EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Dr. Phil Wanted 'Doctors' From Son's TV Show To Treat Me, Says Dog Bite Victim
Feb. 10 2011, Published 9:34 a.m. ET
TV shrink Dr. Phil wanted pals from his son's television show The Doctors to treat his best friend who was bitten by his family's pet pooch, the victim tells RadarOnline.com in an exclusive video interview.
In an apparent effort to keep the attack quiet, Janet Harris -- who is now suing Dr. Phil and his wife Robin -- said the popular television star acted "inappropriately" and should have handled the situation better.
"It just felt very inappropriate to me," the McGraw's former confidante told RadarOnline.com as she candidly recounted the shocking details of the dog attack.
When Dr. Phil suggested he would call one of his friends from the NBC program The Doctors to treat Harris' injuries instead of taking her to an emergency room, she responded: "No offense, but I wouldn't have one of those doctors treat me for anything!"
Initially Harris remembered Dr. Phil told his wife, “Don’t go to the hospital,” and he’d be home immediately.
“I think his concern was over people seeing us there together and the problem maybe becoming a public issue would be negative for him,” Harris said.
“I imagined that he didn’t want anybody to see her and I at the hospital together and me having this problem related to them. I think it was a privacy issue.”
Harris said after she heard both Dr. Phil’s medical options for her, she felt “alone” and went into “survival mode.”
“I got the first reaction, ‘don’t go to the hospital,’ and the second reaction we can call one of our show doctors, I didn’t have the forethought about it I just reacted ‘okay, I have to take care of me.”
The Doctors are billed as a medical dream team and include E.R. physician Dr. Travis Stork, obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Lisa Masterson, plastic surgeon and reconstructive surgery expert Dr. Andrew Ordon and pediatrician Dr. James Sears.
"I've had the privilege of being on The Doctors set, and I know those doctors, and they're not doctors I'd go see for this type of condition," Harris told RadarOnline.com reporter Andrea Simpson.
“I respect them and they’re great TV personalities, but it’s not the right way to handle the situation.
"In retrospect, I don’t think they did the right thing. I think the right thing would be to take the victim to the hospital.”
Harris, who was once a frequent guest on the Dr. Phil show and best friend of Robin’s for eight years, said she was bitten by the high-profile couple's dog, Maggie, while visiting their mansion in December 2009, as RadarOnline.com first revealed.
Harris claimed the bite caused a severe arm infection, which led to profound hearing loss due to antibiotics she took and forced her to close her lucrative Los Angeles business when she couldn't work anymore.
She is suing for gross negligence and damages and is being represented by personal injury lawyers Nagelberg Bernard Law Group.
Speaking exclusively to RadarOnline.com, Harris recalled the moment she was bitten by Maggie, a Korean breed called a Jindo, without provocation or warning.
“The dog has quite a grip and was just hanging on my arm.
"I was afraid," she said, "I've never had anything like that happen."
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The dog bite left her with deep puncture wounds, cuts and abrasions on her hand and arm which bled uncontrollably, as these exclusive RadarOnline.com photos reveal.
She notes that although Dr. Phil and Robin showed concern, “they certainly didn’t step out the front door to drive me home or take me to a medical specialist.”
Watch the video on RadarOnline.com.
