by PL

Dr. Nichopoulos claimed a number of times over the years that he had to write massive (quantity) prescriptions because he was treating potentially as many as 100 people on each tour. On March 3, 1977, Nichopoulos joined Elvis and a small group of people on a Hawaii vacation. Here is a list of the prescriptions he wrote in Elvis’s name on March 2, 1977:

The trip started on March 3, the group landed in Hawaii early on March 4, and the vacation ended on March 12 due to Elvis getting sand in his eye. So, nine days plus or minus. Interesting that Dr. Nichopoulos said it would be better for Elvis to recuperate from a possible scratched cornea back in Memphis, instead of simply taking him to a local doctor in Hawaii. According to Dr. Nichopoulos’s thinking: “Elvis, we should end this vacation early and fly everyone back to Memphis just in case you have a scratched cornea, even though there are eye doctors here in Hawaii who could look at this for you, and even though a million kids have gotten sand in their eyes over the entirety of recorded beach vacation history and probably almost none of their parents cut their vacations short.”

Sounds about right.

The people on this trip: Elvis, Ginger, Rosemary Alden, Terry Alden, Rick Stanley, Larry Geller, Celeste Geller, Dean Nichopoulos, Dr. Nichopoulos, Edna Nichopoulos, Ed Parker, Charlie Hodge, Billy Smith, Jo Smith, Joe Esposito, Shirley Dieu, Al Strada. And maybe one or two others, meaning those people who would have been under Dr. Nichopoulos’s care. So while there were 30 people reported to have been part of the group that vacationed in Hawaii in March 1977, we can narrow it down to a core 20 or so. But whether it’s 20 or 25 or 30, can anyone explain why Dr. Nichopoulos would need to take 100 Quaalude tablets on this trip? One-hundred Amytal capsules? Fifty Percodan? Fifty Dilaudid? An injectable form of Dilaudid? Because the Dilaudid pills weren’t enough?

Did Dr. Nichopoulos think that Terry Alden was going to suddenly require a handful of Quaalude? For what reason…?

Or that Edna Nichopoulos, his wife, would need a shot of Amytal, a central nervous system depressant?

Or that Larry Geller was gonna need a few Percodan for a skinned knee?

Percodan. Here’s what the FDA says about it:

But yeah, sure, this sounds like a drug that would be needed on a relaxing Hawaii vacation. And let’s not forget the Dilaudid, Quaalude, and Amytal.

(Have you ever brought a central nervous system depressant on a beach holiday? Anyone? You know, the essentials check-list: beach towels, a cooler, umbrella, sun-block, and central nervous system depressants.)

On this trip the group was not moving from one city to another, so they were in the same location for the entire 9+/- days; why, then, did Dr. Nichopoulos need so much medication in his bag right at the start? Why not simply pack some Tylenol and a box of Band-Aids, and then get the prescription medications locally if these medications were needed?

Does anyone really not know the answers to these questions?

Let’s go one more step on this and look at another accounting of the prescriptions written by Dr. Nichopoulos in March 1977. This includes one prescription written/filled on March 3, the departure date for the Hawaii vacation:

Note that all these medications are the same medications Dr. Nichopoulos prescribed on a regular basis to Elvis, and yet this is a list of medications prescribed to “George C. Nichopoulos.” Isn’t that interesting, that Dr. Nichopoulos just happened to be taking the same pain medications that he was prescribing to Elvis? What are the odds? Also note that on March 3, Dr. Nichopoulos prescribed to himself fifty Quaalude tablets, which brings the Hawaii vacation Quaalude total to 150. (Note: Quaalude was moved from Schedule II to Schedule I in 1984 because it was determined to have no legitimate medical purpose. Heroin and LSD are also Schedule I drugs.)

What was Dr. Nichopoulos doing with these self-prescribed medications? Using them as the “tour drugs,” but prescribing under a different name? Why? And why did Dr. Nichopoulos fill the prescription for 100 Quaalude written to Elvis at the Prescription House, but fill the prescription for 50 Quaalude that he wrote the following day, in his own name, at the Madison Apothecary?

To close:

March 23 – 30, 1977: Elvis on tour, 8 completed shows.

March 31, 1977: Baton Rouge show canceled due to Elvis’s health; subsequent shows on this tour also canceled.

April 1 – 5, 1977: Elvis hospitalized.

April 2, 1977: Dr. Nichopoulos writes a prescription in Elvis’s name for 100 Quaalude. While Elvis is in the hospital.