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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: longnshort who wrote (661150)

7/8/2012 10:20:11 AM

From: joseffy

Respond to of 1583694

Report: Dr. Drew Paid $275K to Promote Antidepressant

KTLA News July 6, 2012
ktla.com

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Celebrity addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky is under fire for helping market an antidepressant for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the drug Wellbutrin, agreed to pay a $3 million fine on Friday in a Boston courthouse.

The British drugmaker reportedly paid "Lifechangers" host Dr. Drew $275,000 to promote the antidepressant for non-approved uses such as obesity, addictions and sexual dysfunction.

According to the complaint, as host of the late night sex and romance radio program "Loveline" in the 1990s, Dr. Drew spoke at length about using antidepressants to revive relationships and intimacy and encouraged listeners to check a website registered to GlaxoSmithKline.

But the Justice Department's complaint against Dr. Drew found that he never revealed he was a paid spokesman.

In a statement to Forbes, Dr. Drew defended comments on Wellbutrin, citing a clinical study he conducted over a decade ago.

"In the late 90s I was hired to participate in a 2 year initiative discussing intimacy and depression which was funded by an educational grant by Glaxo Wellcome," he wrote in the statement. "Services for the non branded campaign included town hall meetings, writings and multimedia activities in conjunction with the patient advocacy group the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association. My comments were consistent with my clinical experience."