NEW YORK – Former “Today” host Jane Pauley sued The New York Times on Wednesday, accusing the paper of using the intimate details of her bout with bipolar disorder to help advertisers sell drugs.

Pauley claims The Times and the publisher of an October 2005 advertising supplement deceived her into thinking she was speaking to one of the paper’s reporters about her struggle.

One year after leaving “Dateline NBC” in 2003, Pauley, 55, revealed publicly her battle with a disorder that subjected her to dramatic mood swings.

“Pauley has always strived to maintain her privacy,” says the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court. “To that end, Pauley has eschewed the trappings of modern-day celebrity and self-promotion.”

She’s asking for an unspecified amount of damages for false advertising, deceptive trade practices and the violation of her right to publicity.

Pauley says she agreed to do an interview after representatives from the National Mental Health Association told her in the summer of 2005 that a Times reporter wanted to speak with her for a story that would be published in a supplement to The New York Times Magazine.

She claims that a woman named Sharon Johnson, working for DeWitt Publishing, the creator of the ad supplement, led her to believe she was a reporter for The Times.

The supplement was paid for by the makers of psychotherapeutic drugs, including Eli Lilly and Company, the lawsuit contends.

The cover of the Oct. 30, 2005, supplement includes a full-page photograph of Pauley beside a headline that reads: “Jane Pauley’s new role: Mental health advocate.”

Pauley’s husband, “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau, has done op-ed pieces for The Times, which denied any wrongdoing.

“We do not believe this case has merit,” said Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis. “Ms. Pauley’s assistant was told that the article for which Ms. Pauley was to be interviewed would appear in a special advertising supplement and Ms. Pauley agreed to participate.”