Learn the underlying factors about the doctor who might be responsible and how Elvis died.
At around 2:30 pm on August 16, 1977, actress Ginger Alden was wandering Graceland looking for none other than her world-famous fiancé, Elvis Presley. The King of Rock and Roll was supposed to be getting ready to leave for his final tour, but Alden was worried since she hadn’t seen him in a while.
Alden saw no sign of Presley until she realized the bathroom door had been broken. She looked into the room and, as she later remembered, she said, ‘I was paralyzed as I entered’.
According to Alden, ‘Elvis looked like his entire body was completely frozen in the sitting position while using the nightstand, and then he fell forward in that fixed position, right in front of him.’ Alden leaped forward and realized he was still breathing, but the singer’s ‘face was purple’ and his eyes ‘looking straight ahead and covered in blood.’
They called an ambulance and the superstar was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where doctors tried to bring him back to life. These efforts failed and Elvis Presley was announced dead at 3:30 pm which was about 1 hour after he was found. He was only 42 years old.
From that day forward, we have one commonly debated question in our hand: How did Elvis die?
A Rock and Roll Autopsy
Elvis Presley’s death shock the entire world. President Jimmy Carter made a statement, declaring that the singer ‘permanently changed the face of American popular culture’. Meanwhile, nearly 100,000 bewildered mourners arrived at the funeral.
But the chaos just after the death of the icon caused some dark facts about his death to be missed and how Elvis died appeared above the memorial and tribute.
After his death that same afternoon, three doctors working together – Eric Muirhead, Jerry Francisco and Noel Florredo – performed his autopsy. The autopsy examination took two hours and Francisco made a statement to the press while the autopsy was on-going. He reported that ‘preliminary autopsy findings’ indicated that the singer died of a ‘heart attack’ and there was no evidence that drugs played any role in his death.
Actually, the exact answer to how Elvis died is not clear. The autopsy was not concluded at the time of Francisco’s statement, and none of the other doctors had consented to this press release.
But while Francisco’s actions were questionable, there was reason to believe that the drugs weren’t involved and that Presley’s deteriorating health had simply engulfed him. Presley had excess weight when he died. His fondness for fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches and other unhealthy foods was well known, and he suffered from various health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and glaucoma. Although his poor diet contributed to his deteriorating health, there was a longer answer to the question of how Elvis died.
Secrets in The Toxicology Report
Francisco was bombarded with the same questions when he addressed to the press for the first time: Did the autopsy show any traces of drugs?
Just weeks before Presley’s death, three of the singer’s former bodyguards had published a book about him. What Happened to Elvis? ? It was claimed that the star have been a long time amphetamine addict. Francisco tried to avoid this question. The main cause of Elvis’ death may not be known for bow and the results for some lab tests are not there and he added, ‘In such cases, the specific cause may never be known.’
When the toxicology report was finally back, the doctors seem to cover something up. The report showed that Presley had high amounts of Dilaudid, Percodan, Demerol, codeine and 10 other medications in his blood when he died. It would later be revealed that Francisco tried to deviate the questions about the drugs as Presley’s family members tried to hide the drug use as a secret.
How Did Elvis Die? Did Dr. Nick’s Answer Work Out?
Presley was first addicted to amphetamine in his early-20s. This drug was legal in the US until 1965. Presley took antidepressions to help him sleep as he suffered from insomnia. By the end of 1960s, Presley became addicted to drugs to keep him alive before the live concerts and help him sleep at night. He was turned into an addict by a sneaky doctor.
For a short while, Nichopoulos known as Dr. Nick was Presley’s doctor who treated him for his saddle wounds. He travelled with him to reside in Las Vegas and provided him with amphetamines and barbiturates.
Nichopoulos later explained that Elvis found no problem in that. He felt that he was not just like a regular addict buying stuff from the streets as he got them form a doctor. But some of them saw Nichopolos nothing more than a facilitator.
The doctor prescribed 19,000 doses for Presley between 1975 and 1977. More than 10,000 doses were prescribed between January-August 1977.
Nichopoulos’ medical license was suspended 3 years after Presley’s death. He was persecuted in 1981 for overprescribing drugs. Doctor said he only tried to control their drug use to avoid them going back to the streets and he was found innocent. But his license was permanently cancelled in 1995. 1 year ago, an auditor re-opened the case and found that Presley died of a heart attack.
Elvis Presley in one of his last concerts before his death. 21 June 1977.
In both cases, Presley’s fans hold Nichopoulos responsible for the death of their idols and he received a lot of death threats in later years. Although the doctor certainly sends Presley to the path of death, the real reason for his death might be more tragic.
One of the side effects of long-term barbiturates abuse is severe constipation. Since he was found near the toilet, he might have pushed too hard and his weak hearth might not have stand it. The stress of obesity, other health problems and drug abuse might have caused Presley to have a deadly hearth attack in the toilet.
This legendary theory is still ambiguous like all the other theories. How Elvis died is covered with a mystery. But although drugs, diet and even constipation played a role in his death, it is sad to say that the King of Rock and Roll died tragically.