Hollywood Demons Recap for Dr. Feelgoods

 

This week’s Hollywood Demons on ID is called Dr. Feelgoods and talks about celebrities who have dealt with and sometimes died from addiction.

 

Dr. Drew Pinsky talks about how doctors prescribe certain cocktails of medication that can lead to dependency and addiction, causing issues such as psychosis, other mental and physical issues, all of which can cause even more problems.

He sites President John F. Kennedy and his own mother as examples of those who have suffered from addiction and being given these cocktails, calling out Dr. Jacobson as one of the culprits who prescribed this meds to the President.

 

Simone Boyle, an entertainment journalist, talks about celebrities obtaining the drugs, while special agent Mark Nomady talks about his own experience dealing with the Hollywood doctors who prescribe drugs to celebrities.

 

Opioids, anti-anxiety meds and stimulants are the three most common drugs used by celebrities.

 

Susannah Herkert talks about an unpublicized case involving Doc Hollywood, who would buy Adderall off Craigslist for patients. Celebrities would come in the back door to obtain them, leading to an undercover operation to take him down.

 

Dr. Kuemmerle, known as Doc Hollywood, would write prescriptions for the undercover cop, who would ask for meds in his name and his brother’s name, with paperwork being forged and made up by office administrators.

During visits, people would come in and out under the influence, with a lot of erratic behavior from several of them, as well as the doctor himself.

 

Dr. Kuemmerle would talk about celebrities and even ID them based on what they were doing at the time in their career, such as being on the cover of Cosmo magazine…..identified later as Amanda Bynes.

 

Special agent Bill Bodner talks about the doctor being the main supplier of Adderall for celebrities.

 

Dr. Kuemmerle took a plea deal for a single charge of distribution of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to time served and three years’ probation.

. He also had his medical license suspended for a year and seven years’ probation to practice medicine in 2013.

 

After a 2019 drunk driving conviction, he finally had his medical license revoked in 2022.

 

Things got even worse during the opioid epidemic. Since it was prescription meds, it was hard to track and understand what was happening in terms of addiction.

 

Dr. Jules Lusman was known for his involvement with Winona Ryder, particularly during her shoplifting incident. She was on several medications prescribed by him, which are said to have contributed to her erratic behavior. Dr. Lusman would also prescribe medicine from his home and would give her meds under an alias.

 

He was not charged in her case, but plead no contest to an unrelated case in 2003, which involved practicing medicine without a license and grand theft of personal property.

 

Later on, he would go on to practice medicine in South Africa.

 

Dr. Drew talks about celebrities and patients who dealt with opioid addiction and those he lost, including celebrities such as Mike Starr, Jeff Conaway, Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith.

 

Charles ‘Chazz’ Smith, the cousin of Prince, talks about how the life the singer led, including his health issues that led to his death. He had been using opioids to help with his pain, and seemed to have been addicted, according to Dr. Drew’s observations.

Chazz claims that right before Prince died, he had been given Narcan.

 

Dr. Cornfeld had sent his son to help Prince before he died to provide him with meds, only to find him dead.

 

An investigation took place after Prince’s death. Fentanyl ingestion was listed as the cause of death, becoming one of the first public cases where someone died from the drug. The investigation showed several drugs in his home, all concealed as medicine.

 

Video surveillance shows Prince visiting Dr. Michael Schulenberg with his bodyguard the day before he died, buying medicine in the bodyguard’s name. The doctor paid a fine but was not criminally charged.

The medicine found in his system was not prescribed by the doctor. Prince may not have even realized what he was taking and could have been taking counterfeit pills….where they came from was a mystery.

 

Mack Jenkins, who worked on several similar cases, talks about how Ian Yannellio called his office about Matthew Perry’s death.

 

There is a montage of interviews with Matthew, who grew up with an absent father. Dr. Drew believes this trauma could have led to his addiction issues and eventual death.

Matthew had gotten in a Jet Ski accident while filming Fools Rush In and given pain meds, sending him into a spiral of addiction, leading to several rehab visits and him spending a lot og money on recovery help.

 

Shalini Ramachandran, who is an investigative reporter, talks about celebrities in rehab and how many of the luxury places don’t offer the proper help so they can keep making money off patients. The patients are charged a lot of money, allowed to have contact with the outside world and were even given drugs while trying to get sober.

There is a clip from an interview with Diane Sawyer where Matthew talked about his addiction how he would take 55 pills a day, would steal meds from open houses and doctor shop in order to get the pills.

This all led to a bowel obstruction, which he miraculously survived.

He would, however, die one year after the interview aired, leaving his friends, costars and the world as a whole in shock.

 

His cause of death was determined to be due to ketamine use, with other prescription meds found in his system.

Kenneth Iwamassa, Matthew’s assistant, was said to have injected the ketamine into his system several times on the day of Matthew’s death.

An investigation took place with Dr. Salvatore Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez being questioned and connected to the case. This involves shady ways of getting Matthew the meds, including going through the black market.

 

Taylor Shannon talks about his friendship with William Cooney. The two met in rehab and remained friends. Taylor has been sober for sixteen years, while William would relapse and get into ketamine.

William would end up in Red Door Rehab Facility, where he would eventually die. He was on fentanyl and meth.

Erik Fleming was the program director of the facility but had no involvement in William’s death. He would go on to leave the facility and allegedly supplied fifty vials of ketamine right before Matthew’s death…..which would later be connected to Jasveen Sangha, aka the Ketamine Queen.

 

Cody McLaury was another person who died from ketamine use, as per his friend Kate Tookey. She talked about their friendship and how Cody struggled with depression and mental health ussies. He would die in 2019 at the age of 33.

 

Cody had also been connected to Jasveen, who supplied him with the ketamine.

 

After Matthew’s death, Jasveen would ask Erik do delete all their messages.

 

Jasveen would pled guilty to her role in supplying the drugs and Matthew’s death, leading to fifteen years in prison and three years of supervised release.

 

Kenneth and Erik also pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

 

Dr. Plasencia also pled guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, probation and a $5,600 fine.

 

Dr. Chavez, who also pled guilty, was sentenced to eight months of home confinement, three years of probation and community service for his role in Matthew’s death.

 

Borth doctors also had to surrender their medical licenses.

 

Chazz founded Justice4Cuz on behalf of Prince.

 

Dr. Drew wants to continue to help those who are struggling with addiction and to bring more awareness to the issue.