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Elvis Presley’s Controversial Doctor Dead At 88, ‘The Simpsons’ Dr. Nick Riviera Based On Him

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 01:12 PST, Feb 28, 2016

Elvis Presley’s doctor – Dr. George Nichopoulos – died at the age of 88 on Wednesday in Memphis, Tennessee, as reported by CNN, citing the Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery.

The cause of death of the doctor, who treated Elvis Presley for the last decade of his life, has not been revealed yet. The doctor, who is also known under the nickname Dr. Nick, was accused of over-prescribing drugs to the king of rock ‘n’ roll.

Drug overdose is what caused Elvis Presley’s death. However, Dr. Nick claimed in court he was giving the “Unchained Melody” singer drugs to treat insomnia and was later acquitted. The doctor later lost his medical license in a separate case unrelated to Presley.

The Simpsons writers even named their well-known character Dr. Nick Riviera after Elvis Presley’s doctor.

On August 16, 1977, the king of rock ‘n’ roll died at the age of 42. According to official records, Elvis Presley collapsed and died in the bathroom of his mansion in Memphis. The original cause of death was said to be linked to an irregular heartbeat of the singer, while the autopsy report was sealed after information that Elvis Presley died of abusing prescribed drugs had surfaced in the media.

Over 30 years later, Elvis Presley’s physician, Dr. Nick, became a topic of testimony at the trial for the physician accused in the death of Michael Jackson’s death. Jackson died at the age of 50 in 2009. The autopsy report revealed the “Earth Song” singer died from taking a fatal combination of sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol.

At the trial for Jackson’s doctor, tour manager Paul Gongaware told the physician “Don’t be a Dr. Nick,” referring to Elvis Presley’s doctor. Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor of Jackson, told at the trial that he had given the singer nightly infusions of propofol to treat his insomnia. Dr. Murray was sentenced to four years in prison, and lost his medical license during that trial.

It took them four decades after the death of the king of rock ‘n’ roll to name a street after Elvis Presley in the city where he gained international recognition, as reported by Las Vegas Review Journal.

After Las Vegas’ Riviera hotel-casino implosion, Riviera Boulevard will be renamed Elvis Presley Way, according to the journal citing Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani. The upcoming Elvis Presley Way will start at Las Vegas Boulevard and will loop through the valet area of the Westgate.

However, some are saying that the correct name of the roadway is Elvis Presley Boulevard.

Westgate is the venue where Elvis Presley organized his major comeback in 1969. The comeback show of the king of rock ‘n’ roll took place at The International, the name of which was later changed to the Las Vegas Hilton. In 2014, the property was purchased by David Siegel, who renamed it Westgate.

According to Giunchigliani, representatives of Siegel’s company recently negotiated with their staff to launch the process of renaming the street. Siegel raises high hopes that the new name of the street will help promote his hotel, as well as the Elvis exhibit that was loaned to him by Graceland.

Many say that Elvis Presley deserved a street named after him. According to Presley’s official record of sold-out shows, in the period between July, 1969, and December, 1976, as many as 837 of his shows were sold-out.

According to Joe Stanhibel, who has long been pushing the city’s leadership to name a street in Elvis Presley’s honor, to date there are only two streets named after the kind of rock ‘n’ roll: Elvis Presley Court near Jones Boulevard, and Elvis Alive Drive near U.S. Highway 95.

[Photo by Keystone/Getty Images]

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