Dr. Drew Pinsky is under fire after a montage of resurfaced clips show him saying he thinks the deadly Coronavirus as ‘way less sever than the flu’ and ‘doesn’t hurt anybody.’
Dr. Drew Pinsky, 61, is a trusted medical professional — but fans on social media were up in arms after watching clips of the MD downplaying the severity of COVID-19. The television host addressed the Coronavirus pandemic frequently on his show, Dose Of Dr. Drew, and on several news outlets in the past weeks downplaying the pandemic as “press induced panic”: “This is way less severe than the flu, so it’s a reminder that you’re more likely to die of influenza so go out and get your flu shots,” he said in clip watermarked Feb. 4. “It’s mild. It doesn’t hurt anybody. They should have a headline, ‘way less serious than influenza.’ That’s the headline!” he exclaimed again in a video watermarked Feb. 5. Both clips were recorded weeks ahead of various stay-at-home orders — including the ones in California and New York — that didn’t come into effect until March.
In other clips, he went on to address numbers and possible fatalities pertaining to the pandemic. “You know the 2% fatality thing. It’s less than 2%. Less dangerous than influenza…your probability of dying from coronavirus — it’s much higher that you’ll be hit by an asteroid,” he quipped in clips from early March. When an interviewer asked him what the numbers would have to be to begin taking this seriously, dropping a hypothetical 20,000 cases back in February, Drew was adamant that this “was not going to happen.” As of Saturday, April 4, the John Hopkins Institute reports 300,915 reported cases in the United States and 8,162 deaths — and the numbers continue to rise each day.
As the clips were shared on social media, the Twitterverse was outraged at Dr. Drew’s cavalier comments and didn’t hold back on their responses! “Dr. Drew is a snake oil salesman. Really terrible stuff here. What a disgrace,” @yashar user angrily tweeted. “Here’s a compilation of Dr Drew spreading dangerous misinformation about the coronavirus. Why does he still have a job? He is a JOKE. Hey @MTV, you better FIRE this piece of s*** immediately,” @Anxious_Matt shared, attaching the shocking video. Another fan, @SoSofieFatal, hilariously joked that she would “take medical advice from Dr. Pepper over Dr. Drew, but that’s just me.”
Dr. Drew is a snake oil salesman. Really terrible stuff here. What a disgrace. pic.twitter.com/Eh35Ky8yVO
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) April 4, 2020
Dr. Drew’s outrageous comments didn’t stop there, as he went stated on FOX News Mar. 10 that he thought it was “a mistake” for the NBA to bar fans from upcoming games. “The flu virus in this country is vastly more consequential. And nobody is talking about that,” he went on in another clip, noting that he was continuing to take the train in New York City despite Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s recommendations not to.
I would take medical advice from Dr. Pepper over Dr. Drew, but that’s just me.
— Michelle In Quarantine (@SoSofieFatale) April 4, 2020
On Mar. 31, with numerous statewide stay-at-home orders in place, New York in a state of emergency and a climbing death toll, the Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew attempted to change is tune — sort of. “Let’s say we have 100,000 deaths in the country. Remember we get 30,000 deaths in a year from the flu. We predicted from the beginning that this is going to be worse than the flu. So we have to at least have 30,000 deaths for it to be worse than the flu,” he said.
Sourse: hollywoodlife.com
