Dr. Phil McGraw has been criticised for visiting Britney Spears by a veteran psychiatrist.

The TV doctor made a house call to Britney Spears at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center following her public breakdown last week.

However, Dr. Jeffrey Sugar has argued that McGraw's visit was inappropriate in the current circumstances.

He told ABC News: "It's true people sometimes need to be placed under involuntary mental health treatment because they can't take care of themselves.

"But there's a difference between being detained involuntarily for psychological treatment and being forced to endure Dr. Phil involuntarily."

Plans to have a special Dr. Phil show featuring Spears have been scrapped because McGraw believed the situation had got "too intense".

Dr. Richard Harding, professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of South Carolina commented: "Certainly I think it's a good idea to stop that show dead. This isn't the time to be exploiting anybody and making examples out of anybody."

McGraw has claimed that he was invited to see Spears by her family.

> Dr Phil visits Britney