SHORT TAKES : Elvis’ Doctor Rules Out Suicide

Dr. George Nichopoulos, Elvis Presley’s personal physician for 11 years, discounts the claim of Presley biographer Albert Goldman that the King committed suicide.

In his first interview since the King’s death in 1977, Nichopoulos said on the syndicated TV program “A Current Affair” that Presley’s death may have been caused by the pressures of stardom or psychological problems.

But he said, “I don’t think Elvis was capable of committing suicide. . . . (He) had many opportunities to commit suicide at much more stressful times.”

In 1981, Nichopoulos was acquitted of prescribing excessive amounts of narcotics to Presley and eight other patients. He was accused of prescribing more than 10,000 doses of drugs during the 18 months before Presley’s death.

The interview will air next week.