Amphetamines Used by a Physician ,To It Moods of Famous Patients
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Amphetamines Used by a Physician ,To It Moods of Famous Patients safaris with Prince Radziwili or i hobnobbing with movie stars Imes and jet-setters. sembling those of paranoid Dr. Jacobson's unusual prac- By BOYCE RENSBERGER Mr. DeMille, in his autobi- schizophrenia, Withdrawal pro- tice—his use of amphetamines ography, says that he took Dr. For many years Dr. Max duces a profound mental de- and the prominence of so many Jacobson along to Egypt as his guest and personal physician Jacobson, a 72-year-old general pression that can last for weeks of his patients—affords a rare practitioner in New York, has during the filming of The Ten or months. glimpse into a little known Commandments," been injecting amphetamine— Some of Dr. Jacobson's pa- facet of the drug abuse prob- `He's Still My God' the powerful stimulant the drug tients say his treatments have lem in the United States. culture calls "speed"—into the In his heyday, Mr. Fisher wrecked lives and destroyed Dr. Jacobson is the best veins of dozens of the coun- often wined and dined Dr. careers. In one instance, a pa- known of a small number of Jacobson in Hollywood and try's most celebrated artists, tient died of what the Med- New York doctors who special- Las Vegas and, it is said, did not writers, politicians and jet-set- ical Examiner called acute ize in prescribing and adminis- like to open an act without Dr. ters. Jacobson in the wings. Last "amphetamine poisoning." tering amphetamines not to Many patients of the German- June Mr. Fisher attended a treat disease but to boost the wedding reception for Dr. born doctor swear by the po- mood. of healthy patients. Jacobson and his third wife and tions he concocts in his office Far from the typical. picture wrote on a poster of snapshots and insist—without always and wisecracks that is on dis- of rag-tag youths dosing them- play in the Jacobson dining knowing what is in the injec- selves with illegally obtained tions—that he has helped them room: "He's still my God." drugs, the story of Dr. Jacob- Not all the doctor's patients achieve success. Most say his son and his patients is one of retain as faithful. Many have shots give them boundless wealthy and famous adults de- bitter recollections of their ex- energy and more productive pending on a licensed physician periences at Dr. Jacobson's and pleasurable lives. hands. They say that he could for their completely legal in- be abrupt and gruff and that But at least a few of the jections. he, would sometimes throw pa- doctor's patients have qui Although Dr. Jacobson ac- tients out of the office if he complaining of had reactions knowledged to The New York was displeased with them. and enslaving addictions to the Times that he often mixes am- Mr. Preminger, the producer, amphetamine. Used over a long said in an interview, "I was a pa- phetamine into the medications tient of his for a very short period of time, in large doses, Continued on Page 34, Column I time. He gave me shots. I don't .the drug produces symptoms re- Dr. Max Jacobson know what was in them, but they made me feel terrible. It was one of the most fearful ex- periences of my life and I'd Continued From'Page 1, Col. 3 never go again." he injects, patients are seldom Dr. Jacobson uses unusually Mr. Subber, the theatrical told that the mixture contains large. amounts of amphetamine producer, told The Times he anything beyond vitamins and in his practice. The doctor's had been a patient of Dr. fiorreones. The doctor would office reported that Dr. Jacob- Jacobson's for 25 years but that not reveal which patients re- son buys amphetamine at the he had quit about 10 years ago ceived amphetamine and which, rate of 80 grams a month. This for reasons he said he preferred if any, did not. is enough to make 100 fairly not to discuss. The most famous of the doc- strong doses of 25 milligrams Mr. Capote, who described tor's patients were President every day. Dr. Jacobson as a "powerful and Mrs. Kennedy. Dr. Jacob- Investigated by U.S. theatrical figure," said he son frequently visited the According to the Federal Bu- stopped going to Dr. Jacobson White House and often traveled reau of Narcotics and Danger- after he had taken a series of with the Kennedys. In 1081, ous Drugs, which has investi- treatments and then gone to for example, he went with the gated Dr. Jacobson at different Europe. President to Vienna for the times over almost five years, Mr, Capote said he had then summit meeting with Khru- a review by the agency of the collapsed and had to he hos- shchev and, Dr. Jacobson said doctor's records showed that pitalized. {After a period of in an interview, gave the Pres- a substantial quantity of am- steady amphetamine use, the ident injections there. phetamines he had purchased In addition to the Kennedys, was unaccounted for. In 1069 other persons who were or are the bureau ordered seizure of patients of the doctor include all controlled drugs in Dr. Ja- typical withdrawal reaction is Truman Capote, Cecil B. De- cobson's possession, an action a sudden and extreme mental Mille, Eddie Fisher, Alan Jay he contested in a suit that is depression and physical leth- Lerner, Representative Claude still pending. argy.) Mr. Capote said the in- Pepper of Florida, Otto Prem- -At all hours of the ,clay or jections were supposed to be inger, Emilio Pucci, Anthony night patients go to Dr. Jacob- special vitamins but that be- Quinn and Tennessee Williams. son's office at 56 East 87th cause of the way he had felt, Included among a number of Street—sometimes to his home he had been sure they were other prominent patients of Dr. —to receive the injections. loaded with "speed." Jacobson have been Eusebio Some go once a month, some Most often, Dr. Jacobson Morales, the former Panama- weekly, some every day. said, when patients became dis- nian Ambassador to England; Dr. Max Jacobson is a phy- endhanted with him it was be- Prince Stanislas Radziwill, Pres- sician of the old school with, cause they were either mental- ident Kennedy's brother-in-law; according to many patients, a ly unstable or because they Bob Richardson, once a top bedside manner that instills were drinking while taking his fashion photographer; the late trust and admiration. drugs. Dr. Jacobson is adamant Mark Shaw, a top photographer Although he is 72 years old, in requiring that his patients and Kennedy intimate; Saint he looks 20 years younger.. not drink. Otherwise, he said, Subber, the Broadway producer- With his dark hair most of they will experience bad reac- director, and Pat Suzuki, the which he still has), black- tions. singer and actress. rimmed glasses and blue blazer (Experts consulted by The An extensive inquiry also over a turtleneck, he could be Times said they knew of no turned up the names of well a fiftyish executive at the coun- specific "bad reaction" that over 100 others in ranking try club. would occur if a person took positions in government, jour- For all the rich patients he alcohol and amphetamine. How- nalism, finance, industry, soci- has had, the doctor does not ever, Dr. Jacobson sometimes ety, and several entertainment appear to have become wealthy gives people barbiturates, which fields who were said to be himself. He lives in a modest can be fatal if taken in large patients of Dr. Jacobson, but middle-class apartment in a Iux- amounts while drinking.) who could not be confirmed as ury blinding on East 86th Street such. John Roberts, a patient who with paperback murder mys- has worked for Dr. Jacobson It cannot be said with cer- teries in the bathroom and a tainty that the Kennedys or, for many years as an unpaid television set on a wheeled cart assistant and unofficial man- with a few exceptions, any in the living room. other specific patient received ager, described an incident Even so, he enjoys the money when he threw Tennessee Wil- amphetamine. of others from time to time by, It is known, however, that liams out of the office. for example, going on African Mr. Williams, Mr. Roberts said, "came in with a battle— can you imagine---and he was boozing it up in the patients' This article is based on reporting by Boyce Rensberger, got this? I worked with the room and I said to Max, 'He's Lawrence K. Altman, Felix Betair, Jr., Jane E. Brody, Char- drunk in there,' and Max said Kennedys. I traveled with the lotte Curtis, Ben A. Franklin, Will Lissner, Richard D. throw him out so I threw him Kennedys. I treated the Ken- out." Lyons, Robert Reinhold, Martin Toichin and Martin Wald- nedys. Jack Kennedy, Jacque- Many of Dr. Jacobson's long- ron, and research by Linda Amster. line. They never could have time patients do not have to made it without me. They gave come to the office for daily me this in gratitude." shots. They are given 30-cubic- gests that, at least at that time, Confirmation by Mrs. Onassis centimeter vials of the drug, the situation was different. usually mixed with vitamins Mrs. Lerner testified that her The exact nature of the re- and hormones, and a number husband had become addicted lationship between the doctor of disposable needles. They to injections from Dr.