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A faculty member at Northwestern Medical College was R. Kelly’s doctor and friend for 25 years.
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He testified that he began treating Kelly for a sexually transmitted disease as early as 1994 and occasionally began calling home.
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McGrath, who also partnered with Kelly, said he prescribed herpes medicine as early as 2007.
A doctor who is a faculty member of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University was called to the stand on Thursday to testify about his 25-year social and professional relationship with R & B artist R. Kelly.
Dr. Chris G. McGrath, who testified that he was the last to see Kelly socially before the singer was arrested for sex crimes, was asked about his experience treating Kelly with a sexually transmitted disease.
Kelly’s New York trial prosecutor claims he had unprotected sex with his two partners He got herpes without first notifying them, And obtaining consent under such circumstances. These allegations fall under 10 of the accusations Kelly faces in federal court.
How McGrath came to know R. Kelly
McGrath said he first met Kelly in January 1994 through his patient, Darryl McDavid, who also worked as a singer’s accountant.
Kelly had “concerns about Chlamydia,” McGrath wrote in a note from his visit with the singer. The note was entered into the court record and displayed on the court screen on Thursday. According to McGrath’s memo, Kelly also complained of genital pain. McGrath ordered a test for chlamydia, which returned negative, and a test for gonorrhea, which turned positive.
McGrath testified that he had instructed Kelly to practice safe sex and inform her sexual partner about the diagnosis. He also said he wanted to order additional tests, but Kelly declined them “for privacy reasons.”
The prosecution set a record of another appointment with McGrath on June 5, 2000. Kelly complained of his genital pain and blisters. According to McGrath’s note, he wore leather trousers without underwear for photography. McGrath believed that the irritation could be due to either herpes, which showed symptoms consistent with what Kelly experienced, or some kind of irritation due to the dye chemicals in the leather trousers.
The herpes culture test returned negative, McGrath said, but testified that the timing of the test still meant that the diagnosis of herpes could not be ruled out.
After complaining of recurrent lesions, McGrath diagnosed Kelly as herpes and confirmed that Kelly responded well to Valtrex, a drug used to treat the virus.
“Over time, patients were dissatisfied with the ridge and the treatment went well,” McGrath said.
As McGrath recalled on the stand, Kelly said, “I shouldn’t put it raw, I should put a hood on it.” When McGrath testified, he replied, “Yes, you should put on a condom.”
According to one document, McGrath was prescribing a Kelly herpes drug at least in March 2007. This was nearly two years ago when one of the whistleblowers, Jar Honda Pace, started having sex when he was 16.
McGrath testified that Kelly or his employees would frequently call him to order “blue pills.” This was what he called herpes medicine.
Kelly sometimes visited his office, but McGrath also called Kelly’s house in Olympia Fields, Illinois, and his studio in Chicago, he said.
Herpes prescriptions were sent to Kelly for McDonald’s to pick up what’s called “Rock’n’Roll Walgreens,” a pharmacy next to Chicago’s famous Rock’n’Roll McDonald’s.
Prosecutor Maria Cruz Melendez said in an opening statement that Kelly had recruited at least one minor for sex in the fast-food chain.
Kelly’s first whistleblower, Pace, met Kelly at the age of 14 in April 2008 and testified Wednesday that she began having sex at home at the age of 16 in May 2009.
Pace said she began to develop pain in her vagina while having sex with Kelly. Pace testified that the singer called a doctor home and examined a minor while Kelly was in the room, confirming that the pain was herpes.
Pace testified that he ended his sexual relationship with Kelly in January 2010 after Kelly beat her, choked her, and spit on her face during a disagreement. She said she used her T-shirt to wipe his spit and semen off her face before going home, telling her mother what had happened.
Party with his doctor
McGrath testified that Kelly had health insurance, but had never paid him for his medical services during the decades he treated him.
However, McGrath testified that he would invite him and his wife to parties and dinners and pay for flights to concerts nationwide.
The doctor flew to Kelly’s concerts in New York, Missouri, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Nashville, he told the jury. Sometimes Kelly paid for the trip, and sometimes McGrath made the reservation himself. They also attended the cigar bar together, and McGrath went to the singer’s studio to hear Kelly play the music.
McGrath said his wife, Jean, was also associated with Kelly and was “compassionate.” McGrath is a professor at Fineberg School of Medicine and a board-certified doctor, he said.
The insider asked Feinberg School of Medicine for comment, but did not immediately respond.
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