Dr. Drew Pinsky Under Fire After Mindy McCready Suicide, Compared To Dr. Kervorkian

Dr. Drew Pinsky is facing criticism after country singer Mindy McCready became the fifth member of Celebrity Rehab to die in the last two years.

Pinsky and the show have made the private struggles of celebrities public, allowing audiences to witness their battles with addiction and dangerous behaviors. Both he and the show have been criticized for turning this private struggle into entertainment.

Buzzfeed writer Kate Aurthur pointed out that Mindy McCready’s death makes five Celebrity Rehab alums to die in the past two years — including three from McCready’s season. She bemoaned Dr. Drew Pinsky’s role in bringing their problems to light.

She wrote:

“If you watched the show as a serious documentary, it had a lot to offer, and was unsparing and often moving. If you watched it as a hilarious spectacle, then — well, it’s hard to figure out how to end this sentence, because I think you’re awful. But reality TV sends these things out into the world, and there’s no controlling what a viewer’s reaction is going to be. It doesn’t help that Dr. Drew has sometimes seemed like a fame addict himself.”

Others were not so gentle with their words for Dr. Drew Pinsky, Perez Hilton noted. Singer Richard Marx compared Pinsky to Dr. Kervorkian, writing: “I think “Dr” Drew Pinsky should change his name to Kevorkian. Same results.”

Though Marx later deleted the tweet, he stood by his criticism of Pinsky.

I went too far with the Kevorkian crack. It is, however, my opinion that what Dr. D does is exploitation and his TV track record is not good

— Richard Marx (@richardmarx) February 18, 2013

Dr. Drew Pinsky himself commented on Mindy’s death, saying that she did not heed the help he tried to offer:

“Although I have not treated her for few years, I had reached out to her recently upon hearing about the apparent suicide of her boyfriend and father of her younger children. She was devastated. Although she was fearful of stigma and ridicule she agreed with me that she needed to make her health and safety a priority. Unfortunately it seems that Mindy did not sustain her treatment.”

Do you believe that Dr. Drew Pinsky bears responsibility in the deaths of the Celebrity Rehab members including Mindy McCready?