Dr. Drew’s New Season

VH1’s Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is back for a third season, again raising the question: Is drug treatment in front of the cameras a viable way to get clean?

A new crew of addicted celebrities is turning to addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky to help them kick the habit – all while VH1’s TV cameras are rolling. This new season features everyone from Mackenzie Phillips and troubled country star Mindy McCready to basketball pro Dennis Rodman and former madam Heidi Fleiss. Upping the drama quotient this time around is the inclusion of Tom Sizemore, Fleiss’ ex-boyfriend who served time for misdemeanor domestic violence against her.

When Fleiss arrives at the treatment center, she’s been living a very isolated existence in Death Valley with a host of parrots she inherited. There’s plenty of work to do as she withdraws from opiates and speed, but adding in an abusive ex seems counterproductive to the recovery process. Dr. Drew responded to the idea that it was a brilliant casting move on VH1’s part, but not healthy from a treatment perspective:

“Yeah. It could be a problem,” he admits in an interview on VH1’s site. “You don’t want to have perpetrators together, that’s for sure. I would not have put them in the same unit if they were still romantically involved in any way, and you can’t have family members in the same program … It was problematic, and I had to be sure they were really OK with it. We spent a lot of time getting consent from these people, but they all felt like it wouldn’t interfere. And it really didn’t until toward the end, when it became a little bit of a problem.”

Drug Addiction Treatment at La Paloma

If you or a family member is struggling with a drug addiction, call La Paloma at our toll-free number. Someone is there to take your call 24 hours a day and answer any questions you have about treatment, financing or insurance.