Dr. Feelgood: The Shocking Story of the Doctor Who May Have Changed History by Treating and Drugging JFK, Marilyn, Elvis, and Other Prominent Figures

Wonderful book about history of speed (meth) in America, how one doctor, Dr. Feelgood (Dr. Max Jacobson) helped to popularize the drug in the United States before the government made certain forms of speed illegal (while forcing children, even toddlers, to take other weaker forms of the drug)! Explains how his (and later his son's in CA) patient list included most of the luminaries of the 50's and 60's, including presidents Kennedy and Nixon, Marilyn Monroe, etc. This doctor, "Dr. Feelgood", was truly an apostle of speed, at a time that "pep pills" and "diet pills" containing speed were quite popular with Americans, especially "housewives" including Nancy Reagan of "Just Say No!" fame, according to a slightly fictionalized book her daughter wrote! Shows how the drug can be helpful to achieve great work through enabling great focus for long periods of time, but also how the drug can be addictive, very unhealthy, and even deadly. This book also exposes the hysteria and witch hunt Dr. Jacobson suffered at the hands of a sensational attack in the media, leading eventually to the meth variant of speed being made illegal, without even one, much less many studies proving its danger. Not to mention, no government has the right to tell humans what we can consume, whether the food/drug be natural or in this case, synthetic. A really fascinating history, not to be missed. A quick, engaging read, although certainly somewhat "anti-drugs". Definitely a must read to understand how our nation slipped into the unconstitutional "war on drugs" that declares millions of our citizens "criminals" for using the same drugs as two major presidents, one of whom, Nixon, hypocritically fought for laws to arrest and enslave millions annually for using the same drug he himself became addicted to! A fun read, and a Must Read! Enjoy!

I bought this not so much for its connection to JFK, but for its overall theme of a respected doctor peddling dope. First off, let me say that I had an opportunity to know that the allegations made in this book were true because of my first professional job out of college. A dossier appeared on my desk which I was supposed to review and issue a summarized report on. As I started reading, I was floored. I just couldn't believe a doctor could have gotten away with so much for so long unless he had friends in high places. As I read on, I was incredulous but the investigative report was exacting. Names, dates, details were all compiled by a reputable private investigation firm that was hired to get it rightThis book will no doubt tickle your curiosity based purely on the cast of characters which were mostly from the cream of mid-century society who were wealthy and pampered. The rest were actors, public servants, and prominent people. If these names garnered media space back in the day, there was a chance they were 'patients' of Dr. Max.Based purely on this book, the investigative report I read was quite thorough. While this book about Jacobson didn't include everything about Dr. Feelgood such as some personal things relating to his own unhealthy habits, it did a crack job of pulling the lid off Max J's medical practice. So much has been made of JFK's health in recent weeks that I couldn't shake what I read in that report or in this book. I saw a scene in a recent tv dramatization about Kennedy's last days. He was being injected with multiple medications. The large hypodermic needles made me wince. It made me wonder if this was a nod to his Addison's disease or something more creepy and sinister such as Dr. Max.The curious aspect re: this book is that Dr. Feelgood had been publicly outed decades ago and as quickly as his activities were exposed they were just as quickly forgotten.While there are many details and assertions regarding the first couple in this book, I tended to look at the global picture which reflected how things went on back then and how they are now.This was a most interesting book but not necessarily a great one.

This is a compulsively readable book about a sensational topic. My question is about how the authors handle their sources. First of all, there are some strange mistakes that any fact-checker should have caught. Kaiser Wilhelm was not a "Hapsburg monarch" (p. 36); he was a Hohenzollern. Is it likely that a young butcher's son would study under Roentgen (p. 38) and Bier (p. 41), work with Freud, Jung and Adler (p. 45) and meet Albert Einstein (p. 40)? There are also strange passages about Max's life in the '30s. He supposedly moved to Prague in 1932 because Hitler was chancellor ('33) and because the Reichstag fire ('33) had caused Kristallnacht ('38) (pp.52-53). By 1936 Max was in New York, peddling amphetamines.There is mention of an unpublished diary (p. 93) and of an unpublished memoir (p. 156) kept by Jacobson, but there is no further discussion of where the diary and memoir are, by whom they are possessed, what dates they cover, of what they consist and how the authors obtained access to them. Much of the book consists of information supposedly obtained from this material; some of the remainder comes from "private interviews" with anonymous sources. The authors describe Jacobson as a narcissistic sociopath, perhaps a mythomaniac. If they are relying on Max's mysterious diary and memoir, they should say so clearly and point out how muddled the documents are and how dubious their accuracy. If these are their own mistakes, it clearly brings into question their credibility.I have great respect for Seymour Hersh and others whom the authors interviewed. Perhaps a second edition, more carefully sourced and edited, can resolve some of these problems, because the subjects that these authors raise are of enduring interest. Recommended, with qualifications.

Shocking story about a Doctor who used his Degree to drug his patients! The patients were all well known Stars from Hollywood and Politicians! It seems money was not the motive, but the need to be needed by these important people kept him prescribing! Making his patients FEEL GOOD was the motive , while the patients thought they were receiving a vitamin cocktail!

Absolutely absorbing and well written, the book charts the Machiavellian influence on the glitterati and lifts the lid on the sordid side of Camelot

I was gobsmacked to read about all the people this guy "serviced" with his special cocktail of drugs. Considering the top politicians who were his regular clients, I feel fortunate to have survived the 50s and 60s without there being a third and final world war.

The book outlines very clearly how meth can and does affect people and how dangerous it is for people in power or those of influence to be taking this stuff.One of the most shocking and enlightening chapters is the one dealing with JFK’s murder. About the most likely explanation I’ve read...and I’ve read many of the theories.

Good book, I remember most of the people in this book, couldn’t believe the control he had over such high profile people. It was an important time in History and could have been much worse, some of the descriptions made me cringe. But it put into perspective certain things I remember, even though I’m English the fact the book is about American history didn’t matter. I like historical books I like reading about the entertainment world so this was a good mix. It was informative without being boring and gave great insight into people’s life’s and addictions. Good read that you can put down and pick up again it’s easy to follow