Dr. Oz Scolds Charlie Sheen for Going Off HIV Meds, Trying Alternative Treatment

Charlie Sheen is searching for a cure for HIV, and according to the Doctor Oz TV show, he took a radical step: stopping HIV medications and seeking an experimental treatment from a doctor in Mexico. The effect saw his health plummet.

Since the actor’s revelation on NBC’s Today show in November that he is HIV-positive, Sheen has been undergoing an experimental treatment from a controversial doctor in Mexico, Dr. Samir Chachoua, who claims to be able to cure HIV. Though Sheen has been on antiretroviral medication for three years, which had reduced the virus to the point that it was undetectable in his system, he told Oz that he had stopped taking the medications to see Chachoua.

"I'm been off my meds for about a week now," Sheen told Oz in the pre-taped segment that aired Tuesday. "Am I risking my life? Sure. So what? I was born dead. That part of it doesn't phase me at all." 

Sheen's manager Mark Burg told People magazine yesterday that the actor resumed taking his medications December 8, just after the episode was taped. 

"Charlie is back on his meds. He tried a cure from a doctor in Mexico but the minute the numbers went up, he started taking his medicine," Burg said. "He said he would start on the plane on the way home and that is exactly what he did."

Sheen says he "didn’t see it as Russian roulette. I didn’t see it as a complete dismissal of the conventional course we’ve been on. I’m not recommending that anyone. I’m presenting myself as a type of guinea pig.”

Watch Dr. Oz interview Charlie Sheen here.