Dr. Peter Attia, the superstar physician who helped popularize the longevity craze, has publicly apologized as he faces a rising backlash following the discharge of electronic mail exchanges he had with the late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Attia’s identify seems ceaselessly within the newest batch of Epstein information, which the Justice Division launched Friday. The 2 exchanged jokes, scheduled instances to satisfy and mentioned Epstein’s well being through electronic mail within the mid-2010s, with Epstein saying at one level that he might pay to be Attia’s shopper.
“You the largest drawback with turning into mates with you?” Attia wrote in June 2015. “The life you lead is so outrageous, and but I can’t inform a soul…”
In a message in February 2016, Attia made a crude joke that feminine genitalia was “low carb.”
The revelation that Attia and Epstein had been pleasant got here simply days after CBS Information introduced that it had employed Attia as a contributor. The community didn’t instantly reply to an inquiry about whether or not it intends to maintain him within the position. CBS Information has pulled a rerun of a “60 Minutes” section that includes Attia that was scheduled to air Sunday, based on a supply accustomed to the matter.
On Monday, Attia wrote on X that his interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with Epstein’s sample of sexual abuse or exploitation. Attia mentioned he had not been concerned in any legal exercise and had by no means visited Epstein’s island. Authorities haven’t accused Attia of any crimes.
“I apologize and remorse placing myself ready the place emails, a few of them embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible, are actually public, and that’s on me. I settle for that actuality and the humiliation that comes with it,” he wrote.
Attia mentioned his comment about not having the ability to inform others about Epstein’s “outrageous” life was a reference to exercising discretion in highly effective social circles, not an consciousness of wrongdoing. He added that he had not been Epstein’s physician, “although a number of instances I answered normal medical questions and really helpful different suppliers to him.”
Attia didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Attia is likely one of the greatest names within the longevity house, a medical philosophy rooted in the concept folks can enhance and prolong their high quality of life and stave off persistent illness by way of a mix of train, sleep and good diet and by tending to their emotional well being. He’s the writer of the best-selling guide “Outlive: The Science and Artwork of Longevity” and host of the favored podcast “The Peter Attia Drive.” His firm, Early Medical, affords a program that teaches folks how one can reside more healthy for longer.
In the previous few days, Attia has parted methods with a minimum of two firms.
He had been a scientific adviser for AG1, the maker of a powdered complement billed as a method to fill “nutrient gaps” in folks’s diets.
An AG1 spokesperson mentioned in an emailed assertion that “as of this week, Dr. Attia is not an advisor to the corporate.”
Some medical doctors and longevity practitioners had not too long ago questioned whether or not AG1 has any vital profit. The spokesperson mentioned a number of trials have proven that the product has optimistic impacts, corresponding to enhancing intestine well being.
Till Monday, Attia was additionally an investor and the chief science officer for David, a protein bar firm that has capitalized on the rising reputation of high-protein diets.
David’s CEO, Peter Rahal, introduced on X that Attia had “stepped down from his position.” The corporate didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Attia maintains lively medical licenses in Texas, California and New York however doesn’t have a board certification and didn’t full his residency, which he started at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Some medical doctors had beforehand accused Attia of touting unproven treatments and charging sufferers exorbitant quantities.
Now, some proponents of longevity drugs have expressed concern that Attia’s newly revealed relationship with Epstein might undermine belief of their area, which has attracted a combination of evidence-backed and pseudoscientific approaches.
Epstein pleaded responsible in 2008 to state prices of soliciting prostitution, together with from a minor. He was arrested on federal intercourse trafficking prices in 2019 and located useless in his jail cell a few month later.
In an April 2016 electronic mail alternate with Epstein, Attia talked about “LSJ” — prone to be a reference to Little Saint James, Epstein’s non-public island, which is alleged to have been a spot the place ladies and women have been abused — saying, “I would like to go to a while…” Electronic mail correspondence additionally revealed that Attia had deliberate to go to Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico in August 2015 however that the timing didn’t work out.
