Dr. Drew Weighs in on Presley Gerber's Luxury Rehab, Says He 'Should Have Been in a Full-Service Psychiatric Hospital'

Dr. Drew Pinsky is weighing in on Presley Gerber’s sudden death and what the family could have done to prevent the tragedy.

In an episode of “The TMZ Podcast,” the medical expert suggested that Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber’s 27-year-old son might have recovered better in a medical center instead of a luxury rehab facility.

“Somebody like Presley Gerber should be in a full-service psychiatric hospital with nurses, internists, psychologists, and psychiatrists — a place where he may actually be in that environment and get off drugs,” he began.

Dr. Drew also raised concerns about Presley's prescriptions.

“Now, we live in a time of medically assisted treatment, which is not all bad, but Presley Gerber is an example of where it goes off the rails a little bit, in that people never get off these medically assisted drugs. In fact, many physicians tell them that they can never get off, and so they're never really away from the disease of addiction. In [Presley’s] case, he was taking benzodiazepines on top of Suboxone, which is a deadly combination that is frequently prescribed, and he was complaining that he had been given 20 medications and didn't really know how to manage them,” the physician explained.

The medical expert then shifted his focus to the role insurance companies can play in addiction treatment.

“That immediately should trigger a psychiatric hospitalization, but we live in a world where even people with unlimited resources can't get adequate coverage,” he said.

“Insurance companies will not allow psychiatric hospitalization unless somebody is an imminent harm to themselves or others, so then they are shunted off to residential facilities and sober living, which are different levels of care,” the TV star explained.

Dr. Drew also shared what he believes could have been a better approach for Presley's situation.

“Now, if he had been stabilized psychiatrically as an inpatient or even as an outpatient, a residential level of care should be able to manage this kind of case, but it is very dangerous and very complicated. In terms of the poshness of these facilities — no, they shouldn't be spending their money on the environment. They should be spending their money on the care of the patients and on the staff,” he justified.

He continued by questioning whether lavish treatment centers are putting enough focus on patient care.

“So whenever I see an elaborate facility that is making lots of money, I don't trust it. To me, the treatment of drug addiction is not a good business; it's a terrible business,” he ranted.

“It requires so many human resources and so much dedication. And if the patient is dictating where and what they get for care, you're going to be in trouble,” Dr. Drew suggested.

As OK! previously reported, Presley entered treatment in Santa Monica, Calif., on Saturday night, September 19, according to TMZ. He was pronounced dead the following morning.

A Page Six source shared that the model had checked into rehab on his own after recognizing that he was struggling.

Presley reportedly felt he was "lacking purpose in his life" and "hadn't really found his place," according to the source. Despite those struggles, the insider stressed that Presley "wanted so, so badly to be free of his addictions."

An initial emergency call reportedly involved a suspected overdose. However, authorities have not confirmed that an overdose caused Presley's death.

An autopsy has been completed, but his official cause of death was deferred pending additional testing and investigation.