Celebrity Rehab’s Dr. Drew Faces Allegations of Drug Pushing
Celebrity Rehab Dr. Drew Pinsky is currently in the hot seat after being accused of promoting Wellbutrin, an antidepressant drug, on his popular radio show, Loveline, in exchange for $275,000.
The celebrity addiction specialist was named in a $3 million guilty plea by drug manufacturing giant GlaxoSmithKline following admission of bribing doctors across the United States with money, gifts, tickets to sports events and vacation trips.
Though doctors talking about a specific drug on TV is nothing new, the Loveline host’s case is drawing attention because of his failure to disclose getting paid to talk about the antidepressant.
In his email statement, Dr. Drew said “In the late ’90s I was hired to participate in a two-year initiative discussing intimacy and depression which was funded by an educational grant by Glaxo Wellcome.” Pinsky also adds that his comments “were consistent with my clinical experience.”
Wellbutrin is an antidepressant drug for the treatment of sexual dysfunction, bulimia, ADHD, and obesity. It was being pitted against Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft, which are among the popular antidepressants at the time Wellbutrin was apparently being promoted by the doctor.
As of now, no further comments are coming from Dr. Pinsky, as well as from GlaxoSmithKline. Likewise, there is no formal charges filed against the celebrity doctor.
Tags: antidepressant drugs, Dr. Drew drug controversy, Dr. Drew drug peddling
