McCready is 5th 'Celebrity Rehab' participant to die in 2 years

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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Mindy McCready is the fifth participant in the U.S. reality TV show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" to die in the past two years, People.com said Monday.

McCready, who had a history of drug addition, shot herself Sunday night. She was 37.

Her Season 3 "Celebrity Rehab" co-star, reality TV personality Joey Kovar, died of a drug overdose last August and Alice in Chains bass guitarist Mike Starr fatally OD'd the year before, People.com said.

Actor Jeff Conaway died in May 2011 from complications related to pneumonia and the degenerative brain condition known as encephalopathy. Rodney King, the man at the center of the police brutality scandal that sparked the Los Angeles riots, drowned last June after using cocaine.

"I am deeply saddened by this awful news. My heart goes out to Mindy's family and children. She is a lovely woman who will be missed by many," Dr. Drew Pinsky told People.com in a statement Monday. "Although I have not treated her for a few years, I had reached out to her recently upon hearing about the apparent suicide of her boyfriend and father of her younger children. She was devastated. Although she was fearful of stigma and ridicule, she agreed with me that she needed to make her health and safety a priority. Unfortunately, it seems that Mindy did not sustain her treatment."

"Celebrity Rehab" debuted in 2008 on VH1. It shows Pinsky -- an internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and TV personality -- treating high-profile patients for various addictions.