Charlie Sheen, who was outed as being HIV-positive in November, has famously declared that he will be the one to find a cure.
But the latest attempt to conquer his infection has resulted in some devastating news for the former Two and a Half Men Star.
He revealed today on The Dr Oz Show that until now, HIV had been virtually indetectable in his blood because of the cocktail of drugs he’d been prescribed.
That was until the 50-year-old decided to stop his conventional medicine and trial an experimental vaccine in Mexico with a doctor who isn’t licensed to practise in the United States.
In a pre-taped segment filmed in Mexico in December, Charlie declares, “I’ve been off my meds for about a week now. I feel great. Am I risking my life? So what! I was born dead. That part of it doesn’t faze me at all.”
The actor revealed his Mexican treatment ordeal to US TV host Dr. Oz.
But in a follow-up interview with Dr Oz this week, Charlie reveals, “I’m a little off my game because right before I walked out here, I got some results I am disappointed about.”
“I had been non-detectable… and checking the blood every week, and then found out the numbers were back up,” he says.
In a bizarre twist, Dr Oz played an interview with Charlie’s Mexico-based medic, Dr Sam Chachoua, who says he was so confident in his treatment that he injected himself with the actor’s infected blood.
“And I said, Charlie, if I don’t know what I’m doing, then we’re both in trouble now aren’t we?” he told Dr Oz (find out how THAT went down in the video player below).
Charlie’s experimental treatment “produced some incredible results early on”, but then traces of HIV re-appeared in his system.
Charlie’s manager Mark Burg confirms that his client has since resumed taking his HIV medication.
“He said he would start on the way home [from Mexico] on the plane and that’s exactly what he did,” he says.
Charlie has since described the moment he watched Dr Chachoua inject his infected blood as “inappropriate and mindblowing”, but added that in context of his controversial life, it was “just another Wednesday”.
