Dr. "Nick" George Constantine Nichopoulos - Elvis, We Care, Inc., Jerry Lee Lewis's Road Manager, FedEx Doc + Bio + Lawsuit before the Elvis douche

Dr Georges Nichopoulos

Linda & Dr. Nick leaving The Philadelphia Hilton Hotel - June 23rd 1974

Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Nichopoulos was moved to Anniston, AL during his infancy where his father, a Greek immigrant, opened a restaurant called "Gus' Sanitary Cafe." Dr. Nichopoulos earned his MD at Thunderbird University Medical School in 1959, after studying at the University of the South, Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama, and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He began treating Elvis in 1967, and took it on as a full time job in 1970 until Elvis' death in 1977. In 1985, he started a solo practice called We Care, Inc. After he was stripped of his credentials in 1995, Dr Nick worked for a short time as Jerry Lee Lewis's road manager. He later took a job evaluating medical insurance claims by FedEx employees. Legal Battles In 1980, he was indicted on 14 counts of overprescribing drugs to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as twelve other patients. The district-attorney ruled out murder charges because of the conflicting medical opinions about the cause of Presley's death. In 1977 alone, Nichopoulos had prescribed over 10,000 doses of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives, and hormones for Presley. Dr. Nichopoulos claimed he had tried in vain to reduce Elvis' dependency, even going so far as to manufacture one thousand placebos for Elvis, but to no avail. The jury concluded that he had tried to act in the best interests of his patients. He was acquitted on all counts. Also in 1980, the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners found him guilty of overprescription, but decided that he was not unethical. They imposed three months' suspension of his licence and three years' probation. In 1995 Nichopoulos had his license permanently suspended by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, after it was revealed that he had been overprescribing to numerous patients for years. Dr. Nichopoulos claimed it was for patients that suffered from inoperable chronic pain, but he was unsuccessful in his defense. During his many appeals, Dr Nick admitted to the board that he had overprescribed. 'I cared too much,' he told them. During his court cases many friends supported him, raising money and holding benefits to pay for court costs.

Book News The True Story of Elvis Presley and Dr. Nick For ten years Dr. George Nichopoulos, better known as "Dr. Nick", was one of Elvis's most trusted and valued advisors and personal physician. He and his son, Dean, who started first as his racquetball teacher and then as his trusted valet, were there to help maintain balance amid the craziness Presley's lifestyle demanded, and his fans have yet to fully understand. At the end, they were there to observe a proud, private Elvis trying desperately to cope with his career pressures, personal problems and failing health. Now Dr. Nick and Dean are collaborating with Elvis historian, Joe Russo on the book that Elvis's legacy deserves. It's a story filled with honesty and compassion that only they can tell. Put aside what you've heard before about Elvis's final days and get ready to understand for the first time, the inner workings of the man who was, and still is, the king of rock n' roll. Do you have any unresolved questions about Elvis's health, lifestyle or prescription drug dependency? Or about Dr. Nick's efforts to manage his illness and pain while Elvis strived to stay at the top of his game? Have you wondered what medical technology and experts could reveal today about Elvis's medical condition and the cause of his death? Dr. George Nichopoulos - Personal physician to Elvis Presley. He was Presley's confessor, confidant and life support system. He was "on call" to sooth Presley's concerns, phobias, and ailments. Presley looked upon Dr. Nick as a pseudo father-figure, and entrusted thoughts and personal details he shared with few others. Dr. Nick was there, on tour, at home and "behind closed doors". Dean Nichopoulos - Presley's personal valet for the last several years of his life. Presley referred to Dean as "the son I never had". He virtually "lived" at Graceland and was there to serve and assist Presley in his daily routine and on concert tours. Dean looked after all Presley's personal needs and was always present for motorcycle rides, racquetball games or whenever Presley decided to just have some fun. Joe Russo - Elvis historian and author of four books including ELVIS STRAIGHT UP with Joe Esposito. He also has been a performer himself for over seventeen years. Due to this duel persona, he is often referred to as the "rock n' roll writer".

Some Drugs found in EP'body In Others

ELVIS PRESLEY.

Dr. Nick and his black bag carry the 'Memories of Elvis' In the background, the music of Mozart and Beethoven plays softly, adding an air of refinement, even elegance, to the exhibit one floor above the clatter of a Tunica County casino. "I think it's important for people to come in and realize it's not a carnival," says Bobby Freeman, partner and promoter of Dr. George C. Nichopoulos. That's "Dr. Nick" to much of the world, which will remember the 72-year-old white-haired Memphis doctor as personal physician to Elvis Presley right up until Elvis's death. That was the death in 1977 attributed to either heart disease, to heart disease exacerbated by drugs, or to having enough drugs in his system to kill a barnful of farm animals. It's that last part that prompts Elvis Presley Enterprises chief executive officer Jack Soden to call Dr. Nick's "Memories of Elvis" exhibit at Hollywood Casino a "tacky, tasteless and unfortunate" enterprise. "It exploits whatever it is in human nature that makes people slow down and gawk at an auto accident." Squarely in the middle of the 100-piece exhibit is a black medical bag - Dr. Nick's - accented by 13 prescription bottles, one of them for the narcotic pain-relieving Dilaudid. It is one of the dozen or so prescription drugs found in Elvis's system after he was scooped from his bathroom floor, declared dead and inventoried like a chemical warehouse on Aug. 16, 1977. Dr. Nick has no qualms about the medical bag, the only exhibit item with an in-your-face quality. Nichopoulos was indicted, tried and, in 1981, acquitted on charges he had overprescribed drugs to Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and seven other people. In fact, there are so few qualms that the label on the exhibit begins: "This bag could be the most priceless object in rock-n-roll history..." The bag with the prescription baggage it implies prompts casino personnel to be wary of interviews with Dr. Nick. "It's very awkward for him, since he's aging, to be put on the spot during an interview," says Hollywood public relations and special events coordinator Jennifer Bennett. But Dr. Nick has been there, done that, and he appears unflappable. The trial that ended in his acquittal in 1981 followed months of intense, finger-pointing, national exposure. Nichopoulos's story, part of it honed with the help of high-priced lawyer James Neal, became second nature to the doctor, who says he paid Neal $250,000. The doctor's license was revoked in 1995 on similar charges, and he now is retired. Dr. Nick doesn't flinch at any question involving drugs.

Eclectic collection sees court tussle in Del. WILMINGTON, Del. — Elvis wasn't in the building, but that didn't stop the first round in a court fight over who controls the right to exhibit unusual memorabilia touched by The King — such as the nasal device used to irrigate his sinuses before concerts. Robert Gallagher, a Nevada entertainer who sings original rockabilly tunes, is battling Napa, Calif., businessman Richard Long over items collected by Elvis Presley's personal physician, George Nichopoulos. Nichopoulos, known as "Dr. Nick," kept the items in boxes in his garage and vaults, said Gallagher, who calls the collection "the greatest find since the Titanic." According to court documents, the exhibit, Dr. Nick's Memories of Elvis, includes: •A laryngeal scope used to examine Presley's "chronic sore throat & tonsils." A Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum handgun that Presley reportedly gave to Dr. Nick. •A stuffed toy dog that Presley once threw at Dr. Nick. •A prescription bottle dated Aug. 15, 1977, the day before Presley died. •A gold watch engraved on the back with "from E.P. and Priscilla 10-29-70." Presley and wife Priscilla were married in 1967. On Monday, the judge in the case, Leo Strine, granted a motion to let the collection be appraised for insurance purposes. Gallagher says it's worth $250 million. The exhibit is stored in an airport hangar in Nevada, according to Long's lawyer, David Finger. Gallagher, however, said that "for security reasons" he would not confirm where the hangar is located. "My life would definitely be in danger, there's no question about it," he said. He did say the exhibit hasn't been shown since 2001. According to Finger and court documents, Gallagher and Betty Franklin, his girlfriend and business partner, worked out a deal with Dr. Nick to exhibit the memorabilia for 50% of the profits, but Nichopoulos retained ownership of the collection. The deal also said that they would get 50% of the money if the exhibit was ever sold, court documents say. Nichopoulos, who is not a party to the litigation, could not be reached for comment. Elvis Presley Enterprises of Memphis, the company that controls Presley's name, image and likeness, isn't involved with the Dr. Nick exhibit and has no comment on the dispute, said Kevin Kern, the company's media manager. Long, chief executive of Regulus Group, a provider of payment services, says he put up $1.2 million for an exhibit company that he and Gallagher would own, along with Franklin. Once the money changed hands, Gallagher and Franklin experienced sellers' remorse and never delivered the collection to the new company, Finger said. He also said $1 million of the money went to buy the memorabilia collection from Nichopoulos. "If Gallagher refunds Mr. Long's investment, we will walk away from the business in a New York minute," Finger said. Long wants Strine to rule that his deal with Gallagher and Franklin is enforceable. If the partners can't get along, Long wants the judge to order that the collection be sold and the proceeds distributed. Gallagher alleges that Long is trying to seize the exhibit without paying him, and he wants the Delaware Court of Chancery to rule that the deal with Long is not valid. The court is hearing the case because the exhibit company was incorporated in Delaware. The case might not go to trial until late summer. On Monday, Strine questioned Finger about possible dissolution of the collection, perhaps through a famous auction house. "Doesn't Sotheby's have a nasal irrigation specialist?" Strine asked. Maureen Milford reports daily for The News Journal in Wilmington

"The confusion was that no one really investigated what happened at the time. Elvis had these (prescriptions) written in his name. The medications were for the whole orchestra, not just Elvis," says Nichopoulos. His testimony in 1981, supported by much of Elvis's entourage, convinced a jury that Nichopoulos had, in fact, rescued Elvis from drug overdoses and potential drug overdoses time and again.

Elvis could and did get prescriptions from other doctors or dentists. "There were always people with him who would give him drugs. Druggies always want to share," says Nichopoulos.

Elvis sought out one doctor who supposedly was using acupuncture to treat him. His patients were hailing the doctor as a miracle worker, but it turned out his needles were used to inject Demerol, says Nichopoulos. To help protect Elvis, Dr. Nick says he often substituted sugar pills for drugs. In fact, he says the exhibit's prescription bottle for Dilaudid was one of the few "prescriptions" he was able to order directly from a pharmaceutical company with sugar-pill placebos in place of the real thing.

Dr. Nick runs through the list of maladies for which Elvis was being treated and for which doctors might prescribe a wide range of drugs. There is what the doctor calls "secondary diabetes" treated with oral medication. Arthritis in his neck and back stemming from and aggravated by stage routines and karate. Glaucoma. Hypertension, or high blood pressure. An enlarged colon that contributed "to his bloated appearance." He had a chronic sore throat from overuse of his voice, and he had chronic sinus problems. Dr. Nick says he treated the sinus problems not with drugs but with a recipe of one quart water, one teaspoon salt and one teaspoon baking soda, snorted through a glass device on display in the exhibit.

There were rumors of bone cancer, but Nichopoulos says he's "not sure" about that and that doctors at Baptist Memorial Hospital thought that abnormal cells that led to the cancer rumors may have been caused by something else.

The exhibit opened Jan. 7 and closes Thursday. By midweek this week, 4,500 people had seen it with almost no complaints about the medical bag and prescription reminders of Elvis's untimely demise. "If they complained, I would sit down with them and talk to them about it," says Dr. Nick, who plans to take the exhibit on tour, possibly to other casinos, to Europe and to parts of rural America where exhibitors seldom go.

Freeman, head of the private-label record company MCI (it stands for music, comedy and impressions), says the medical bag is, frankly, an intentionally controversial draw for the exhibit. "It's controversial, but it's history. It's real," he says, trying to restrict photographs to avoid close-up shots of the bag.

Other exhibition items include several autographed photographs of Elvis to Dr. Nick, pieces of Elvis's TCB ("taking care of business") jewelry, a green cat's-eye ring with filigreed gold accents and several watches that were gifts from Elvis. Freeman removes one gold Piaget watch from its glass case to show the inscription on the back: "To E. D. (Dr. Nick)." The E. D. stands for "Elvis's Doctor," says Freeman.

A third partner in the exhibition, Betty Franklin, a former office worker in Nichopoulos's medical practice, says one of the favorite items in the exhibit is a book, The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. The label on the exhibit says notes in the book's margin were made by Elvis, including the note, "When you're not in love, you're not alive."

A visitor on Tuesday night helped confirm Franklin's assessment. "I liked the Gibran saying best," says Betty Cooper, 74, of Fairdale, Ky., a suburb of Louisville. Cooper also thought it was a nice touch to put a single red rose on each exhibit table.

That was Freeman's idea, a rose, as if a tribute, in honor of Elvis at each table.

"I think it's very tasteful," says Dave Rooney, 54, of Nashville, an insurance manager for Mutual of Omaha. He says he and his wife, Nita, touring the exhibit with him, were moved by reminders of Elvis, the "fat" jokes that must have hurt and the drugs that helped put Elvis to sleep, wake him up and reduce his weight. "I think there was a lot of scapegoating going on over that (drugs). On the road, he would have other sources. He was just a human being like the rest of us."

Another visitor, Jimmy Hargrave, 60, a retired revenue commissioner and tax collector, of Atkins, Ala., says the exhibit "was interesting." And the medical bag was "no problem. Why would it be? I thought it was good to look at. I think everything about Elvis is interesting."

Betty Franklin, the partner with Freeman and Nichopoulos, says she doesn't understand the remarks by Soden at Elvis Presley Enterprises. "I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I personally would not make a judgment on anything I had not seen. We don't want to hurt Graceland. We wish them the best and wish they would wish us the best."

Soden admits he has not seen the exhibit, but has received several press releases inviting people to it. "You'd think they'd put their best spin on it, but it still sounds stupid . . . There's a whole world out there that's basically still responding to Elvis's music. Then there's Dr. Nick's medicine bag and some prescriptions on a table in Tunica. It leads back to tacky, tasteless and unfortunate. It's unfortunate they didn't have anything more to do with their time."

Franklin says she and her partners are trying to decide which invitation to accept for the next show - at a casino on the Gulf Coast, in Atlantic City or in Europe.

Press Conference

Dave Hebler

Sonny West

Red West

MJ-Papa Doc, Derm-Spermdonor & Hollywood Scriptwriter Klein's Kill-Pills Bury Popper Doughboy in Dr. DRUGENSTEIN'S COMPLEXION CONNECTION

"Pillsbury"

J-Papa Doc Der-Spermatozoon Klein's Kill-Pills Bury Popper Doughnut in the COMPLEXION Connection Arnold DRUGENSTEIN KLEIN
Arnold 'Stash' Klein, one of the Michael Jackson doctors being investigated in connection with the star's death, was kicked out of his first medical residency for peddling prescription drugs,

The Daily Beast's Gerald Posner has learned.

Dr. Arnold Klein, one of Hollywood’s star dermatologists and a doctor for Michael Jackson for nearly 25 years, was apparently forced to leave his residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in the 1970s because of allegations that he was selling unauthorized prescription drugs to fellow students, according to two people who know him.

The Daily Beast has confirmed that Klein is one of the doctors being investigated by authorities in connection with Jackson’s apparent drug overdose. These allegations raise questions about his attitude towards prescription drugs, and also whether Klein would have been licensed for practicing medicine had the Pennsylvania school authorities shared the information with law enforcement or the California medical licensing boards, the state to which Klein moved and established his tremendously successful practice.

Klein’s colleagues recalled that when he left for California, there was no indication of wrongdoing, but that he told them he was moving to the West Coast because he was about to become engaged to a woman living in Los Angeles (Klein has never married).

Dr. Walter Shelley, the former chairman of Penn’s Dermatology Department, where Klein had his residency, often told colleagues about the incident (Shelley passed away this past February at 91). Two of those doctors, familiar with the account as related by Shelley, spoke to me, and independent of each other, verified the same information. Shelley told them separately that Klein’s residency had been terminated because he had sold prescription meds to other students. The Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, Shelley told them, agreed not to turn the information over to local authorities in return for Klein leaving the school. He did so, completing his residency at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was the Chief Resident in Dermatology in 1975.

Klein’s colleagues recalled that when he left for California, there was no indication of wrongdoing, but that he told them he was moving to the West Coast because he was about to become engaged to a woman living in Los Angeles (Klein has never married).

One of Klein’s Pennsylvania colleagues thought that Klein might have been influenced by a book he cowrote, Drug Trip Abroad: American Drug-Refugees in Amsterdam and London, which was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 1972, a year after Klein graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Shelley believed that Klein had obtained his medications from Mexico.

“That book immersed him in the drug world,” a fellow physician told me. “It might have been the catalyst for what got him into trouble with the school administration.”

Klein’s attorney, Richard Charnley, did not reply to two emails, setting forth the details of what The Daily Beast had learned about Klein and his residency problems. I telephoned Charnley and left a detailed message, offering Klein the opportunity to rebut or answer the substance of these new revelations, but Charnley again did not respond . I also telephoned Klein’s office directly and spoke to a receptionist at length.I did not receive a return call. Administrators and lawyers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System (which covers the hospital at which Klein was a resident) declined to comment on why Klein left Penn.

Gerald Posner's tidbit about Dr. Klein being kicked out of UOP Med School for selling unauthorized prescription drugs certainly implies and adds to his appearance of culpability in the Michael Jackson death investigation. It would have been interesting to find out what prescriptions the Dr. wrote during his residency. Another piece to the puzzle has been added.

Gerald Posner is doing a great job of tying together all the dispararte threads of the Michael Jackson tragedy. The plot seems to thicken every day. Reading about Dr. Klein reminds me of another 19702 Penn guy who got into a lot of trouble, Ira Einhorn, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend Holly Maddox a couple of years ago.

As usual Gerald, you have done an outstanding job uncovering little known facts about this case. Please keep up the great reporting. I especially enjoy your comments on MSNBC.

ILLICIT SCRIPTS

A local doctor might be in hot water after recently released photographs on the Web site TMZ.com showed the discoveries of a 2003 raid of Jackson’s Neverland Ranch by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies: a smorgasbord of powerful painkillers and sedatives, some prescribed by a local physician.

The images show several empty prescription bottles of the sedative Xanax for Manuel Rivera and Frank Tyson, Jackson employees, but ostensibly for Jackson himself.

Santa Ynez doctor William VanValin was the prescribing physician.

TMZ reported that notes compiled during the county Sheriff’s investigation back in 2004 said Jackson’s former bodyguard told detectives that the late pop star would use his name and those of other employees to get prescriptions.

It is illegal to issue a prescription under any name other than the actual patient. The Web site also reported that Jackson would have employees pick up prescriptions under his name. When the pharmacy wouldn’t release his medication because it was not under the employee’s name, Jackson would then call the doctor and have the prescription “changed into the name of the person he was sending to pick it up.”

VanValin told the Journal that he was aware of the photographs, but said he declined to comment further.

Sheriff’s spokesman Drew Sugars said his department did not provide TMZ.com with any documents and could not confirm that the documents it referred to were accurate.

Whether or not VanValin committed any wrongdoing, the role doctors played in the death of Jackson is firmly under the spotlight again.

Debbie Nelson, a spokesperson for the Medical Board of California, said cases involving physicians inappropriately prescribing medication is not uncommon, adding that 28 doctors were penalized last year for this offense.

“Depending on the severity of the offense, these doctor could face anywhere from a public reprimand, a requirement to take special classes, such as a medical record keeping course, probation, or they could be stripped of their license to write prescriptions,” she said.

Jackson is not the first Hollywood star whose demise has highlighted the role celebrity-dazzled doctors have played in the deaths of celebrities.

Marilyn Monroe died at 36 from an overdose of sleeping pills in August 1962. She had been under a doctor’s care at the time.

At the age of 42, Elvis Presley died with as many as 10 different drugs coursing through his body. He was known to travel with George Nichopoulos, a former physician who overprescribed drugs to patients. Nichopoulos lost his medical license but was acquitted of criminal charges related to Elvis’ death.

Karen Sternheimer, a sociologist at the University of Southern California who is writing a book on social problems and celebrity culture, says the bottom line is likely why some doctors become drug-pushers for celebrities.

“In the typical doctor-patient relationship, the doctor really holds most of the power: we go to their office, typically wait until they are ready for us, and then see them only briefly,” Sternheimer said. “They have many patients, so if we are unhappy it might not affect their business. But if a doctor treats only one or a few patients, they become important clients financially, which shifts the balance of power and may make them more willing to make ethically questionable decisions.”

Julie Albright, a sociologist at the University of Southern California, said there are a number of reasons doctors may prescribe non-medically called for prescription drugs to celebrity clients.

“Celebrity is a kind of power or influence, which doctors aren’t immune to,” Albright said. “Like other people, they may want to please the celebrity to be a part of their circle.”

Some doctors who treat celebrities gain “bragging rights” with their friends and families. Associating with a celebrity, Albright said, may boost a doctor’s self-esteem and his or her pocketbook. “Lastly, with insurance plans cutting into doctor’s profits, celebrities may add a much needed boost to their finances,” she added. “It’s a boost some doctors are willing to bend their ethical duties to attain.”

Hoydenish doctor practicing in the world’s prescription-drug capital.

The probe into Michael Jackson’s death has now crossed the country and reached Miami. Documents seized in 2003 from Neverland as part of the investigation into allegations of child abuse connected Jackson to Dr. Alimorad "Alex" Farshchian, the medical director of Miami Beach’s Center for Regenerative Medicine. The Daily Beast has confirmed that Los Angeles authorities examining the superstar’s death are now looking to see whether Farshchian and Jackson have had more recent contact than the 2002 broken foot for which Jackson initially sought treatment.

This is the state that has the decades long, well-deserved reputation as being the last refuge where ordinary, everyday people, not just celebrities and pop stars, can easily fill multiple prescriptions for opiates and other addictive pills.

In a July 21,2002, handwritten note, Dr. Farshchian writes to Jackson that he has sent a “package…it’s a 5-7 day program that offers you the solution. Buprinex is the potent narcotic I told you about last week, it is just like the D but better.” Buprinex is an injectable narcotic analgesic. Los Angeles investigators believe the “D” refers to Demerol, another narcotic that was found in Jackson’s house after his death. Chris Carter, Jackson’s then-head of security who went on to be arrested for bank robberies in Nevada, told investigators in 2004 that Farshchian tried to wean Jackson off his heavy Demerol use. Although the “D” could refer to Diprivan, the powerful anesthetic that might have played a fatal role in Jackson’s dosing, investigators have no link between Farshchian and that anesthetic.

Farshchian, a Caribbean-trained physician (he got his degree from St. Lucia’s Spartan Health Sciences University), describes himself on his Web site as limiting his practice to “non-surgical orthopedics and sports medicine.” One of his self-described specialties, as described on his Web site, is cell therapy, using the patient’s own cells in injections that accelerate the healing process, and which helps relieve pain from arthritis or injuries. He also works with human growth hormone.

In his 2002 note to Jackson, Farshchian said about the performer, “You’re the best, you’re an ICON, and you belong to the tops.” A Los Angeles County Sherriff’s deputy believes that Farshchian was “awestruck” by Jackson. A former Jackson employee told The Daily Beast that Jackson also met Farshchian at his house and the two became so friendly that they even talked about opening a children’s hospital in Miami’s Little Havana. They went so far as to come up with a name—The International Childrens Hospital—and to shop for a building before Jackson returned to California and abandoned the idea. According to what Carter told the investigators about their visits to Farshchian’s office, Jackson seemed alert on arrival but was visibly sedated when they left.

Dr. Farshchian, who lives in a $1.5 million waterfront home on Bay Harbor, did not return a call to his office, and a letter to his Facebook account, seeking a comment. Florida records show no prior discipline by state medical authorities and an electronic search of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties show no malpractice suits against him. But the Miami tie-in isn’t surprising. Being a Miami-based reporter, I felt it was only a matter of time until there was a South Florida medical connection to the Michael Jackson death probe. This is the state that has the decades long, well-deserved reputation as being the last refuge where ordinary, everyday people, not just celebrities and pop stars, can easily fill multiple prescriptions for opiates and other addictive pills.

The Farshchian-Jackson connection doesn’t involve these dispensing clinics, or “pill mills.” A celebrity like Jackson doesn’t need to stand in line to get his addictive drugs. There are all too many doctors willing to prescribe for him, thereby gaining access to his celebrity entourage. But it’s emblematic of a culture. Until Quaaludes (a powerful sedative that became a party drug in the late 70s) were made illegal in 1984, South Florida had more Quaalude clinics that the rest of the country combined.

Now the state has become the unofficial national headquarters for a thriving black market in addictive prescription drugs, especially oxycodone, one of the drugs found in the sweep of Jackson’s house after his arrest.

Florida allows pill mills to operate so long as a licensed doctor is on the premises to write a prescription, and the patient shows up for each prescription renewal. Today’s clinics, often in ramshackle buildings in strip malls of borderline neighborhoods, aggressively advertise “Pain Management” on billboards and bus benches.There, patients complaining of chronic pain get prescriptions for the entire range of legal opiates. The initial consultation is $200, and each prescription is for a one month supply. Each follow-up visit for a new prescription takes only a few minutes and costs $100. Word has spread beyond South Florida to West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia, and other states about how easy it is to get a narcotic fix in South Florida.

Because of lax Florida laws, each pill mill employs only a single doctor who prescribes opiates for up to 70 walk-in patients daily. Crimes around the clinics, from robberies of patients with freshly filled prescriptions, to attempted break-ins at the clinics themselves, are a growing problem. But the demand for the pills has caused the trade to boom—in the last year, the number of pill mills in Dade and Broward counties zoomed from 60 to more than 150. Only 45 South Florida doctors are responsible for prescribing nearly nine million oxycodone pills in the last six months of 2008. Thirty-three of the top 50 oxycodone-dispensing doctors in the United States practice in Broward County.

And Florida has no law to track the prescriptions. So someone can walk into 20 clinics a day and walk out with 20 prescriptions. Following the April arrest of 25 Kentucky drug dealers, who got their supply from the Florida pill mills, and an investigation by The Miami Herald, the state legislature passed a law that will start tracking the prescriptions next year. But for the next six months, it’s still a paradise for drug addicts and dealers and anyone can start to get hooked at Florida’s pill mills for a fraction of what it cost Michael Jackson with his celebrity doctors.

Encirclement

Michael Jackson is carried by bodyguard Chris Carter.

Disturbing new details about the men who ran Michael Jackson's security team prior to his child-molestation trial—including their strange job qualifications, an arrest history, and how they helped him get drugs.

Yesterday, CNN obtained a confidential 2004 document from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department containing interviews with two of Jackson's former security guards while officials were preparing for Jackson’s child-molestation trial. The guards interviewed provided information about the extent of Jackson’s drug use, some of the doctors involved, the ways Jackson tried to hide his abuse, and how he obtained extra prescriptions.

CNN refused to disclose the names of the security guards named in the document, but The Daily Beast has learned that one is Chris Carter, who worked as the chief of security for Jackson prior to the first police raid on Neverland in 2003. It was Carter who told investigators that he would get Xanax (used usually as an anti-anxiety and panic-disorder drug) for Jackson under various fictitious names, including even his own and the names of other employees.

Michael spotted an attractive young African-American man across a casino floor as he and his entourage walked through and asked to see if he might be someone worth “hiring.”

But beyond adding to the emerging portrait of Jackson’s longtime drug abuse, the real story about Carter is not necessarily his disclosures about drugs and Michael Jackson five years ago, but rather what The Daily Beast has learned about Carter, and the insights it provides into how badly Jackson chose the people who were supposed to provide his security and safety.

Mike LaPerruque, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sergeant, was Jackson’s security chief from 2001 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2008. When he was with Michael Jackson in Las Vegas during his first stint with the pop star, Michael spotted an attractive young African-American man across a casino floor as he and his entourage walked through. That man was Chris Carter. Jackson asked LaPerruque to talk to the young man and see if he might be someone worth “hiring.”

After a few minutes, LaPerruque returned and told Jackson that the person was not someone Michael wanted on his staff. Jackson ignored the advice and hired Chris Carter as LaPerruque’s deputy. Carter had no background in security work.

When LaPerruque left Jackson’s employment in 2004, Chris Carter replaced him as the chief of security. Later, while Carter and Jackson were in a skateboard shop near Neverland, Jackson spotted a young, attractive blond surfer teenager behind the counter. Jackson this time asked Carter to quiz the 17-year-old, who he subsequently hired as the deputy to Carter. When Carter left a year later, few people knew that Michael Jackson’s entire security team was being directed by an 18-year-old named Joey, who had no prior experience.

This farcical situation, as Jackson’s trial on sexual-abuse charges drew near, prompted Grace Rwaramba, Jackson’s longtime nanny, to seek help. Jermaine Jackson had converted to Islam. He helped bring in the Nation of Islam and the Chris Carters and Joeys were gone. The Nation of Islam employees remained ensconced in key positions around Jackson until his death (those employees have consistently refused any comment despite my many emails and telephone calls).

As Jackson’s former security chief, Carter was expected to be the prosecutor’s star witness in the star’s 2005 sexual-abuse trial. He was set to testify that he saw Jackson and the boy who had been allegedly abused drink wine together. He was also to say that Jackson was an active, involved manager of his ranch, bolstering the prosecution's allegation that no conspiracy could have occurred without the singer's approval. But during the trial, Carter was arrested in Las Vegas. He was charged with several felony counts, including federal bank-robbery charges and state charges of armed robbery and kidnapping. Carter never made it to the stand, leaving a gaping hole in the prosecution's case.

Xtra Insight: Jackson Nanny to "Reveal All" by Gerald Posner

Xtra Insight: Jackson's Shady Inner Circle by Gerald Posner

Xtra Insight: Jackson and the "Pill Mills" by Gerald Posner

Xtra Insight: 7 Things Larry King Should Have Asked Dr. Klein by Gerald Posner

Michael Jackson, Entertainment, Arnold Klein Medical Residency, Arnold Klein Medical Training, Arnold Klein Drugs, Dermatology Department, Arnold Klein Michael Jackson Doctor, Arnold Klein Michael Jackson, Arnold Klein Biography, What Happened To Michael Jackson, Jackson Murder, Jackson Homicide, Michael Jackson News, Michael Jackson Drug Use, Arnold Klein, Michael Jackson Death, University Of Pennsylvania, Gerald Posner

[::] Tells The Story of How MJ Finally Made Him Cry! + BLUE Elvis EYESOREs from My CLOSET + Elvis Narco Book Search + Jimmy Velvet's Elvis Pix!

I'V gone back in the old unpublished draft archive and dug out some skeletons. As I mentioned earlier, I like to think I haven't gone crazy, but that I continue a long tradition of the same. So for the 5 people who regularly peruse this blog and used to frequent The Perfect American (now an overstocked library), I offer some posts that never quite made it past the cutting room...I'll also be compiling all of my Michael Jackson YouTube Videos, which have somehow found a mainstream audience, including CNN, and myriad foreign blogs and tabloid rags, which I never knew existed until the YouTube Anal-attics button under each of my videos told me so.  

BEtienne the CNN/Anderson Cooper Monkey story, which I apparently researched for them after I found and riposted the sweetest little Moonwalking Bubbles clip, quaintly titled with neither the words 'Bubbles' 'Moonwalk' or 'Jackson', 

from a Japanese YouTuber, who has now included all three of these words into his new title and who is currently looking at around 90,000 views, and my 'Jackson Ghost' video, which distinguishes itself from the other hundred Jackson Ghost videos currently on YouTube, by being first and having a spotlit, halo detail of the ghost for easy viewing...and so much more, I've been busy trying to tune in, interpret, and redirect the powerful Jacko vortex swirling in the web. ALos, thanks to IFC, who started me on my current ascendancy to one million views (should be any day now), with their embedding of the first video I ever posted, the "Night of the Iguana" Trailer, which started out two weeks ago at an emaciated three-digit viewership to become one of my biggest producers, with around 20k. And if that weren't enough, Beware of the Blog repainted a little tossed-off Michael Jackson EBay poem (and I know that because there were actually people on this blog that weren't from Seoul or searching for Pussy*). My Jacksonian State of mind stems from the fact that when I was 13-years-old, my idol (besides Jerry Lee) died, and even without the Internet, it was a weird fucking month afterward. In fact I can remember (and am getting right now the same feeling although a little less intense), which I recall from Grocery Store, Tabloid, Checkout, Point of Purchase Stands and the massing of cheap paperbacks, not to mention what substituted for TMZ back in the day--Giraldo and shows like 20/20 (possibly the worst News Magazine TV show ever). You see, ELVIS PRESLEY WAS MY FIRST CONCERT IN 1977 WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN(and remember that, because apparently it will make you cry at the end of this paragraph, say two people). And so every time (but not until now did I fully realize how much) a celebrity dies, I get a little whiff of that 1977 air, blue eye shadow, punk rock, really good porn, Trans-Am's, bad music on the radio, Catholic Girls in Uniform, and 7-11 Slurpee Cuba Libra's. So thanks MJ for the memories. And truth be told, I was all immune to your shit, 'till on a far corner of the Web one night at around 5AM, I found myself on a Romanian Video Site called Trilulu, which I belong to, and there I found a video posted by a thirteen-year-old Romanian girl...it was of you, and I don't even remember what song it was now, because the thing that made me cry was the fact that the title was decorated with hearts and stars.  

Velvet Elvis Presley BLUE EYESORE RAGE 24x18 Painting

If you love Elvis or know someone who does, this is a must have for any collector. Features of the wonderful painting include: This is a fantastic portrait of The King, Elvis Presley This is a young, sexy Elvis with stunning BLUE EYES Very life like image Individuality hand painted Individuals signed by the artist Painted on soft deep rich velvet which is stretched over a wood frame Painting is 24" x 18" and comes unframed NO TWO paintings alike. The painting sent to you is an original. It may not be EXACT to the one pictured in this auction. This is a lovely hand painted and signed picture of Elvis Presley on soft deep rich velvet.

final stage pic

Indianapolis concert

final pic on stage

Amazon Narco Search

Featured Books for "narcotics badge"

Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business by Sonny West See all pages with references to "narcotics badge". Excerpt - on Page 252: " ... " He muster approved, because he made me a lieutenant. The emblem Elvis really coveted was a federal narcotics badge. Through John Grade, a former L.A. ... " Key Phrases: Elvis Presley, Colonel Parker, La's Vegas, Los Angeles, Lisa Marie, Palm Springs, Joe Esposito, Charlie Hodge, Memphis Mafia, Hal Wallis, Jerry Schilling, narcotics badge (see more) Key Phrases: Elvis Presley, Colonel Parker, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Lisa Marie, Palm Springs, Joe Esposito, Charlie Hodge, Memphis Mafia, Hal Wallis, Jerry Schilling, Mike Stone, Flaming Star, Beverly Hills, Frank Sinatra, George Klein, Jerry Lee, Marty Lacker, Vernon Presley, Alan Fortas, New York, Big Red, Kid Galahad, Perugia Way, Billy Smith, narcotics badge (see less)

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Care less Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Koranic See all pages with references to "narcotics badge". Excerpt - on Page 438: " ... "' Everybody knew that Elvis was against this kind of activity: he showed them all his federal narcotics badge and spoke with disapproval about rock groups that were known to have drug problems. ... " Key Phrases: Elvis Presley, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Jerry Schilling, New York, Colonel Parker, Hal Wallis, George Klein, Lisa Marie, karate movie, gospel album (see more) Key Phrases: Elvis Presley, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Jerry Schilling, New York, Colonel Parker, Hal Wallis, George Klein, Lisa Marie, Frank Sinatra, Tom Diskin, Larry Geller, Commercial Appeal, Daya Mata, The Impersonal Life, Billy Smith, Blue Hawaii, Joe Esposito, Marty Lacker, William Morris, Alan Fortas, Guitar Man, Charlie Hodge, Kang Rhee, karate movie, gospel album (see less)

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Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents by Cormac O'Brien See all pages with references to "narcotics badge". Excerpt - on Page 228: " ... if he wanted to add a federal narcotics badge to his collection . So the King did just that, and he came bearing the gift of a gold-plated .45-caliber ... " Key Phrases: United States, New York, Civil War, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, World War, John Adams, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Secret Service, elected term (see more) Key Phrases: United States, New York, Civil War, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, World War, John Adams, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Secret Service, John Quincy Adams, Jimmy Carter, Martin Van Buren, Ronald Reagan, Andrew Johnson, Gerald Ford, Henry Clay, Herbert Hoover, James Madison, John Tyler, Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, elected term (see less)

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Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley See all pages with references to "narcotics badge". Excerpt - on Page 287: " ... acquire a Federal Narcotics badge for himself. Elvis was an avid badge collector. He had detective, police, and sheriff badges from all over the nation ... " Key Phrases: Elvis Presley, Las Vegas, Colonel Parker, Los Angeles, Joe Esposito, Bel Air, Palm Springs, Little One, Time Inc, Air Force, Priscilla Beaulieu, James Whitmore (see more)