Dr. Leo Spaceman
Fertility | Meth Addiction | Child Psychology
“A Fine Doctor, and a Pretty Good Dentist!”
I’m fresh off a Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew marathon thanks to my DVR, meth and alcohol and a little germ of a thought (better than a baby!) gestated a bit and it struck me how much people love to hate so-called “celebrity doctors.” Now, I love to hate anything, for rlls, but I like to know why I hate it, sometimes. Actually not very often. What I like to know is why other people hate what I generally like (and by “generally” I mean “about 13%”). Dr. Drew? I love him. I love him so much I would eat a baby to marry (or work for) him. Dr. Phil? Now that motherf&cker makes me want to step on babies. Dr. Oz? I still don’t really know who he is yet, presently, but I’ll do anything for you, readers, and so I will educate myself wiff research on this as yet unknown in my head doctor to the stars. (Who I’m told is quite handsome.)
Rehab ME, Dr. Drew. My addiction is YOU!!
Let’s start with Dr. Drew. I don’t understand the hate on him. Sure he says bold things about Lindsay Lohan being a drug addict and makes headline grabbing comments like the following quote about Angelina Jolie and her heroin addiction:
Just add up a couple things. There’s no such thing as ‘I was a heroin addict.’ That doesn’t exist in nature. Something is going on with [her] addiction. Or she’s in recovery. And I don’t see any evidence that’s the case. So we’ve got one person who’s a heroin addict. Which is a chronic lifelong condition, period.
Me, I think I can understand what he’s saying here. I have an eating disorder. I believe that, like alcoholics, there are certain conditions or diseases that, once you “have it,” you can never “not have it.” You can be in remission, you can have everything under control, but, for the rest of your life, you will have to work to get yourself away from that demon who once consumed you. I have an eating disorder and I am in recovery. The end. I’m certain that there will come a day when that will change and I’ll go through hell again. And then back. I may have a bias here because I truly and sincerely like Dr. Drew, but I think, deconstructing his statement, this is what he intended.
He comments about Lindsay Lohan on Twitter and in interviews. Some argue that he uses the misfortunes of others to advance his own career, but I don’t feign astonishment when I sputter, “But who the hell in Hollywood doesn’t?!” The problem with this, I think, is that medicine and celebrity shouldn’t mix. But we live in a culture where it does. End of story. I truly believe that he helps people doing his shows and in his interviews. He calls it like he sees it. He calls bullshit on the celebrities (debatable) on Celebrity Rehab. I see him connecting with people. But people hate on him for answering questions. But he’s a medical doctor who specializes in addiction and I would rather hear honest, factual information about the people we love to watch than a bunch of PR-spun bullshit. Maybe he says stuff when he shouldn’t or when he could take a pass, but I don’t see him massively marketing himself with supplements and crazy claims to follow his plan to get sober!!!111!! Thing is, he’s not breaking patient confidentiality when he talks about celebrities. You never think for a second that he is or has treated the people about whom he’s speaking. And generally he’s being asked specifically about these things, so it’s not as though he is always shooting off his mouth. I’m not defending him entirely, as I don’t know, but again, he’s an expert in his field and not pretending to know insider information about the person him or herself, just his or her disease.
In addition to his outreach, television and radio shows, Pinsky is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, former Medical Director for the Department of Chemical Dependency Services at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California, staff member at Huntington Memorial Hospital, and a private practitioner.
Dr. Drew? Love him.
Dr. Phil: Making Psychologists Lose All Credibility Since 2000.
Oh, GOD, WHY DID YOU CREATE THIS BALL OF PILLSBURY DOUGH SWEAT THAT IS OTHERWISE KNOWN AS DR. PHIL?
So, okay. Here is a celebrity doctor I hate. It’s a hate so great I shake my fist in the air and shout with spittle spraying everywhere, “I HATE YOUR F&CKING FACE, DR. F&CKING PHIL. IT’S LIKE A MR. POTATO HEAD ONLY WITH THE POTATO REPLACED WITH A TESTICLE AND A SMUG LIP CURL AND NED FLANDERS MUSTACHE AND A MYSTICAL CONDESCENDING FINGER POINT.”
However. I don’t like to just spew out baseless opinions on what is completely my own baseless objectivity. Let me start over.
Dr. Phil. Some people hate him. I’m here to find out why this is so. Let us journey together, led by unicorns and following in a rainbow forest raining glitter.
Dr. Phil is, in fact, a real doctor. A card carrying Ph.D. in clinical psychology, Philly “retired” from the practice in 2008. McGraw said in a Today Show interview (defending his Britney Spears intervention) that he has made it “very clear” that his current work does not involve the practice of psychology. He also said that he had “retired from psychology.” According to the Today Show during the same interview, the California Board of Psychology determined in 2002 that he did not require a license because his show involves “entertainment” rather than psychology.
What?? Entertainment psychology is entertainment psychology.
So, okay. He is a retired Ph.D in clinical psychology – a doctor, just not an M.D., which is an important distinction to some – now working in “entertainment” BUT cloaked under his being a doctor. Which he is not, currently. He has been under much scrutiny and a part of several lawsuits. A summary:
- McGraw was issued a formal complaint and reprimand and administrative penalties by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists in 1988 for “a possible failure to provide proper separation between termination of therapy and the initiation of employment.” They completed their investigation, McGraw complied with its outcome and the Board closed its complaint file. [Source and another Source] I believe when this story broke long afterward it was said that McGraw and his new hire had an intimate relationship. It should be noted that the Board had found nothing of this nature in its investigation.
- The Making of Dr. Phil, an unauthorized biography published in 2003, reported that McGraw allegedly used unethical business practices in a gym business early in his career, that he was allegedly abusive to his first wife, and was also allegedly abusive to his staff, while noting that he overcame adversity through setting goals and was persistent in achieving success. The book received no promotional help from McGraw or his associates. It was, how you say, “unauthorized.” [Source]
- The Britney Spears Controversy of 2008: In January 2008 McGraw visited Spears in her hospital room; such visit appeared to be an attempt at performing an intervention on the deeply troubled star. He then went on to make a number of media statements about the situation appearing to have been on behalf of the Spears family, but were not. It was reported that a psychologist filed a complaint with the California Board of Psychology (BOP), alleging that McGraw had practiced psychology without a license and had violated doctor-patient privilege by discussing Spears’ case with the media. A copy of the report was published in the media, but it is unknown whether it was actually filed. [Source]
- The Polk County, FL Controversy of 2008. Dr. P was BUSY this year! This controversy concerned Dr. Phil making the $300,000 bail for a group of eight teenage girls who viciously beat another girl and videotaped the attack. He reportedly made the bail for the girls so they could appear on his show. [Source] Why there was an outcry from the public remains a mystery. That was, in fact, sarcasm. It should be noted that P McG did not go forward with his plans for the interview after the outcry.
- Riccio Lawsuit of 2008. Remember when acquitted murderer (alleged) OJ Simpson did all that weird stuff in Vegas with that memorabilia? Well, Thomas Riccio was interviewed by P McG and sued for defamation, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false light for what Riccio claims to have been deceitful editing. [Source]
- Kalpoe Lawsuit of 2006: in which PMG was sued, along with CBS, in relation to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The plaintiffs, brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, claimed the interview conducted by PMG (and aired on CBS) “manipulated and later broadcast as being accurate, and which portrays Deepak Kalpoe and Satish Kalpoe ‘as engaging in criminal activity against Natalee Holloway and constitutes defamation.’” The brothers claimed invasion of privacy, fraud, deceit, defamation, emotional distress, and civil conspiracy in the suit, which was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court. [Source, Source, Source]
Gasp, pant. This is getting longer than I initially intended.
You planned it this way, didn’t you?! I could be watching Toddlers & Tiaras, you sonofabitch.
- In 2003, PMG got into the weight loss biz, introducing and heavily marketing products under the “Shape it Up, Woo, Woo!” name, which is quite possibly the worst name I have ever heard for a brand, and I am including brand names of the late-night infomercial variety, which makes PMG an absolute monster because some of those names are absolutely terrible. The company claimed “These products contain scientifically researched levels of ingredients that can help you change your behavior to take control of your weight.” Enter brisk, swift criticism from peers and public, given that PMG is a Ph.D in clinical psychology and NOT a medical doctor certified to make such claims. (Remember when I wrote above that sometimes it matters? This is an example of when it would, in fact, be a problem.) Facing an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, PMG recalled and dropped his products.
- In October 2005, the folks who used his products filed a class action lawsuit, claiming that although the supplements cost $120 per month they did not stimulate weight loss. [Source]
- PMG settled the lawsuit in September 2006 for 10.5 million, 6 million of which may be paid in Amway vitamins. [Source]
- AMWAY VITAMINS? Dick. [Source: my middle finger]
How about something positive for those who carry the PMG Hate Resistance chromosome? In 2003, McGraw founded a charitable organization that raises funds to support childhood obesity. The organization also supports charitable organizations that help address the emotional, spiritual and monetary needs of many children and families. This seems to smack of something religious, by which I am normally skeeved, but I’ll let that opinion stay in the part of my brain that purports to keep quiet on something for the better of mankind, but actually does, in fact, make me say that which I am pretending I’m not. Fair? Too bad, then. This bitch is tired.
Dr. Phil? My hate is completely founded and justified. [Insert Nerf-gavel here.]
Hello handsome doctor. Cursory investigation proves (a) you are indeed as handsome as they say; and (b) you will be an immensely enjoyable and positive light on which to write, especially after that asshole above.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, you old so-and-so. Where have you been hiding?
I have to admit that I know next to nothing on Dr. Oz, nor have I heard about anyone actually hating on the good doctor. I’m sure people do, as hate is powerfully entertaining, but it is also a facet of Dr. Oz with which I am unfamiliar. Just like everything else. So, here I’m going in blind. I should say, however, IF there is hating on Dr. Oz, I don’t see much in his dossier that would arouse anything but good old fashioned ambivalence (a topic on which I have mixed feelings).
Another one from the Oprah Manufactured Celebrity Clurrrb, Dr. Oz actually does have impressive credentials. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and, four years later, a a joint MD and MBA degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The Wharton School. Holy BALLS, people. Impressive is an understatement. I’m not sure if he’s actually human.
According to his Wiki:
Oz is Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University. He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, and health care policy. He has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books and has received several patents. He performed around 250 heart operations annually.
Oz is the founder and chairman of HealthCorps, a non-profit organization that pays a small stipend to recent college graduates to spend two years in high schools mentoring students about health, nutrition, and fitness.
He has authored many books and has a few radio shows in addition to serving as Oprah’s “health expert” for five seasons. And, not surprisingly, he’s won a ton of prestigious awards, including him being called “Global Leader of Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum and one of “The Harvard 100 Most Influential Alumni” by 02138 magazine. He won the Gross Surgical Research Scholarship, was listed in “Doctors of the Year” by Hippocrates magazine and in “Healers of the Millennium” by Healthy Living magazine and is annually listed in the Castle Connolly Guide of the top United States doctors, as well as other ranking groups. [Source, Source, Source, Source, Source]
A small bone of contention surrounding Dr. Oz is that he is a practitioner of Transcendental Medicine (which seems quite lovely, actually) and is a supporter of integrative medicine, which combines both alternative medicine and traditional medicine. Some claim that in so doing he is promoting potentially harmful medicinal therapy, but I’m of the opinion that this is actually practicing smart medicine. Not everyone feels this way, but whatever. He has performed acupuncture and energy-based practices on Oprah. Another issue that has surfaced for Dr. Oz is that Oz is a spokesman and advisor for the website RealAge.com, a site that solicits medical information to determine a visitor’s biological age and then uses the resulting medical profile for pharmaceutical marketing purposes. A New York Times reporter has summed it up thusly: “While few people would fill out a detailed questionnaire about their health and hand it over to a drug company looking for suggestions for new medications, that is essentially what RealAge is doing.” [Source]
Well, maybe not everyone. Okay, fine. Everyone lies. But not everyone is a fraud.
So, celebrity doctors? They’re not all bad. Simply being referred to as a “celebrity doctor” doesn’t minimize his or her credentials, as we’ve just read. Doctors like Dr. Drew and Dr. Oz, for instance, have outstanding credentials and very little, if any, in the way of professional misconduct. They may have television shows, appearances, Twitter accounts, large followings and numerous publicized opinions, but they actually help people. For me, Dr. Phil is debatable, but that’s my opinion. I don’t see Dr. Drew as someone deserving of intense ire simply because he comments on celebrities personal lives from an objective standpoint. He never breaches patient confidentiality, and so what if he says these things based on his own experience and specialization? Same for Dr. Oz. If any one of our personal doctors suddenly shot up into the celebrisphere, I’m sure he or she would face the same scrutiny and disdain. So save the hate for the ones who make false claims to manipulate your pocketbook and brain. *coughDr.Philcough*
Note: In Part Two, if there is one and anyone cares, I can continue this to include Dr. Andrew Weil, etc. I’m not sure, however, that anyone cares enough. Just saying, I live to give.
The positive thing from this, for me? Now I’m crushing hard on two celebrity doctors. YUMMY.
About Anastacia
