Book Description

Front page headlines on the day Elvis Presley died showed the deep feelings so many had for the first and only "King" of Rock 'n Roll. His early death at a young age was a shock. Not even 24 hours had passed after his death before the controversies started around the cause of his death. Did he really die of a heart attack as stated by the county coroner, or was his death a drug over-dose? Heart or drugs; what actually killed him? What were Elvis Presley's health issues that plagued him during his short life? Why was he in so much pain? Why the early death? His full medical saga has only recently begun to be thoroughly examined. After all these years people still want to know what happened to the "King." Three years after his death, I served as the major expert defense witness for Elvis' doctor, Dr. George C. Nichopolous. The District Attorney of Shelby County originally wanted to charge him with murder/manslaughter for "intentionally prescribing to harm Elvis Presley," but the charges were changed to "prescribing without a legitimate medical purpose." The jury promptly acquitted him, but I was left with many questions about what exactly was physically wrong with Elvis. The question of "was it heart or was it drugs" remained unanswered. In the years since his death, medical research has advanced to the point that we have new insights regarding his underling health problems and untimely death. Many of the mysteries of Elvis' life and death, which I hope to unveil in this book, can now be answered. I am in the unique position of being the only physician in the country who still has Elvis' full medical records from the trial. With expertise in internal medicine, addiction, and pain medicine along with having personally known his physicians, I am in a unique position to help uncover his mysterious medical saga. My hope is to shed some light on his health issues, and hopefully, with the help of medical science and common sense, solve the mystery of what really happened to Elvis! Forest Tennant