Dr. Drew Busted for Being on the Take
Dr. Drew: "My Comments Were Consistent With My Clinical Experience"
Dr. Drew is supposed to be help celebrities (and others) with their addictions, yet instead it looks like he's the one with the drug problem. The Loveline host is being investigated for getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote an antidepressant.
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Drew Pinsky, 53, was named in a $3 million guilty plea by drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, which paid the celebrity addiction specialist $275,000 to promote one of its drugs.
Dr. Drew received the money to tout Wellbutrin, an antidepressant, as a drug that also treats conditions like obesity and sexual dysfunction, the FDA says.
According to the Justice Department, Dr. Drew also never publicly identified himself as a paid spokesman for the drug giant before recommending Wellbutrin to patients.
In an emailed statement, Dr. Drew defended his drug pushing.
"In the late 90s I was hired to participate in a 2 year initiative discussing intimacy and depression which was funded by an educational grant by Glaxo Wellcome," he wrote.
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"Services for the non branded campaign included town hall meetings, writings and multimedia activities in conjunction with the patient advocacy group the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association."
"My comments were consistent with my clinical experience," he said.
As of now, Pinsky has not been charged with anything. Neither he or GlaxoSmithKline have released further comment.
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