Charlie Sheen is no longer taking his HIV medication.
Charlie Sheen
The 50-year-old actor admitted in a pre-taped segment for an appearance on 'The Dr Oz Show' that he had stopped the treatment his own doctor had advised him on and was seeking alternative treatment in Mexico, under the care of Dr Sam Chachoua.
He said: "I'm been off my meds for about a week now. Am I risking my life? Sure. So what? I was born dead. That part of it doesn't bother me at all."
Dr Chachoua is working on a HIV vaccine and is so confident about his work that he injected some of Charlie's blood into himself.
He told Dr Oz: "I drew some blood from him and I injected myself with it and I said, 'Charlie, if I don't know what I'm doing, then we're both in trouble now aren't we?'"
Speaking about the treatment, Charlie said: "I 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."
However, he admitted that he now has detectable traces of HIV in his blood, after previously having an undetectable amount.
He said: "I'm a little off my game because right before I walked out here, I got some results I was disappointed about. I had been non-detectable, non-detectable and checking the blood every week and then found out the numbers are back up."
And Charlie's personal physician, Dr Robert Huizenga, admitted he was upset about Charlie's recent decisions about his health.
He said: "It would just break my heart if you did anything where you threw that opportunity ... away and went back to where we were several decades ago. It would just break my heart if we were to risk returning to that horrible part of our history."
Charlie said at the end of the show that he is planning to start taking his medication again but it is not clear if he plans to do so.
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