- Dr. Drew Pinsky's HLN show Dr. Drew On Call has been cancelled by CNN, with the last episode set to air on September 22
- The news comes eight days after Pinsky said that he is 'gravely concerned' about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's health in a radio interview
- Pinsky claimed that Clinton is suffering from brain damage that affects her balance and attacked the 'old-fashioned medicines' she is prescribed
- He also said that Hillary's medical condition was 'dangerous' and 'concerning,' basing this on an eight-paragraph letter from her doctor
- The letter Pinsky based his claims on was written by Clinton's doctor of 15 years last July, declaring her 'fit to serve as President of the United States'
Dr. Drew
Pinsky is checking out, with CNN announcing that his HLN show Dr. Drew
On Call will air its final episode on September 22, a little over five
years after it first premiered on the network.
The
sudden cancellation of the current affairs program comes just eight
days after Pinsky made a number of controversial claims about Hillary
Clinton's health while appearing on a radio show, including that she was
suffering from brain damage.
Pinsky, 57, also stated that he and another physician were 'gravely concerned' about the 'health' and 'health care' of Clinton.
These
conclusions were not reached after an extensive review of Clinton's
medical records or following a conversation with an individual who has
treated the Democratic nominee for president, but rather after Pinsky
read an eight-paragraph letter that was written by Clinton's doctor of
15 years.
That
letter, which was publicly released last July, states that Clinton is
'in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the
United States.'
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Coming to an end: Dr. Drew Pinsky's
HLN show Dr. Drew On Call (above) has been cancelled by CNN, with the
last episode set to air on September 22
Professional-ish opinion: The news
comes eight days after Pinsky said that he is 'gravely concerned' about
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's health in a radio interview
(Clinton above on Thursday)
Pinsky's
comments about brain damage came from a line in the letter detailing
the concussion suffered by Clinton in December 2012 when she fainted and
hit her head while suffering from a stomach virus.
The
letter mentions that after the incident, Clinton seemed to benefit from
wearing Fresnel prism glasses, which she was seen in a month after her
fall while testifying before the Benghazi committee in Congress.
'When she hit her head, she had to wear these prism glasses when she came out,' said Pinsky.
'That is
brain damage, and it’s affecting her balance. Now clearly, it hasn’t
affected her cognition, but tell us a little more about that. That’s
profound.'
DR. DREW PINSKY'S COMMENTS ON HILLARY CLINTON'S HEALTH
Dr.
Pinsky: But the fact is she released her medical records some time ago,
and if you listened to my show last week, I just called a friend of
mine, Dr. Robert [name unclear], who’s an excellent
internist-pulmonologist, and we just dispassionately sat and evaluated
the medical record that she had released. And based on the information
that she has provided and her doctors have provided, we were gravely
concerned not just about her health, but her health care.
Radio host: Why?
Dr.
Pinsky: It’s hard for people to understand. Both of us concluded that
if we were providing the care that she was receiving, we’d be ashamed to
show up in a doctor’s lounge. We’d be laughed out. She’s receiving
sort-of 1950-level care by our evaluation. So we took a look at her
record, and here are the basic facts. She had two episodes of what’s
called Deep-Venous Thrombosis. Common problem. Blood clots in the leg.
She also has hypothyroidism, and she’d been treated for hypothyroidism
with something called Armour Thyroid, which is very unconventional and
something that we used to use back in the ’60s. And both he and I went,
“Hmmm, that’s weird.” And by the way, wow, Armour Thyroid sometimes has
some weird side effects.
Oh
well. OK. So she goes on Coumadin. That’s weird, because Coumadin
really isn’t even used anymore. Now we use Eliquis or Xarelto, things
like this. Certainly the presidential candidate would get one of the
newer anti-coagulates. Then she falls, hits her head, and as a
complication of that has something called a Transverse Sinus Thrombosis.
This is an exceedingly rare clot. I’ve only seen one of these in my
career, which is a clot in the collecting system for the cerebral spinal
fluid, and it essentially guarantees that somebody has something wrong
with their coagulation system. Well, she’s had two clots, a Transverse
Sinus Thrombosis.
What’s
wrong with her coagulation system? Has that been evaluated? And oh, by
the way, Armour Thyroid associated rarely with hyper-coagulability. So
the very medicine the doctors are using may be causing this problem, and
they’re using an old-fashioned medicine to treat it. What is going on
with her health care? It’s bizarre. I got to tell you. Maybe they have
reasons, but at a distance, it looks bizarre. There ought to be some
sort of standard for people that are going to lead the country or are
going to making these important decisions. Again, Hillary may be fine
with all of this. I mean, it’s dangerous and it’s concerning, but you
can see—and by the way, there were two other things that gravely
concerned us. When she hit her head, she had to wear these prism glasses
when she came out.
Radio host: Right, right.
Dr.
Pinsky: That is brain damage, and it’s affecting her balance. Now
clearly, it hasn’t affected her cognition, but tell us a little more
about that. That’s profound. And then number two, when they screened her
for heart disease, again, they did an old-fashioned screen. It just
seems like she’s getting care from somebody that she met in Arkansas
when she was a kid, and you’ve got to wonder. You’ve got to wonder. It’s
not so much that her health is a grave concern. It’s that the care
she’s getting could make it a concern.
Pinsky previously made mention of Clinton having an issue brought on by a 'brain injury' this past January.
He
claimed that a 'strong source' from the website Breitbart had informed
him that Clinton was late returning to the stage at the Democratic
debate because of an incident related to this past injury.
It
was ultimately revealed that Clinton had in fact been using the
restroom, and Pinsky was forced to apologize on-air, closing out his
statement by saying: 'I regret the error and will make sure, in the
future, to apply the rigorous editorial standards we have in place here.
I apologize to our viewers and Secretary Clinton for falling short
tonight.'
Donald
Trump and a handful of his most fervent supporters, among them the
former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani and Fox News host Sean
Hannity, have also called into question the mental and physical health
of Clinton in the past few weeks as a way of implying she is possibly
unfit to serve as president.
Trump's
attacks seemed to amp up around the same time he brought Steve Bannon
onto his campaign team, who is the executive chairman of Breitbart, the
website that made the January claim about Clinton's brain injury that
Pinsky picked up and reported.
The
claims of Trump and his polotical pals are far more general though than
the ones being made by Pinsky, who is an American board-certified
internist and graduate of the University of Southern California School
of Medicine.
'Dr.
Drew and I have mutually agreed to air the final episode of his show on
September 22,' said CNN executive vice president Ken Jautz in a
statement on Thursday.
'Dr.
Drew and his team have delivered more than five years of creative shows
and I want to thank them for their hard work and distinctive
programming.'
He
then took some time to applaud the work of Pinsky and his team, saying:
'Their audience-driven shows, in particular, were innovative and
memorable TV. And Dr. Drew has been an authoritative voice on addiction
and on many other topical issues facing America today.'
No
mention was made however about the comments made by Pinsky the week
prior while he appeared on the KABC show McIntyre in the Morning.
During
the radio interview Pinsky also stated that he had issues with the
medicines that Clinton was taking for her hypothyroidism (Armour
Thyroid) and her anti-coagulate (Coumadin), claiming both medications
are outdated and not used by most doctors.
From
there, he suggests that the transverse sinus thrombosis which Clinton
suffered as a result of her 2012 concussion could be the result of one
of these medications.
He then says it is 'dangerous and it’s concerning' that this 'old-fashioned medicine' was prescribed to Clinton.
Towards
the end of the interview he also takes issue with the method used for
when Clinton was tested for heart disease, calling it an 'old-fashioned
screen.'
Pinsky
then closed out by going after those individuals who have treated
Hillary, saying: 'It just seems like she’s getting care from somebody
that she met in Arkansas when she was a kid, and you’ve got to wonder.
You’ve got to wonder.
'It’s not so much that her health is a grave concern. It’s that the care she’s getting could make it a concern.'
The letter declaring that Clinton had a clean bill of health came from Lisa Bardack, an internist in Mount Kisco, New York.
The
cancellation of Pinsky's show is the latest setback for the polarizing
media personality, who in April ended his long-running radio show
Loveline after three decades.
He
began work on the HLN show shortly after he wrapped production and
filming on the sixth and final season of his incredibly controversial
VH1 program Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
Wild speculation: Pinsky claimed that
Clinton is suffering from brain damage that affects her balance (Clinton
above in 2013 a month after suffering a concussion) and attacked the
'old-fashioned medicines' she is prescribed
Clean bill of health: Clinton's physician declared her fit to serve as President of the United States (above)
Rehab has been a booming business
though for Pinsky, who lives in a multimillion Pasadena mansion with his
wife Susan and triplets Douglas, Jordan and Paulina, who are in their
20s (family above in 2001)
Pinsky
walked away from Celebrity Rehab after saying he was tired of the
criticism he faced from members of the public and media, who called into
question his methods and abilities after five people who were treated
on the program died.
Jeff
Conway of Grease fame, Alice in Chains guitarist Mike Starr, country
singer Mindy McCready, MTV reality star Joey Kovar and Rodney King all
died shortly after appearing on the program.
He
also hosted one season of Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew on VH1 as well as two
seasons of Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House, which also featured
King before his death.
Pinsky
himself regularly snorted cocaine in the 1980s, a DailyMail.com
investigation discovered last June, with the host revealing his drug
past on his HLN show when questioned about his past.
In
fact Dr Drew became so enamored by the illegal white powder it is
alleged he; told close friends, 'I really love cocaine'; snorted the
drug from album covers and mirrors in the studio of famous LA radio
station KROQ; and even snorted lines of coke with a patient who is now a
prominent member of the Republican Party - he was treating for an
injury.
The drug allegations came from several sources who knew or worked with Dr Drew - whose real name David - in the early 1980s.
The
drug revelations - which have been touched upon over the years on the
back pages of gossip mags and on internet blogs raise serious questions
about the honesty of a man who has made millions of dollars from dishing
out advice to celebrity drug addicts and alike on TV, while also asking
that they come clean about their own drug past.
Rehab
has been a booming business though for Pinsky, who lives in a
multimillion Pasadena mansion with his wife Susan and triplets Douglas,
Jordan and Paulina, who are in their 20s.
1 comment:
Real doctors have an office visit before they do any diagnosis.
He lost credibility when he diagnosed here without seeing her.
He might as well had said she's a defective clone without examining her.
What was he thinking? Only he knows and if he was reading from a teleprompter
and sabotaged, then whoever the teleprompter writer is, knows.
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