Drew Pinsky - Criticism and Praise

Criticism and Praise

In 2009, Pinsky drew criticism from experts for publicly offering professional opinions of celebrities he has never met or personally examined, based on media accounts, and has also drawn the ire of some of those celebrities. Following comments Pinsky made about actor Tom Cruise's belief in Scientology and Lindsay Lohan's drug abuse, Cruise's lawyer compared Pinsky to Joseph Goebbels, and Lohan posted on Twitter, "I thought REAL doctors talked to patients in offices behind closed doors." Pinsky also received criticism in April 2010 for stating that he would frame Lohan for illegal drug use in order to force her into a sobriety program if he were her father. Pinsky responded in the same publication that his remark was intended as hyperbole and a "flight of journalistic excess", not a suggestion as a treatment modality in any way. He stated his intent was to drive home the point about bringing negative consequences to bear for a person dying of addiction when all other options have been exhausted.

Pinsky, who admits in his 2009 book, The Mirror Effect, that he scored a 16 on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (average is 18 for celebrities), and shares several traits with the "closet narcissist", asserts that he was never motivated by fame to become a media figure, but from a desire to educate the public, especially the youth, on the medical facts distorted by the media. Patient Andy Dick, who made Pinsky his primary care physician, disputes the accusation that Pinsky is motivated by a desire for fame, insisting that Pinsky "really is just this unbelievably caring guy. He really is. He’s almost too caring." Sex Rehab alumnus Duncan Roy, however, has criticized Pinsky's competence. While Roy concedes that Pinsky is highly skilled at treating drug and alcohol addiction, he claims that Pinsky has no knowledge of sex addiction, and that he merely recycled the words and ideas of Jill Vermiere, MFT, one of the therapists on Sex Rehab, who Roy says, along with Dr. John Sealy, were the true therapeutic forces behind his recovery.

Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer Pinsky says, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that’s fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."

In January 2012, controversial journalist Jim Romenesko reported that Pinsky accepted $115,000 in consultation fees from Janssen Pharmaceutica in 2010 and 2011. In response, Janssen clarified that the fees paid for "educating teens, parents, and educators about the prevalence and serious risks of teen prescription drug abuse in the U.S." CNN Headline News spokesperson Alison Rudnick, which broadcasts Dr. Drew, stated that Pinsky would include on-air disclaimers during any stories involving Janssen. Charles Seife of Slate magazine, however, pointed out in a July 2012 article that no such disclaimer was made during an episode that aired a week earlier on gastric bypass surgery, despite a Los Angeles Times article questioning the propriety of Pinsky's role as a spokesperson for a firm that did marketing for lap-band surgery. Headline News explained that the lap-band deal had elapsed by the time the gastric bypass show aired, making a disclaimer unnecessary.

In July 2012, it was reported that United States prosecutors involved in a criminal prosecution of GlaxoSmithKline for healthcare fraud, in which the company settled for $3 billion, stated that Pinsky was paid $275,000 in March and April 1999 to promote Wellbutrin SR, a Glaxo antidepressant, "in settings where it did not appear that Dr. Pinsky was speaking for GSK." Glaxo marketed the drug being distinct from other antidepressants by not causing a decrease in sex drive, which Pinsky emphasized in his promotions of it, despite the fact that company did not have FDA approval for that claim.