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Dr. Drew
Prince Bombshell: Singer Had No Will; More Questions Than Answers in the Death of Prince; Will Johnny Football Clean Up His Act?; Whitney Houston`s Death Fueled Bobbi Kristina`s Drug Abuse. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired April 26, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DREW PINSKY, "DR. DREW ON CALL" HOST: Prince Bombshell. The singer had no known will. So, who is getting all those millions? Could this be the
beginning of an ugly family feud? First, watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prince has died at the age of 57.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prince was found Thursday morning inside an elevator in his sprawling estate known as Paisley Park.
JIM OLSON, CARVER COUNTY SHERIFF: They found him unresponsive. And they called 911.
DISPATCHER: Person down not breathing.
PARAMEDIC: CPR started.
DISPATCHER: 10-4 CPR started.
OLSON: We have no reason to believe at this point that this was a suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six days before Prince`s death, a private jet believed to have the singer on board made an emergency landing.
DISPATCHER: What`s the nature of the emergency?
CALLER: An unresponsive passenger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was hospitalized briefly for what is published and said were flu like symptoms and dehydration.
PINSKY: Don`t BS me with flus and nothing and all that. That is insulting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just before that incident, Prince had performed in Atlanta. He was seen carrying a cane.
REPORTER: Are you able to confirm whether Prince was taking any medication at the time of his death?
OLSON: I am not able to confirm that at this time at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: Joining me, Christina Perez, TV Judge, "Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez," Renee Bargh, correspondent weekend host "Extra," Jason
Wahler former MTV reality star, founder of widespread recovery. He himself in recovery.
All right. We`re now learning that Prince`s sister Tyka, I believe I`m getting her name right. Tyka Nelson has just filed papers in Minnesota
stating that as far as she knows, Prince does not have a will.
So, Cristina he was sort of estranged from this woman, now she`s taking control of his estate. Could there be a will she doesn`t know about?
CRISTINA PEREZ, TV JUDGE, ATTORNEY: Yeah. As far as she knows. She was estranged from him. So it`s hard for me to believe that Prince, the
genius, the artist, the meticulous individual that we knew who defended his rights while he was alive. Who made sure everything was in order in his
life would not have done a will or a trust.
PINSKY: Now with that, Renee, he was such a Philanthropist. You would think like, Renee, and like Cristina is saying, a trust or something that
really would allow his legacy to go on. And he was so private. As a Jehovah`s Witness, he wasn`t allowed to talk about what he had done but he
had done a ton.
RENE BARGH, CORRESPONDENT, "EXTRA" HOST: Yeah. And I know he had gained rights back to -- for his music and everything but this is just how it
begins. The family all come out of the woodworks. I think there`s five other half siblings or something that I`m sure we are going to hear from as
well. But it`s $300 million at stake here.
PINSKY: It`s a lot of money and a huge estate.
BARGH: Yeah.
PINSKY: It looks like a giant resort. All right, we put together a time line of the events leading up to Prince`s death. I want you to watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: April 7th, postpones two shows in Atlanta due to the flu. April 14th, performs two 80-minute sets in Atlanta. April 15th,
plane makes unexpected landing. Prince is rushed to the hospital but leaves after only three hours. His reps say he was suffering from the flu
and dehydration. April 16th, he hosts an impromptu dance party at Paisley Park. April 19th, he attends jazz club. April 20th, Prince has dropped at
his residence around 8:00 p.m. April 21st, at around 9:00 a.m. staff members find him dead in his elevator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: Now, Jason, we have very few details about what in fact happened with this guy medically. I hear rumors of some -- perhaps some sort of
underlying medical problem. I still think that`s a high degree of probability but we keep hearing about the use of opiate pain medication.
There`s yours by the sense, he is a recovering person have some concerns?
JASON WAHLER, RECOVERING ADDICT: Yes. I think, obviously with opiates being -- for me what I`ve understood and I have a question for you too
about this.
PINSKY: Yup.
WAHLER: Is the reality of opiates are not supposed to be taken for longevity.
PINSKY: No. And this drives me out of my mind. In fact there are -- Cristina that you -- I want with your people to get on this because it seem
the only thing that straightens physicians out is the attorneys.
PEREZ: The attorney.
PINSKY: Yeah. So we have physician papers that are on the record that show that chronic opioid pain medication for chronic pain is an ineffective
and perhaps only dangerous use of medication.
It`s -- that the problem now is where we have medical societies. Well, therefore we got to figure out safe ways of using this. We got to figure
out what prescribing it. And it`s like, wait it`s like saying that`s a blood pressure medicine that doesn`t work .
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: . so let`s figure out how to prescribe it.
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: It doesn`t work. If it worked, I would suggest take it. It doesn`t work and people are dying every day. 50,000 young people over a
year are going to die of these medications given for spurious reasons. If it worked I would say it`s worth the risk but it doesn`t work.
Cristina, what`s it going to take?
PEREZ: You know, I think it`s situations like this. Each situation in our own family. I think of my own family situations that I`ve gone through
where something has to be done. And I think .
PINSKY: What?
PEREZ: . that the medical profession has to understand, it`s like giving a crutch.
(CROSSTALK)
PINSKY: But here, look at what they`ve done.
PEREZ: We cannot continue doing that anymore.
PINSKY: So, Jason, so they`ve gotten aware now that they`re overprescribing. It`s that they`re starting pulling back .
WAHLER: Well, how many more that that actually really happened.
PEREZ: Think .
WAHLER: I mean that`s the reality of this. Every ten minutes, you know, was the statistic that was out there, every 10 minutes someone was dying
for opioid overdose in 2012. In 2015, it was every four minutes. In 2017 we reject in every minute. What else needs to be out there for people to
understand this is not just an epidemic, this is taking over?
PINSKY: People thinks, somehow all those drug addicts were grabbing fist fulls of pills, no. This is people like you prescribed by a doctor in --
of an opiate, maybe a little more than you need .
PEREZ: Yes.
PINSKY: . prescribed with a benzodiazepine, a sleeping medicine, anxiety medicine that`s a potentially fatal combination. They should not be used
together.
And the one, the opiate. It`s not clear, it`s any utility for your chronic pain. I know chronic pain is horrible. It`s one of the most awful
conditions you can possibly get. This doesn`t make it better. It makes it chronic. It makes it recalcitrant. It makes it worse. You`ve seen it
million times.
WAHLER: Correct me if I`m wrong, isn`t it and basically if you take the -- if you take opiates for long enough, you don`t actually having to take the
pill to alleviate the pain from the pill.
PINSKY: Exactly. For -- that`s exactly the point. Renee, you looking surprised.
BARGH: Well, I just -- I was shocked when I moved to America and realized you could get a prescription for anything by just calling a doctor.
PINSKY: Well it`s not very specific for anything. These two particular classes, the benzo which is the sleep medicine .
BARGH: Yeah.
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: . the anxiety medicine, the opiate medicines are particularly available because 90 percent of the opiates, 90 percent of painkillers
prescribed on earth are prescribed in this country.
PEREZ: Yeah, and you know, I think for us we also have a huge problem where people are doctor shopping and there`s so many doctors who don`t know
what happened or maybe they know and they do it. So it`s a situation also that I think that whether it`s the doctor`s .
PINSKY: Well, were you better at .
PEREZ: I know.
PINSKY: We are better in sort of organizing and we get pharmacies together.
PEREZ: But it`s that it really leads to .
PINSKY: But the question is that that do we -- are we worried Prince was taken down by the same phenomenon?
WAHLER: I do.
PINSKY: Is this poor man the victim -- you do?
WAHLER: I believe that .
PEREZ: Like Michael Jackson?
WAHLER: From addiction?
PINSKY: Well, not addiction I say by but by overprescribing opiates. I`m not .
WAHLER: Yes.
PINSKY: . here to call (inaudible) been addict on any in any because we don`t see the long term .
PEREZ: I`m not ready, I .
(CROSSTALK)
WAHLER: I mean, we don`t have enough (inaudible).
PINSKY: You don`t see it though. You really -- in Michael Jackson, you see it.
WAHLER: Yeah.
PINSKY: In Anna Nicole Smith, you see it. In always with the people who have died, you see it. But in him, he was pretty stable his whole life .
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: . then all of a sudden, I just fear that he got some pain and that became chronic, he got in opiates and. Even if he wasn`t an addict that
could still happen.
WAHLER: A 100 percent do we know what first -- do we know what`s particularly wrong?
PEREZ: Unless they have said.
PINSKY: What is the -- the word purpose that keeps coming up. It keeps coming up. It came up in the plane that was landed. People don`t land a
plane for the flu.
WAHLER: Yeah.
PINSKY: So stop it.
WAHLER: Yeah.
PINSKY: Don`t insult me with the flu. Base it and on here you hear the pilot saying of unresponsive patient. That`s a patient with altered
sensorium.
Now, you all heard that there might have been respiratory difficulty. So it might have been some sort of pulmonary problem with the purpose that
contributes. We got Narcan in the field which is the blocking agent reverse is Percocet. Goes to The ER, leaves after two hours. You don`t
learn anything in two hours in the emergency room.
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: So that cleared that was against medical advice.
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: And I wasn`t there, I don`t know for sure but when somebody leaves an emergency room after an emergency plane landing, after two hours, that`s
not a -- we`re afraid to you guys. We`re afraid of the attorneys. We give at least six or eight hours just to protect ourselves against the
attorneys.
PEREZ: Yes.
PINSKY: Imagine the case where you`re two .
PEREZ: OK.
PINSKY: . hours in then let somebody go home. It`s disastrous.
PEREZ: And then the next day you see him riding a bike.
PINSKY: Yeah. Well, because now things are reestablished. Maybe he`s gone back on something.
WAHLER: Resuscitated.
PINSKY: Resuscitated back on .
WAHLER: And then two days later, he dies from the same maybe .
PINSKY: We`ll see.
WAHLER: We`ll see.
PINSKY: I want to know why do we consistently have to tell these stories day after day about celebrities dying hand over fist. And what is it?
Does it have to do with fame or something else at work here I`ll get into it after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLSON: He was pronounced deceased at 10:07. We have identified him as Prince Rogers Nelson, 57 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 57-year-old don`t die suddenly for no reason.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he visit any doctors? Did he take any prescriptions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there something else that was affecting his immune system? So typically he did fight that flu virus for something that made
his immune system weaker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 13.5 hour gap between when Prince was last seen alive Wednesday evening and the time he was found unresponsive in an
elevator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the residence have cameras? Does it show if anybody came into the residence?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: Five days after Prince`s death. We more questions than answers. I`m back with Cristina, Renee and Jason.
Investigators have not yet said if drugs were involved in Prince`s death but there`s been a disturbing trend in the last decade of celebrities dying
due to with essentially accidental drug overdoses. If you look at the death of almost every celebrity in the last seven to ten years, you will
find a bottle of prescriptions of two kinds of medication at that person`s bedside prescribed, as prescribed sitting there.
Maybe they took a little more than prescribed but a not lot more to die. Not and may be exactly as prescribed. Those categories are opiates, pain
medication opioids and benzodiazepine, the Valium and sleeping medications.
I don`t -- in the opiate class, it doesn`t matter which one you`re using. I don`t care if it`s heroin. I don`t care if it`s Percocet. I don`t care
if it was Dilaudid. It means a difference to me biologic (ph) and pharm cloud were treating them but in terms of what happens to the patients, it
doesn`t matter. Forget the name of the drug, it doesn`t matter.
You hear rumors, you brought up the issue of Percocet, I could care a less. It means nothing to me. What means something to me is yet pain was given
pain medicine and now he`s dead. That is a concerning alchemy that we see over and over again.
And let me give you a list of just some of the celebrities. We had Philip Seymour Hoffman, people don`t remember yet, Adderall on his bedside.
Prescription medicine. Michael Jackson, well known. Corey Monteith, Whitney Houston, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Amy Winehouse, Greg
Giraldo, Bobbi Kristina Brown, Brittany Murphy. All of them had prescription medication involved in the death and I would dare say, in 90
percent of those, it was what killed them. Why is this happening?
Renee, celebrities get special care for people, don`t they?
BARGH: Yeah. I mean I think that regular people can get almost anything they want.
PINSKY: Absolutely.
BARGH: Anyway, but you add money and fame and you can twist anyone.
PINSKY: I think you`re absolutely right because that list -- because I -- people worry about GMOs and vaccines and super bugs.
BARGH: I know.
PINSKY: Stop worrying about that. If your loved one is going to die of something, this is what they`re going to die of if they`re young and
healthy.
This is it. This is what takes young and healthy people out right now and it`s my profession that`s doing a lot of this. I said in the last and last
block, opioid pain medications are not -- there`s no scientific evidence that opioids work for chronic pain. They were for surgical pain. They
were for acute pain. They`re fantastic. They take away suffering in cancer patients. But in a chronic pain patient there`s not science that
substantiates well their use.
And now look at all the downside. Tremendous downside. It seems to be being ignored. A lot of it in favor Cristina. I in favor of what you call
patient satisfaction surveys.
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: If the patients aren`t happy with care, doctors lose their job.
PEREZ: Yeah. It`s almost like it`s an accepted addiction. It`s like, it`s OK for you to take prescription medication. And it`s OK. Oh, my god,
you are not feeling well.
PINSKY: So it`s doctor`s prescribe. Doctor prescribed.
PEREZ: Oh it`s OK. But it`s gotten to the point where it reaches everybody. It has to reach all of our -- I mean it reached my personal
life. It reach my family, my friends.
PINSKY: Jason, hang on, Jason, 90 percent of the opiates in the world are prescribed in this country. Are we in that much more pain than the rest of
the word? Are we suffering more that the rest of the world?
WAHLER: No.
PINSKY: Do we need that more than the rest of the world?
WAHLER: No. That`s not .
PINSKY: What`s going on?
WAHLER: The way I see it is the society -- its instant gratification. A lot of it to is, is they want the easier, you know, quicker way out.
Anything worth having is not easy.
PINSKY: Did you get opiates over with you?
WAHLER: I could get them.
(CROSSTALK)
WAHLER: I`d been -- I never .
PINSKY: You didn`t like them?
WAHLER: No. That wasn`t my thing.
PINSKY: Thank goodness.
WAHLER: I like being hyper.
PINSKY: OK. Did you get -- did somebody gave you some Adderall, you took one along the way?
WAHLER: Yes, they did. Of course.
PINSKY: Of course.
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: There you are. Here`s a guy that`s a stimulant addict. Oh, I know what you need is, you have a stimulant deficiency, Jason. Let me give
you more stimulants.
PEREZ: Yes.
WAHLER: Pharmaceutical grade methamphetamine.
PINSKY: It`s -- the generic name is Dextroamphetamine. You, Renee still is .
BARGH: It`s .
PINSKY: There`s a four amongst us is surprised.
PEREZ: Yes.
BARGH: It`s always shocking to me but I -- it`s something that I have seen a lot in Los Angeles. And that the accessibility is crazy to me. And
people taking it as party drugs and things like that. It`s just, I`ve never seen it anywhere else.
WAHLER: Yeah.
PINSKY: On earth.
WAHLER: Yes.
BARGH: Yeah.
PINSKY: On earth.
WAHLER: A 100 percent.
PINSKY: Anybody? Anybody have a problem with this? And we have people dying hand over fist. Now a wonderful musician may -- we don`t know but
may have been taken down by the same phenomenon.
And again, let me repeat. I`m not saying, even if it turns out that this was an opioid related death. I`m not prepared to say he was an addict.
This was a medical misadventure.
BARGH: Yeah.
PINSKY: This what happens when you take opiates. Your pain gets worse. You have to take more. You can`t sleep for extended periods of time. You
don`t sleep. And that`s when the doctor adds in the benzo and that`s when you die. That`s how it works.
PEREZ: What`s the answer? What`s the solution I should say?
PINSKY: The answer is -- my impression to stop prescribing opiates longer than two weeks, period, end. And unless there`s -- unless you -- you have
to go through a committee to get approval to go longer than that. It should be used like a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous compound in that
setting. In that setting.
If you have pancreatic cancer, get as much as you want. Take as much as you want. It`s a wonderful medication for that. But in this setting of
somebody having a pain syndrome that`s not likely to get better, there are -- a thousand other things you can do. They take time, they`re tough.
They`re not as gratifying in the moment but they work in the long term which this does not.
Renee, you -- in fascinating, your take on this because you`re not from America. And still you`re looking at this from as an outsider yet you`re
in the middle of the celebrity culture. So you must look at this and shake your head.
BARGH: Well, I just think that it`s amazing that you have, literally get anything you want to. And if you are a celebrity all you have to do is
make a phone call.
PINSKY: Why do you think that is?
BARGH: Power I think. I don`t -- I actually don`t know. I don`t understand why being a celebrity makes any difference to anyone else.
PINSKY: It should.
BARGH: The fact that I can call and get it as well.
PINSKY: It should -- when you go -- when -- because you`re on TV. When you go see a doctor a doctor somehow excited about taking care of you.
They should .
PINSKY: I don`t have to. I can just make a phone call and they`ll prescribe it.
PINSKY: Oh my God.
BARGH: I don`t have to necessarily go and see someone. That`s what I find so amazing in this country. And it can be really handy if you`re busy and
you can`t get to the doctor. But what if it`s the wrong thing?
PINSKY: You know what but I`m talking pain. That you`re telling me they have (inaudible).
BARGH: I mean, yeah. That`s how they usually get .
PINSKY: And we also grotesquely overdo it.
BARGH: Yeah, yeah.
PINSKY: Yeah. But what if you needed a sleeping medication?
BARGH: I think that wouldn`t be hard.
PINSKY: And -- but I find the doctors get overly excited about taking care of -- you`re saying it was here.
BARGH: I think so.
PINSKY: Yeah.
BARGH: I think there`s that the sense of I`m dealing with Dr. Drew.
PINSKY: Yeah, yes. And whole .
BARGH: I`m dealing with a celebrity.
PINSKY: And they think I`m a good doctor. It`s fantastic.
PEREZ: You think if Prince calls?
PINSKY: Yes.
BARGH: Could be.
PINSKY: That`s when you -- if you were Prince and you`re calling your doctors it seems other than the deals with you any differently than any
other patient, you should run.
PEREZ: You know, and .
PINSKY: You should turn and run.
PEREZ: Yeah.
PINSKY: Because you`re going to get bad care. It`s how it works.
BARGH: Yeah.
PINSKY: When I had prostate surgery. And when I said, look, just whatever you do, do whatever you do. Just do not think, do not do anything special
because it`s me because that`s going to take down the quality of my care. I`m a peer. Forget it. And you may me know for something else, forget it.
Just look at my prostate and take it out like every other prostate.
We`re going to keep this going. Later, a young football star`s career may be dead. His life could be in jeopardy if he does not clean up his act.
More on after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY HARVEY ZEIGER, RADIO HOST: Where did this reputation begin that you are difficult, do you think? I`m at, you`re not hearing it here for the
first time.
PRINCE ROGERS NELSON, ARTIST: Yeah, probably where all reputations begin. I think, the media plays a big part in one`s perception of me until one
sits down and actually talks to me, they can`t really know me.
ZEIGER: Well, should you have been more public? Should you have done more of things like this?
NELSON: No. I kind of did what I wanted to do. I wanted my music as, even now to speak loudest for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: According to Prince`s sister, he apparently has had no will. He left questions about who is going to get his money whether it`s going to be
a philanthropic effort, family member, the sister.
Back with Cristina, Renee and Jason. Prince`s brother-in-law allegedly told a crowd, a private family service that the singer had worked 150 hours
straight last week. Jason, does that mean anything to you?
WAHLER: One hundred and fifty hours?
PINSKY: Without sleep, allegedly.
(CROSSTALK)
WAHLER: Yeah, that`s probably very concerning. I mean it just -- that`s not healthy in any form.
PINSKY: You can`t do that.
WAHLER: Yeah.
PINSKY: We can`t either, let`s take if you`re in the military and you`re going to be up for 150 hours, you`re going to have to do something to do
that.
WAHLER: To stay awake, correct.
PINSKY: Yeah. And the other thing that does that. Again, I don`t know what happened with this man but drug withdrawal will keep you awake for
many, many, many days.
PEREZ: Interestingly, and Michael Jackson was in the same situation while he was preparing for the "This s it" tour. Apparently didn`t sleep for
weeks on end.
PINSKY: Anna Nicole Smith, the same thing. And so that`s where these people will get the benzodiazepines added in, in relatively high doses and
that is a catastrophe.
I`ll give you a tweet that Prince posted a few days after his last performance in Atlanta. "I barely slept since that night. #Feeling
Rejuvenated #Reeling Inspired #Feeling Loved." But again that lack of sleep and that another medical misadventure that should not be managed,
maybe over the phone or God knows what with just some medication added to what probably was there for his pain.
You`re looking disturbed in here Ms. Renee.
BARGH: Well, there`s also this other creepy factor that he said in his last performance which happened just after that plane had landed. He said,
save your prayers for me for a few days.
PINSKY: Well, and this is the other thing. Again, because I don`t believe this is addiction. I believe it`s a misadventure. And which that these
are different things. It makes me believe that there`s some sort of medical problem underlying this. And it might have been why they were
being a little more liberal with the pain medicine. Whatever was affected him might have been breaking down his hips or something.
Well, you know, so if they -- that they may not have been thinking about this as chronic pain. They might have been thinking as acute pain episode.
I don`t know what but there is something not -- we don`t, do not have the whole story here. There`s crazy rumors. I mean, middle age black men get
sarcoidosis. Could this be sarcoid? Could this be an infection? It could be a heart problem. Could it -- who knows what it could be.
BARGH: This is a man who was dancing in six-inch heels for a long time. Jumping up and down of the stage.
PEREZ: Right.
BARGH: Like that is going to wear your body out.
PINSKY: It`s going to wear you out but it doesn`t have to need opiates all the time. That`s the thing.
BARGH: No. It`s possible for hip replacement. Possibly there was something was going on there.
PINSKY: Sure. Absolutely.
BARGH: And because he was Jehovah`s Witness. We don`t know whether he did have the procedure.
PINSKY: Well, but -- again, that`s about blood transfusion but I think can`t they receive a ton, I mean do you know they`re going to be able to
receive autologous blood meaning why do they .
PEREZ: I don`t. I`m not quite sure about that. But I was under the impression that he, you know, that of course that he could take medicine
but he -- that he lived such a healthy lifestyle. He took .
PINSKY: Yes.
BARGH: Right.
PEREZ: . such good care of himself.
PINSKY: But, again it was that and .
PEREZ: He was very clean.
PINSKY: . was that a compensation for trying to help himself deal with whatever underlying chronic medical problem he might have been dealing
with, right.
PEREZ: There`s so many unanswered questions.
PINSKY: So many, that`s right. But the one thing that breaks my heart and I think it`s -- if, you know, if one thing in the name of his name we can
do is take -- even if it had nothing to do with it, it turns out. But take a good look at this thing that is taking celebrities hand one after
another.
Jason, that`s why I asked you to be here today.
WAHLER: Yeah, not only celebrities but this, I mean it`s not -- it`s celebrities but also it`s teenagers, it`s kids now. It`s 12, 13 years old.
So I mean, it`s an epidemic that`s taking over. I mean it`s really kind of like we should even what else really needs to happen. I mean it`s .
PEREZ: It is. And you know, and I always find the eternal argument that somebody who`s in the spotlight like you guys. Do you have an obligation
to help the community? You know, you`re on the spotlight. You technically don`t. But this is where things change where people, if you`re celebrity
status actually help.
PINSKY: Why do this? We`re not going to try .
PEREZ: Well, well and that`s the thing some people don`t. But I think this is a great start to a solution to young kids that who look up to you,
who watched you on television, who can understand .
PINSKY: Cristina, I got to interrupt you and try to say that that`s why I`ve been yelling at the camera today because .
PEREZ: I know.
PINSKY: . because of, well .
PEREZ: That`s why I`m giving you props because (inaudible) happen .
(CROSSTALK)
PINSKY: But thanks for the props but I`ve been yelling about this for almost 10 years. And to see it continue .
PEREZ: Somethings here .
PINSKY: . roll along is .
PEREZ: Somebody`s listening.
PINSKY: And by the way everytime I say it, if I watch Twitter feed, I`m some sort of maniac trying to make people suffer. And don`t I know what
pain is?
I -- listen. I know what it is. The last part -- I ran at -- I`ve practiced medicine for 30 years. I`m at a drug treatment center for 20
years. While I practice general medicine and at the last five years of our -- three years of our treatment center. All we were doing are almost the
only patients we had were chronic opioid users in pain who came in saying their pain was on a scale of 10, it was in 18.
Every single -- they never said 10 of 10. Always 15, 18, 20. We take them off opiates, they`d go through a horrible two weeks and they would stop
talking about their pain and they would not die, they would get better. They would have pain but they`ve got pain, we have pain in Australia even
without the opiates, right?
BARGH: Yeah. And I think is that we trust if it comes from a doctor then we trust that it`s OK.
[19:30: 00] PINSKY: And we just got it wrong and it`s got to change. I understand, listen. Nothing is more satisfying to me as a physician that
somebody`s coming up and said he said a friend, one of the opiate pain medication books I wrote. And he open that book I wrote how it was so
satisfying, you go into medicine to help people the first thing who`s is to push morphine into a patient who`s in pain and the pain goes away.
It`s magic, it`s so satisfying. To understand the consequences of where it can go bad, you have to be have a lot of experience, it`s going to be open
to it probably thinking about it, you`ve got to be very, very careful.
Next, Johnny Manziel had every chance to get clean and sober. So why in -- more trouble, always in trouble. Tonight, he`s been indicted.
Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAL)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is Johnny Manziel the next celebrity to crash and burn? He was a star college football player and made it to the pros where
he screwed up over and over again.
Now he is most famous as a tabloid party boy. One who, tonight, faces an assault charge against his ex-girlfriend.
Colleen Crowley says she fear for her life in January 30th when Manziel allegedly attacked her.
"He grabbed me by my hair and threw me back into the car and got back in himself. He hit me with his open hands on my left ear for jumping out of
the car."
She says he threatened to kill them both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: If convicted Manziel may go to jail for a year and forced to pay a $4,000 fine. He intends to plead not guilty.
Back with Christina, Renee, joining us Ryan Leaf, Program Ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community a former NFL player who`s own story very
similar to Manziel`s. And on the phone, I have Coy Wire, former NFL player, CNN`s Sports anchor and correspondent.
Coy, what do you think, what do we hear happened between Manziel and his girlfriend in January?
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (on the phone): Well, Dr. Drew, on affidavit Crowley says that they`re at an upscale hotel in Dallas Manziel throws her
onto the bed, doesn`t let her leave the room. Then still restraining her, Manziel takes her to the hotel valet. And that`s when she says quote
"Please don`t let him take me, I`m scared for my life" unquote. Now Crowley says that they do leave. They drive her car against her will.
And Doc, she says she jumped out of the car and hides behind some bushes and Manziel grabs her by the hair, throws her back into the car and that`s
when she said that he hit her with her -- his open hand so hard in her ear that she lost her hearing for a couple of days.
Now, Crowley said they left Dallas for her apartment in Fort Worth and according to Crowley, during that ride, that`s when Manziel allegedly
threatened to kill both himself and her.
Now, they get to her apartment where Manziel allegedly smashes Crowley`s phone, she reaches for a knife, goes toward him, he flees the scene, these
all according to an affidavit.
Now Manziel has denied assaulting her, denies all these. His attorney as you mentioned, Doc, says that Johnny is going to plead not guilty. They
believe he`ll be acquitted in this case.
PINSKY: Wow. It`s a quite a story. Coy, did you play for Stanford?
WIRE: I did, Doc. Somehow they -- I fooled them into thinking I was smart enough to go there but --
PINSKY: Ryan Leaf he said that a terrible defensive of secondary year you were there. Does that have anything to do with you?
WIRE: All true, all true he was kind.
PINSKY: So, thanks Coy appreciate it. That`s quite a story, that was a great report but it`s very disturbing.
Ryan, you had a story not all that different from this. How is it -- how do you perceive what`s going on there?
RYAN LEAF, TRANSCEND RECOVERY COMMUNITY PROGRAM MANAGER: Well --
PINSKY: And by the way I don`t know they have domestic violence but in terms of the substances, the grandiosity, the thinking you were different
and better than everybody else, similar story.
LEAF: It is, it`s a -- at times, like I`m looking in the mirror because of the behaviors that are exhibited right now.
So, I feel sorry for him and his family that he`s going through something like this. But somebody has to find their own bottom. It has --
PINSKY: What do you think, this guy is going to survive it?
LEAF: Well, there`s only two ways you can go, either you can accept it and surrender and ask for help. Not only ask for the help but accept that help
because, you know --
PINSKY: I think it`s three ways right, institution, prison, death either --
LEAF: I still think it`s two. I think either you accept it and get the help or you die. There`s the third option, it just isn`t there.
PINSKY: Five days ago, TMZ ran a story about Manziel with this first line quote "For the ninth time in 22 days -- here`s a post about Johnny Manziel
partying".
Renee, is that what you guys reported? He`s constantly out there using.
BARGH: Yeah, he sounds like a total punk. And I feel like he keeps saying this and so I don`t have that much pity for this kind of behavior,
especially when it comes to assault. And women -- and we think so much in the Sports world.
PINSKY: So that`s what`s got you unforgiving?
BARGH: Yeah I don`t --
PINSKY: Yeah I`ve look at his behavior and it scares me. I look at somebody that`s not well. And -- but the behavior, what do we do with the domestic
violence? It`s different.
LEAF: Yeah anytime you put your hands on a woman, it`s not acceptable.
PINSKY: Yeah.
LEAF: And this is something that he`s going to face the consequences about. Now, while he was under the influence or what -- it`s irregardless, doesn`t
matter.
He committed the act. It`s going to be taken to trial, dealt with and he`ll have to face the consequences. Hopefully, he can take them as a sober
individual and deal with them in a healthy way.
PINSKY: Oh no, I don`t think so, do you Cristina?
PEREZ: No. The sad part is that -- I mean legally, what`s going to happen to him. He doesn`t have a record. He`ll go -- if he doesn`t plea out, he`ll
go to trial, you know, maybe we might want to make an example of him but he won`t get if like -- he won`t get any time in jail. I think you probably
get probation of first time offender, go to class -- domestic violence classes. That`s not enough. That`s not enough to me.
You know, these athletes that we`re seeing so much -- and we can go through so many different examples. But its that problem of self-sabotage. You
know, they have these problems. Is it that he came from high school straight to the NFL? And was it the pressure was too much?
PINSKY: Is it the pressure, Ryan or is it the opposite? The opposite, thinking, thinking that you can do anything.
LEAF: Yeah, I think that`s -- I talked to people about how -- I was addict long before I ever took a drug.
PEREZ: I love that phrase you said. . LEAF: And I was maybe 12 years old when I started behaving like an addict does because I was told how great I was because I control football. And he
has been told how great he was for so long that he feels he is better then or the fact that he feels less than when he walks into room because he`s
not actually accepted for who he is, but rather this Johnny football character. In my case, it was a caricature of who I have ever could have
been.
PINSKY: Can you guys go on opiates that much -- this is the same medication we are talking about in the Prince situation. Again, doctor prescribed, as
directed, right?
LEAF: Yes.
PINSKY: And you guys strung out?
LEAF: It`s the only -- the funny concept about it is the only drug I`ve taken in my life was Vicodin. Yet, it took me to the very bottom of jail
house floor. I mean, it`s the spiritually bankrupting drug irregardless what you look at. We are getting it from multiple physicians or we just,
initially, it was doctor shopping ultimately because I didn`t know a drug dealer. I started taking them from friends` homes. Ultimately, walking in
the unknown people`s homes and taking them. That`s what drugs do to you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scary
PINSKY: They make you into a different person.
PEREZ: Can I ask you a question? In the NFL, you know, I considering in our college for like an example major league. Colleges kind of like minor
leagues because you are getting trained. You have a coach. But it seems like in the NFL, there`s really kind of no minor league that came,
especially this young man came straight from 22-years old, straight into NFL.
Because the NFL have any kind transitional class or help to help these guys transition from being.
PINSKY: Emotionally? They teach you how to manage money, supposedly but.
(CROSSTALK)
PEREZ: I`m -- you know a socially understanding the pressure you are going to get. The atmosphere.
PINSKY: And probably everything the difference too, right? This team is different.
LEAF: They have a rookie symposium, every year for the gentlemen drafted and the drafter coming on Thursday. They go to a rookie symposium. They
have speakers come. They talk about financial stability, emotional stability. It`s a kind of a boiler plate type of deal.
I think they are improving it. I know that when a player is identified in crisis, it`s where they struggle. In my case, I was arrested twice in 48
hours and heard nothing from my union or the NFL.
PINSKY: Got to take a break. Coy, Ryan, stay with us.
Later, Nick Gordon speaks out about drugs, Bobbi Kristina and what really happened after Whitney Houston died.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PINSKY: John Manziel is in trouble again. He accused of have beaten up his ex-girlfriend. It may signal the end of his pro-football career. And it`s
the latest in a string of serious problems if convicted he could end up in jail. I`m back with Christina, Renee and Ryan and Coy - excuse me, Ryan and
I got Coy Wire on the phone.
Coy, tell us about some of the recent troubles he`s had. I mean this not just the domestic violence. It`s not just -- there has been some that even
intoxicated operating a vehicle or what not, right?
WIRE: Right. Yeah, Dr. Drew. Look, everything you have never seen Peyton Manning for Aaron Roger`s doing because they are very focused and
discipline, Johnny Manziel is out doing.
Look shortly after years (inaudible) Cleveland.com reporting that they are alarmed by his behaviors. He partying in college station and partying in
Vegas, there`s the infamous photos of him rolling up a 20 dollar bill in the bathroom, drinking champagne. He missed the games this session. He
missed treatment for a concussion. ESPN reports that he was in Vegas disguised as Billy Manziel. I`m sure you`ve seen what the means. I`m sure
you`ve seen t-shirt. Champagne bottles, rolling with (inaudible) girls, he`s going to clubs even after being told to straighten up.
Ryan Leaf, I want to commend you for sharing your struggles and hopes that others may be helped through them. But I think, Ryan will tell you Doc,
Johnny Manziel had a superman complex.
He thinks that he can do no wrong. He knows there are rules, but they don`t apply to him. He won`t get hurt and they become his own kryptonite.
PINSKY: Yeah. It`s right.
WIRE: And so it`s really sad to see.
PINSKY: You`re right. And it may might two things. It might be the medication he`s abusing, he`s making it so we can`t perceive the
consequences of what he`s doing and the denial of the disease. And there may be a personality problem which is that grandiosity you are talking
about.
Coy, let me ask you this. Would any owner put this man in this condition on their team?
WIRE: Doc, I think 99 to 95 percent of the teams out there, no. But, you know what, sadly, I can think that one or two who some day, after this
settles, they probably would sign him. Not to play though. They want to ensure that their brand is on the logo and the off season on TV screens.
They want the attention. They want to sell jerseys. They want factory publicity. And that`s a shame because they are enabling disturbing
behavior. His own dad says he has problems with celebrity, with fame.
PINSKY: Yeah.
WIRE: So he`s worried for his son`s life, Doc. And so, I had a coach who told me once that more money of celebrity makes you more of who you are. If
you are thrifty, you save more money. If you a shopper, you`ll go on more spree. If you are a partier, you`re going to do it more. Manziel has
revealed who he is. He is notoriety and money has been unleashing abuse within him, anything that would sign this guy, Doc, they just be enabling
and feeding that beast. He sure needs help.
PINSKY: Yeah. Coy, I have heard that amorphism before which is the, money make you more of what you are. But Ryan, what about an owner putting him on
a team, will anybody?
LEAF: I don`t think that would happen, no. I think that`s until he gets the help he needs. I don`t think an owner would risk that. He`s going to die if
they keep enabling him.
PINSKY: Renee, are you covering this nonsense?
BARGH: So, far we haven`t.
PINSKY: .shenanigans?
BARGH: We haven`t so far. That`s -- I wasn`t fully across this story. But, I`m sure we will be. And I think for us a bit more of the part that is a
concern is the abuse and the insult.
PINSKY: And still be in front of you. You get -- you`re the one who said you`re them ultimately if it`s -- if he`s lives through this.
PEREZ: Oh yeah, and you know for me, even in all the case that I adjudicate -- and we talked this before, the story behind what is happening. I would
love to find out what is going on with him.
PINSKY: He can`t tell in a way that would be honest and meaningful at this point. I`m sure if I`d asked you seven years ago you would have told me a
different story than you told me today.
LEAF: Of course, you were master manipulators and liars. All these we think we are.
PINSKY: Well, you do it yourself, as well as us so it`s not a cohesive story that you think can really be told in a way that`s accurate, truthful.
Thank you. Thank you Coy, thank you Ryan I really appreciate this.
Next up, the death of Whitney Houston apparently fueled the drug abuse by her daughter Bobbi Kristina. We`ll tell you what else Nick Gordon has to
say. We`re back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK GORDON, BOBBI KRISTINA`S BOYFRIEND: Doc, please help me see Krissi.
DR. PHIL, TV HOST: We`re going to get you cleaned up first, right?
GORDON: Get to the point. Get to the point, I`m getting frustrated.
DR. PHIL: You`re getting anxious.
GORDON: Yeah.
DR. PHIL: I understand --
GORDON: I do respect him.
DR. PHIL: You have two things you have to do. You have to get detoxed.
GORDON: I am detoxed.
DR. PHIL: No, you`re not. You`re drunk and you`re on drugs.
GORDON: No, I`m drunk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: That was Nick Gordon on Dr. Phil one year ago. Now he`s speaking about Bobbi Kristina Brown`s drug abuse and how, he says, it escalated
after her mother, Whitney Houston, died. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCGRAW: Some photoss surfaced of Krissi smoking out of a bong and snorting cocaine in 2011. Did she have a drug problem?
GORDON: Krissi?
DR. PHIL: Yeah.
GORDON: Yeah.
DR. PHIL: Did you ever see her do drugs while her mother was alive?
GORDON: Socially, yeah.
DR. PHIL: Like what drugs?
GORDON: Oh --
DR. PHIL: And by socially you mean at a party or something?
GORDON: Yeah, maybe smoke a little bit.
DR. PHIL: Did you do it with her?
GORDON: Smoke?
DR. PHIL: Uh-huh.
GORDON: Yeah.
DR. PHIL: But then she started doing other drugs at some point?
GORDON: Yeah. It got really bad after Whitney passed away. It`s unfortunate but that`s how at that time -- at that time, that`s kind of the only way we
knew how to deal with what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: The entire interview airs this Thursday and Friday on Dr. Phil. A reminder that Bobbi Kristina had died last July, she`d been in a coma for
months before they finally backed off her life support. Back with Christina, Renee, and Jason.
Now, Renee, I look at Nick Gordon there, he looks a lot better, a lot better. He`s been in recovery, well Jason, I`ll talk about how much
recovery but he looks better, at least.
BARGH: Yeah, he does but this guy has been through absolute hell and back.
PINSKY: Did you interview with Nick or Dr. Phil?
BARGH: Dr. Phil, I spoke to Dr. Phil. But actually knew -- I met Nick and I met Krissi and Whitney before Whitney died. I knew them when they were
actually acting like they were brother and sister. So it came full circle and kind of weird later a couple years down the track when he is now her
husband and all of that. But, yeah, he does talk about the fact that he was there and his involvement in the night that Whitney died and then again the
argument and everything that happened the night that Krissi was found.
PINSKY: He tells Phil all this?
BARGH: Yes.
PINSKY: Does he talk about her heavy drug use too?
BARGH: Yeah, I think he is going to go into that. He spoke about the fact that Krissy Bobbi was doing it before her mother passed socially but things
got bad after the fact.
PINSKY: To get pills. It`s pills pill, that somebody gave her pills because she was anxious because she was miserable.
BARGH: Yeah.
PINSKY: He also told Dr. Phil what drugs he was using when they last met last year during that interview. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PHIL: When I saw you in Atlanta, what were you on then? I know you were drinking a lot. What else were you on at the time?
GORDON: Xanax.
DR. PHIL: Why were you drinking so much at that time?
GORDON: I was drinking so much at the time because I could not deal with what was happening to Krissi. It mentally broke me, you know? That`s the
lowest point in my life right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: If you recall when I was talking about Prince, I was talking about the addition of benzodiazepines and sleep medications, Xanax is one of the
ones that`s added in that becomes lethal when added to an opiate. Jason, he apparently got eight weeks of treatment or six weeks of treatment.
WAHLER: That`s my understanding.
PINSKY: He needs a lot more than that?
WAHLER: No, he`s still not to have -- but able to have the active disease arrested in that short amount of time.
PINSKY: Do you think he`s in recovery?
WAHLER: I don`t know. He`s still -- potentially. I mean, I can`t judge it after not seeing him and talking to him. He looks completely better than
the situation he was in in that interview. Of course, the previous one you could tell he was intoxicated and barely even present.
PINSKY: Look. Let`s see, here`s a minute of some tape of him speaking to Dr. Phil about what he did in treatment. Let`s see if there`s anything
here. Go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PHIL: I`m told that you really leaned into it when you were there.
GORDON: Yeah, and rehab was something I needed and I`m thankful that I got that opportunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: So he embraced treatment. The question, Jason though, did he continue as the on going care that it makes the whole the difference?
WAHLER: Well, that`s the first thing that people needs to understand. It`s not hard to get sober, it`s hard to say sober. The focus comes in after
care. You know, and that`s where the rubber hits the road after you get sober for initial 30 days when you`re contained and your in that
environment it`s not hard to obtain sobriety when you`re in surveillance 24/7, it`s when you come out, it`s like being thrown in the four parted
ways and guess which way to go. So your access comes back, it`s like, you know, the society today is totally different than it was 30 years ago.
PINSKY: And they need that ongoing daily connection to recovering people and sometimes the therapist and whatever it might be. But it`s something
that takes years to fully treat.
WAHLER: Well they need that to be able to buy into their recovery. I think in today society you have to see there`s a light at the end of the tunnel
that you can grasp on to actually be motivated. If it`s not motivating you have to go the other way.
PINSKY: We have to go. Thank you. Thank you panel. Excellent job, appreciate it. I appreciate you guys newbies panel. We appreciate being --
(CROSSTALK)
WAHLER: . a very good job
PINSKY: We`ll be back. DVR, you can watch it any time. Thank you for watching. NANCY GRACE up next.
END
