Back in 1999 as Dr. Drew Pinsky’s celebrity career was on the rise, he found a way to make over a cool quarter million dollars from drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). All he had to do was talk about the unwanted sexual side effects of many antidepressant medications.
You see, the popular antidepressants back then were Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. And all three had this unfortunate but common side effect — many people who took them lost virtually all interest in sex.
As though it wasn’t bad enough that you were depressed… The treatment you took for the depression also took something away from you: your sexual desire. ((These side effects remain today and are one of the most common reasons for people discontinuing antidepressants.))
The problem isn’t that Dr. Drew talked about these concerns. The problem is that Dr. Drew talked about them on behalf of GSK without disclosing he got paid to do so.