Mindy McCready becomes latest "Celebrity Rehab" death

Mindy McCready's death Sunday, of an apparent suicide, makes her the fifth participant from "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" to die in the past two years.

McCready appeared on the third season of Dr. Drew Pinsky's VH1 series, which followed stars as they were treated for drug and alcohol addiction. She suffered a seizure on camera in one of the show's scarier moments.

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The 37-year-old McCready is the third cast member from that season's cast of nine people to die -- Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr died in 2011 and former "Real World" star Joey Kovar died last August, both of overdoses.

Jeff Conaway and Rodney King, who appeared on other "Celebrity Rehab" seasons, have also died.

In an interview with CBSNews.com in 2010, McCready denied that the show exploits people's problems for entertainment.

"I know that their hearts are definitely all in the right place," she said at the time. "It saved my life; there's no doubt about it. I was meant to be on that show."

The last season of "Celebrity Rehab" aired in 2011. A sixth season of the show, titled "Rehab with Dr. Drew" and featuring a cast of non-celebrities, aired last year.

In a statement issued by his publicist (and obtained by BuzzFeed) following McCready's death, Pinsky said:

"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. Although I have not treated her for 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. Mental health issues can be life threatening and need to be treated with the same intensity and resources as any other dangerous potentially life threatening medical condition. Treatment is effective. If someone you know is suffering please be sure he or she gets help and maintains treatment."