the stage on his knees. In Aloha, there was none of that...he hardly moved at all during Burning Love he shook those hips a bit, but mainly he just walked around. His face, especially, looked serious and sad. Fans who were following his personal life know why full well.He had separated from Priscilla in '72, filed for divorce on his birthday '73, and the following week he did the concert. No small wonder why his eyes had a look we hadn't seen before, if you really were noticing... If you have the DVD, watch the bonus video of No More, which I am convinced is his song to Priscilla. He taped this song right after the concert. He looks down singing the song, and then finally he looks into the camera for one line only: "Oh how I wish I had never caused you sorrow..." It was a slow suicide starting January 8, 1973.

elvislady (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 16, 2006

Invisible because there were too many capitals in the text

cathyreno (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 16, 2006report abuse

I have never read or heard in any interview that Dr Nick is sorry about the way Elvis's life went that he couldnt do more for El, sorry for going along with E and the other guys, u would think with all his medical knowledge by late '74 it was plainly obivous these drugs were being misused but noone and I mean noone had the guts to stand up to E and help him through this noone, family, friends the medical profession, E was a sick man and was let down by all who were suppose to care, love and protect him. Elvis needed intervention but noone was brave enough to step up. But they are all quick to talk about it in their 'tell all books'. T C B

MR61 (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 16, 2006

Invisible because there were too many capitals in the text

Sal (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 16, 2006report abuse

That maybe so, but as i said, somewhere in all that madness lies the truth. Some of the guys were leeches and fabricated a lot of what went on, but look at Elvis in 1973 (aloah show) and think of him going just 4 years later...something terrible was going on. i simply cant believe no-one cared some MUST have but to pin it down is pretty difficult. Elvis could have made that change, he himself is ultimately responsible, no-one forced him to do anything, he was his own man. Im not justifying all of whats been written to date, and by whom, yet Elvis was like his mother, a powerful personality and she was very much in command of the Presley home until she passed away in '58. Id rather read what Dr Nick has to say that say, Elvis' nurse...the one that called him 'babe'...oh please.

Nilson Calasans (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 16, 2006report abuse

With your very kind permission, Sal, rumors are that the book will still bring the efforts Dr. Nick, Billy Smith, Marty Lacker, the Wests, Lamar, made to keep “maintainers” away from Graceland´s doors, mainly from 1975 on. Besides, to complicated, his brothers in law were also involved with the stuff at that time , as it’s known. You bring us the drama of the obsession, as said by Hebler: "how do you protect a man from himself?", one that do not recognize that is killing himself. Best and sorry.

Sal (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 16, 2006report abuse

Doctors, friends, family, nurses, musicians...somewhere in that bunch lies a genuine friend and someone who could tell what really went on. Elvis did have some true friends and anyone on the outside wouldnt know what went on. You had to be there to SEE what Elvis was a person, in private. Elvis was a grown man, but as Dave Hebler once said, "how do you protect a man from himself?" Some people are stubborn, convinced they have all the answers, and if your Elvis, well, he had a way of convincing you too. I truely believe Elvis would have gone sooner had it not been for the 'guys' and that goes for Dr Nick too. Yes, he was bowled over by Elvis and his stardom, but he did try and get Elvis away from what he was doing to himself and most of the Memphis Mafia appear to say so. Its easy to pin the blame on Dr Nick, he was the direct link to the medication and was Elvis personal doctor. But Elvis wasnt a stupid man, and he wasnt perfect, he just didnt know or accept what he was doing to himself. Dr Nicks book should be very interesting, i only hope he sticks to his physician years with Elvis and not pretend to be around him from year dot.

Nilson Calasans (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 16, 2006report abuse

"Polk Salad Teacher"! Lord have mercy! Congratulations and Happy Easter everybody!

Teacher (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

Sunday August 11, 2002
The Observer

The old man stands outside his house in the gathering dusk. A hot summer wind blows the smell of cut grass across the street. Opposite, a woman rides a mower up and down her vast front lawn.

'One of my patients, who was dying from Aids,' he says, 'his parents bought him this house next door so he could be close to me - 10, 20 years ago.

'Those people,' he points across the road to an impressive colonial-style property, 'used to be my patients. They built this house.'

Behind him, ochre paint blisters and peels from the walls of his home: the house that Elvis helped him buy; the one they designed together. He wants to sell it now. It's too big: he and his wife don't need seven bathrooms. He hasn't used the racquetball court in a year. The shag-pile carpet has seen better days.

We stare in silence at the woman on her mower.

Who treats all these people now?

He glances sideways at me over his glasses with a wry twinkle. 'Mostly,' says Dr Nick, 'they go to veterinarians.'

It's just gone seven years now, since they finally took his licence away from him. But everyone still calls George Nichopoulos 'Dr Nick'. People have been calling him that since he qualified at Vanderbilt Medical School in 1959. And nobody seems ready to stop - even now, since that last run-in with the Tennessee Medical Board, that he's not a real doctor any more. 'Defrocked,' he says. 'My wife still calls me George.' Twinkle. 'When she talks to me.'

Dr Nick doesn't really care for interviews any more. What with one thing and another, he doesn't feel he's been very well served by the media. On the phone he sounds hesitant, nervous, as if afraid of saying anything at all. But he agrees to meet, to discuss the possibility of talking further. I ask how I will recognise him. 'Oh,' he says, 'I'm just a short, grey-haired, fat man.'

In fact, his hair is white, as it has been since he was in his thirties: it's a Dr Nick trademark. He comes to meet me in the lobby of my hotel. It takes a long time to persuade him to be interviewed. He doesn't want his friends and family hurt any more than they already have been. 'I'd like to set the record straight,' he says, 'But I don't know...' He speaks slowly, in a gentle southern accent, and leaves long pauses, wetting his lips, chewing over his thoughts before delivering them. There are a lot of things he says he just can't remember.

Doctor George C Nichopoulos was, for a while, one of the most infamous physicians in the world.

For 10 years Dr Nick was Elvis Presley's personal doctor. It was Dr Nick who helped prescribe the constellation of uppers, downers, laxatives, narcotics, hormones and shots that kept Elvis going through the last decade of his life.

But it wasn't until 1977, when details of the King's titanic appetite for prescription drugs began leaking out, that anyone outside Memphis knew his name. Then, in the wake of Elvis's death, ques tions began to be asked of him. The cause of death was officially recorded as 'fatal heart arrhythmia'- a heart attack. But blood tests conducted at the BioScience laboratory in Van Nuys, California showed traces of 14 different drugs in Elvis's body at the time of his death. It didn't take the media long to decide that the Memphis medical examiner's officially recorded conclusions were part of a cover-up. Elvis did not die of natural causes, they argued. He died of an overdose of drugs. Drugs that Dr Nick gave him. Fans around the world were convinced that they had found the Man Who Killed Elvis.

In 1967, when Dr Nick first started treating Elvis Presley, he was a well-respected member of a Memphis group practice. He and six other doctors specialising in internal medicine had a good referral practice, seeing patients from all over the area. This year, 25 years after the sudden and unexpected death of his most famous patient, Dr Nick still works in Memphis - in the disability benefits department of the city's biggest employer, Federal Express. He examines the medical insurance claims of FedEx employees injured while working for the company. That way, he's still able to use his medical knowledge. But it's just paperwork.

'There's no hands-on medicine. I don't see any of these people. I read their records.'

But Dr Nick has to keep working. He has legal bills to pay. In and out of courts and medical tribunals for many of those 25 years, he's borrowed heavily, spent his pension fund and, in the end, lost his job anyway. He doesn't know how much longer he's going to have to work to pay off his debts.

'I've started to write a book several times, and I just can't get motivated,' he says. 'I just wanted to put all this behind me and go on with my life.'

It may be a little late for that now. Dr Nick will be 75 in October.

To begin with, Dr Nick treated Elvis for insomnia. But by 1967, this was no simple task. Elvis had a history of disrupted sleep, sleepwalking and nightmares going back to childhood. It intensified after the death of his mother, and his drafting into the army in 1957. And in his early twenties, Elvis had also developed an evangelical enthusiasm for amphetamines. Legally available in the US as appetite suppressants - they weren't outlawed until 1965 - they kept him going and they kept his weight down. They also, of course, kept him awake. He had become what Dr Nick calls a 'night person'.

By the time he became Dr Nick's patient, Elvis was a dedicated student of the Physician's Desk Reference , the doctor's encyclopedia of contemporary pharmacology. He was taking an exotic cocktail of uppers and downers: Tiunal, Desbutal, Escatrol. The powerful tranquilliser Placidyl would become a particular favourite. And he was going to increasing lengths to get hold of them - sending 'the guys' off to Vegas on prescription shopping trips.

At first, Dr Nick treated Elvis only on the odd occasions when he came back to Memphis from his house in LA. 'He was still in the movies. I didn't really become his primary doctor until he moved back here. Around '70.'

But in 1969, Elvis began the first of his month-long residencies, giving explosive live performances at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. Dr Nick went with him. For Elvis, Vegas - and the national touring that followed - would become a treadmill as financially profitable as it was physically costly. It would carry him on to the end of his life. For Dr Nick, it would lay the groundwork for the end of his career.

Throughout his time with Elvis, Dr Nick continued to work at the Memphis group practice. When Elvis summoned him to Graceland in the middle of the night, often simply because he was lonely and wanted someone to talk to, Dr Nick still went to his surgery in the morning. When Elvis opened in Vegas, Dr Nick flew out for the first couple of days, and then returned to Memphis.

This arrangement did not work well. Elvis's reliance upon a regime of drugs to get him going when he awoke and bring him down at bedtime was intensified by the concert schedule. Now, he needed amphetamines before a show, and then tranquillisers afterwards: and there were two shows every night. When he was around, Dr Nick tried to manage Elvis's intake. But when Dr Nick wasn't around, there was a roll-call of other doctors only too happy to fulfil the King's requirements. Doctors like Elias Ghanem and Thomas 'Flash' Newman - named for his ability to materialise at a moment's notice bearing anything you might desire. And after Priscilla left him in 1971, Elvis's behaviour became increasingly erratic. He spent more and more time in a chemical fog, taking whatever he could get his hands on.

In 1973, he overdosed twice on barbiturates: in February, when he spent three days in a coma in his suite at the Hilton, and later, on tour in St Louis. He began cancelling shows more and more frequently. At the end of the year he was admitted, semi-comatose, to the Baptist Hospital in Memphis. Thi

Nilson Calasans (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

No doubt, June. From one moment on, mainly, 1974 (it had been getting worse and worse for years), the danger became so real and obvious, that Nichopolus changed his conduct and, really, did his utmost to revert the tragical situation. And it was becoming harder and harder to maintain the facts far from the public view. However, I do think he was still concerning about his reputation. Even this was the conclusions of his Civil and Medical processes. He would be involved if something happened and he knew that. Then, at least twice (one of them with Red’s help), Nichopolus organized and provided, finally, to hospitalize Elvis seriously, for indeterminate time, and even alerting the world about what was going on and its risks, if it were necessary. As Liz, Liza, Elton John, Whitney, George Michael, Douglas and many others did in the last decades, for their reasons. But Vernon betrayed them and advised Elvis. That became despaired and insecure. The $how had to go on. And Elvis just couldn’t admit his sickness and under(stand) his drama. I did appreciate your nice and sensitive words.

hillbillycatlover (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

No, it was up to Elvis himselvis to take care of himself. A grown man shouldn't rely on his father for that! I do feel tho that once Lisa was taken from him, it was a slow suicide.

June (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

I don't think any of us should make assumptions about Dr. Nick's book. I have met some of his regular patients that absolutely love him and have know him all of their lives. They are deeply saddened by what happened to Elvis in those last three or four years and defend Dr. Nick by telling fans like myself that, "Elvis got what Elvis wanted and if he didn't get it from Dr. Nick, he got it from other doctors. Dr. Nick tried to help Elvis and control some of the medications so that he didn't go to other doctors who would make matters worse." It is such a tragedy and we were not there to witness the whole truth. It was, ultimately, Vernon's responsibilty to convince Elvis to take care of himself. If only he had.

Narek (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

Well said dismas!!! My respects, no-one would put it better!

dismas (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

I tend to agree with Nilson and Jeeny. It's amazing to me how so many of these "insider looks" at the King by his so-called friends and inner circle members are nothing more than fractured fairy tales. The writer (or, more often than not, the "as told to" speaker) is inevitably painted as an innocent bystander who helplessly stands by and watches his dear / best friend - mentor - boss - stepson - stepbrother - boyfriend - husband, whatever the relationship with Elvis may be, reel further and further out of control. Elvis plied them with pills; Elvis lured them away from their family; Elvis made them do this, that and the other. They never had the free will or the choice to say "No." This time around it's the infamous pill-pushing quack Dr. Nick. But I really don't care who it is anymore. Enough is enough, they'll not get a cent out of me. Until another serious book is written by an outsider with no ax to grind against Elvis (Jerry Hopkins, Peter Guralnick-types), I'll pass on all of 'em. I know who Elvis is and what he means to my world, and that's the bottom line.

elvislady (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

i dont think writing this book is going to shed any more light on what we all ready know about elvis. except linning dr nicks pockets with more money. all the books i have read over the years most if not all of them have something to say about what dr nick was doing for elvis. so i wont be contributing to linning his pockets anymore.

Nilson Calasans (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

Nichopolus does not have my respect at all. I do not care about his register or certificate. That was canceled. Truly, he has never been a doctor. Patients may be obsessive, may try to purchase the objects of their compulsions. They are sick and need serious treatment. Or should. But the ones that contribute to their unconscious suicide, those ones are killers. I do not care and this bastard won’t see my money with his lies. He has already received a big amount for his disservice. It´s a shame!

Juliepresleyfan (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

i didnt know isnt doctor nick working as a GP anymore, isnt fed ex a postal service i thought it was a usa postal service . not very interested in this book, i like to read about Elvis friends, and how much they and him put into the friendship, not what pills his doctor put into him, you never know it might be ok but have my doubts .

Elvos77 (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

Oh yeah, Tha'ts what I was waiting for...Another book telling someone elses truth

Make (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

Dr Nick doesn't have a right to work as doctor anymore. I believe he's working as a medical expert reviewing Fedex employer medical reports.

get real (profile/ contact) wrote on Apr 15, 2006report abuse

does he work at Fed-Ex as a doctor? Just wondering