Elvis Presley's demise on August 16, 1977, and the subsequent controversial autopsy have remained subjects of intrigue and debate for decades.
It was at precisely 3:30 p.m. when Elvis Presley's life was tragically cut short due to a heart attack. The iconic singer was found lifeless by his girlfriend, Ginger Alden, in the master bedroom bathroom of his mansion at 3754 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee. A valiant effort by the ambulance resuscitation team, who responded to the emergency call, lasted for half an hour in a desperate attempt to revive him, but their efforts proved futile.
Following his death, the late Elvis Presley's lifeless body was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis. There, a meticulous autopsy was conducted by a team of ten doctors, one of whom was none other than Jerry T. Francisco, the same coroner who had performed Martin Luther King Jr.'s autopsy.
The events that unfolded after Elvis's passing gave rise to a plethora of rumors and speculations. Questions arose about the cause of his death: Was it a drug overdose? A murder? An unethical prescription of drugs by his personal physician? Doubts even surfaced about whether it was indeed Elvis's lifeless body that had entered the Baptist Memorial morgue, fueling various theories and speculations from figures like Bob Dylan and Andrés Calamaro. The autopsy of Elvis Presley has, since then, remained a subject of enduring public controversy, akin to the mysteries surrounding the autopsy of Marilyn Monroe. The primary figure in the collective imagination as a suspect in Elvis Presley's untimely demise was his personal physician, Dr. George Nichopoulos, affectionately known as Dr. Nick, who appeared at Baptist Memorial during the autopsy process.
The spring of 1981 brought formal charges of murder against Dr. Nichopoulos, defended by James Neal, a prominent Tennessee lawyer known for his involvement in the prosecution of Richard Nixon during the Watergate s---dal. In October 1981, Dr. Nick was ultimately acquitted of murder. However, the Tennessee Medical Board did find him guilty of unethically prescribing medications to Elvis and other clients, including the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis.
During the trial, a comprehensive review was undertaken, shedding light on both the autopsy and the medications prescribed to Elvis in the decade preceding August 16, 1977. Elvis had been under treatment for hypertension and an extensive list of heart conditions. The autopsy revealed that, at the time of his passing, Elvis's heart was twice its normal size, weighing in at 530 grams, with substantial atherosclerosis present in his coronary vessels, aorta, and cerebral arteries. Additionally, it was discovered that Elvis suffered from an antitrypsin deficiency, a rare genetic condition linked to emphysema. A microscopic examination of his lungs revealed a unique interstitial lymphoid infiltrate, predominantly beneath the bronchial epithelium.
During the autopsy, pathologists noted Elvis's "hypogammaglobulinemia," an immune system disorder. The October 1981 trial established, based on a decade-long medical history of multiple organ abnormalities, that Elvis was afflicted by an autoimmune inflammatory disorder. Records from Dr. Nichopoulos unveiled eosinophilia and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) prior to Elvis's passing, further illuminating the health challenges the beloved singer had grappled with.
