Dr. Drew Done With ‘Celebrity Rehab’

Dr. Drew Pinsky is checking out of Celebrity Rehab.

After catching flack for the numerous deaths that have occurred over the show’s six seasons, Dr. Drew has decided that he’s had enough of taking the blame.

“I don’t have any plans to do it anymore,” he said. “I am tired of taking all the heat, it is just ridiculous.”

The final straw for the TV doctor was the death of country singer Mindy McCready, who committed suicide in February. She had previously attempted suicide in 2008 and was taken to a Nashville-area hospital for a psychological evaluation and treatment. McCready left behind two sons, Zander and Zayne.

Critics took aim at Dr. Drew following McCready’s death, which was the third of the season. Singer Richard Marx compared Dr.Drew to Dr. Kevorkian, who was commonly known as “Dr. Death” for his advocacy of euthanasia. He later said he went too far with the comparison, but still believed that “what Dr. D does is exploitation and his TV track record is not good.”

Dr. Drew defended himself and said that McCready did not take his advice when he reached out to her after the death of her boyfriend David Wilson, who committed suicide a month before McCready took her own life.

“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,” Dr. Drew said. “Unfortunately it seems that Mindy did not sustain her treatment.”

The 54-year-old admitted to radio program Zach Sang and The Gang that he was tired.

“It’s very stressful and very intense for me. And to have people questioning my motives and taking aim at me because people get sick and die, because they have a life threatening disease, then I have to take blame for that,” he said. “Rodney King has a heart attack and I have to take blame for that? That’s really what is happening these days.”

He went on to say that the show had an addiction program that was “second to none.”

“We could handle anything — the sickest patients we would take,” he said. “And we were good. We did it for 20 years. That’s enough.”

Do you think Dr. Drew made the right decision ending Celebrity Rehab? Do you think he deserves the blame for the deaths of cast members?

[Photo credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]