He has warned parents that apple juice contained unsafe levels of arsenic, advice that the Food and Drug Administration called “irresponsible and misleading.” In 2013, he warned women that carrying cellphones in their bras could cause breast cancer, a claim without scientific merit. In 2014, the British Medical Journal analyzed 80 recommendations on Dr. Oz’s show, and concluded that fewer than half were supported by evidence.
Two researchers who worked on “The Dr. Oz Show” for a year during a break from medical school in the 2010s said in interviews that the show’s producers had originated most of its topics, often getting their ideas from the internet. But the researchers, whose job was to vet medical claims on the show, said that they had little power to push back, and that they regularly questioned the show’s ethics to one another and discussed quitting in protest.
“Our jobs seemed to be endless fighting with producers and being overruled,” said one of the former researchers, both of whom are now physicians and insisted on anonymity because they said they feared that publicly criticizing him could jeopardize their careers.
According to the former researchers, the show’s producers conjured an imaginary, typical viewer named “Shirley,” a woman whose children were grown and who had time to focus on herself. The standard advice for many ailments covered on the show — obesity, sluggishness, back pain — was exercise, the researchers said. But there was a quota on how often exercise could be mentioned.
Shirley watched daytime TV and didn’t want to exercise, the researchers said they were told.
Dr. Oz’s on-air medical advice on both his show and Fox News has taken on greater significance as he enters the political realm. His promotion of hydroxychloroquine grabbed President Donald J. Trump’s attention and contributed to early misinformation about the virus on the right.
“Information can harm — that’s the key thing we need to appreciate here,” said Harald Schmidt, an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania. “His track record is pretty concerning. What we’ve seen so far does not instill confidence that this will help reasonable politics.”
Whites11783 on December 26th, 2021 at 14:40 UTC »
As a physician I am ashamed to have snake oil salesmen like Oz in our profession. I’m not sure why we have state medical boards at all if they aren’t going to maintain professional standards by stripping people like Oz of their medical licenses. They are directly contributing to the spread of medical disinformation by not doing so. Disgraceful.
TheSquishiestMitten on December 26th, 2021 at 14:28 UTC »
There's a Behind the Bastards episode on Dr Oz. I encourage everyone to listen to it. Dr Oz is a fucking joke. He's a liar and a grifter.
shadman70 on December 26th, 2021 at 13:32 UTC »
As a resident of the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I am dismayed that this is one of our choices. Next we'll have the Kardashians running for office...