Question: What do Dr. Suess and Dr. Drew have in common?

Answer: One of them is a fictional character that has no concept of what celiac disease is…and the other one is Dr. Suess.

Just when I started to give the media credit for treating our disease with the respect it deserves, we get this hatchet job from Dr. Drew.

In our never-ending battle for celiac awareness, here’s the latest episode of…

As My Stomach Turns

Jennifer Esposito was asked to come on the Dr. Drew show yesterday to discuss celiac disease.

But instead, she spent the entire seven minutes like she was a defendant on trial and Dr. Drew was interrogating her as the prosecuting attorney.

As much as she tried, over and over again, to bring the conversation back to celiac disease, she could not penetrate Dr. Drew’s wall of arrogance.

On my blog, I get story after story of people who were misdiagnosed for so many years by arrogant doctors who simply refused to LISTEN. If you close your eyes and listen to this video (or keep your eyes open…it’s completely optional), you can just hear the arrogance of this guy.

And imagine…he used to be someone’s doctor.

Jennifer is devastated and beyond sad about what happened. She feels like she didn’t get the message across that she wanted to and it was huge step backwards for celiac awareness.

Personally, I don’t think Dr. Drew 1) has any idea of what celiac disease truly is and 2) had any intention of discussing it.

He wanted the meat of the story, which to him was the dismissal of Jennifer by CBS…which is NOT why she was asked on the show.

And get this one. On the way to the show, the producer called Jennifer and asked her if she ate gluten free. WTF??

But wait…it gets worse.

After the show, the producer called Jennifer and said he was concerned because he sensed she wasn’t happy with the show (quite a perceptive guy).

He then said…and hold on to your hats for this one my fellow celiacs…”Dr. Drew just felt you didn’t have celiac disease and thinks you weren’t tested properly because if you did have celiac disease and ate gluten free, you’d be fine.”

HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL!!

As Jennifer said to me…when do we get to stop defending ourselves about a goddamn illness??

The video deserves the Gluten Dude breakdown. Here’s the video, followed by my comments.

00:11 – Dr. Drew says “I’m confused. You’re sick. You fall over on the set and they say you’re outta here?” We’re off to a wonderful start. Did you do any research Dr. Drew on the situation? Anything at all?

00:37 – Dr. Drew insists that leaky gut equates with chronic diarrhea. Jennifer tries to explain that’s not always the case. Dr. Drew seems perturbed that somebody would dare challenge him.

00:53 – Dr. Drew tries to sound smart by explaining the medical term for “passing out”. Not only did Jennifer not pass out, but who cares what the term is? We’re not impressed.

01:05 – Dr. Drew keeps insisting Jennifer passed out. This is getting bizarre. Almost like he’s trying to make it more dramatic for entertainment purposes. Sorry doc, but celiac disease just isn’t that entertaining.

01:10 – Dr. Drew now asks if CBS fired her because she was dehydrated. Seriously…how did this guy get a TV show?

01:20 – “What blood test? What blood test? What blood test?” Holy crap…why is he grilling her so bad? This is the point where my blood begins to boil a bit.

01:50 – For the first of several times, Dr. Drew tries to sway the conversation away from celiac disease, insisting he knows what “people want to know and can relate to” and it’s certainly not celiac disease.

02:10 – Jennifer stands her ground well and keeps trying to bring the conversation back to celiac disease.

02:40 – Dr. Drew can give a rat’s ass about celiac disease.

04:00 – Jennifer nails what’s it’s like to be a celiac. Really well said.

04:35 – Dr. Drew’s response? “Are you better now?” Yes doc…she’s great. All celiacs are great if we simply eat gluten-free. Aaargh.

05:15 – He keeps calling celiac disease “this condition”. Not sure what to make of it but it just comes across as condescending to me. Would he call MS “a condition”? No…I think he’d call it a disease.

06:10 – Dr. Drew finishes with one last bash of our disease. He says “the lesson learned is that excessive working can take a toll and in your case, for whatever reason, made you fall down at work.” For whatever reason? For whatever reason??

That was just god-awful. What an insensitive, arrogant human being.

Dr. Drew…go back to your celebrity rehab.

Or better yet…go back to med school.

October 2019 Announcement: I am creating a mobile app specifically for the celiac community!! I have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the project. The campaign will end October 27, 2019. Please consider supporting the project. Every penny will help bring it to life. View the Details. Thanks!