Dr. Oz's most controversial opinions on health care: Questionable COVID-19 treatments, miracle weight-loss pills and more
A look back at the TV doctor's most outlandish moments as he's appointed to a new role by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
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President-elect Donald Trump has shared plans to nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to fulfill the role of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Trump made the announcement Tuesday, saying he was “confident he will fight to ensure everyone in America receives the best possible health care.” In a statement shared to X (formerly Twitter), Trump said Oz would work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the newly appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services, “to take on the illness industrial complex and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.”
As head of the CMS, Oz, a cardiothoarcic surgeon, would be key in regulating health insurance for more than 150 million people. The move drew criticism online due to Oz’s reported $600,000 USD in stock of companies that benefit from private insurance and history of promoting private insurance plans on his former daytime talk show.
“Running Medicare and Medicaid for over 100 million Americans isn’t like hosting a daytime talk show,” U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X this week. “Dr. Oz is another rich guy who doesn’t care if your health care costs go up or an insurance company denies you coverage. These decisions have life and death consequences.”
In light of Trump’s recent announcement, many people have questioned Oz’s credibility given his controversial and headline-making opinions. Keep reading to learn more about some of Oz’s most controversial health stances.
Touted benefits of malaria drugs for treating COVID-19
In March and April 2020, Oz spoke about the benefits of malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 during multiple appearances on Fox & Friends. Oz referenced a study that was not peer-reviewed.
“There’s no question it’s not proven to be beneficial in the large clinical trials we expect in America, and certainly the FDA and medical societies would desire,” Oz said. “But these have been supported with case studies.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning for use of the drug outside of hospital settings or clinical trials due to the risk of “serious heart-related adverse events and death.”
Oz eventually changed his stance on the use of anti-malaria drugs to treat COVID, following reports that COVID patients treated with hydroxychloroquine were more likely to die than patients who didn’t take the drug.
‘Appetizing opportunity’ of opening schools during COVID
In April 2020, Oz drew ire when he called reopening schools “an appetizing opportunity” based on a Lancet journal article “arguing that the opening of schools may cost us two to three per cent in terms of total mortality.”
“Any life is a life lost, but to get every child back into a school where they’re safely being educated, being fed and making the most out of their lives, with the theoretical risk on the backside, it might be a trade-off some folks would consider,” Oz said to Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Following backlash to his comments, Oz released a video to X: “I’ve realized my comments on risks around opening schools have confused and upset people, which was never my intention. I misspoke,” he said.
Promoted multiple weight loss products
Oz drew criticism for promoting the benefits of a green coffee bean extract during an April 2012 segment of his show called “Green Coffee Bean Extract: The Fat Burner That Works!”
Oz’s endorsement reportedly helped sell half a million bottles of the pills. But in 2014, the researchers who were paid to write the study touting the benefits of the green coffee bean extract admitted they “cannot assure the validity of the data.”
Oz spoke to members of U.S. Congress amid criticism of his support for the pills and accusations of false advertising of health supplements.
In a statement to CBS, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill said, “I’ve got no problem with celebrity endorsements of any product but I do have a problem when a science-based doctor says something is a miracle when there’s no science to back it up.”
The cardiothoracic surgeon-turned-television personality also promoted supposed weight loss pills Qnexa and shared “Ancient Ayurvedic Secrets to Lose Weight” on his show.
Claimed there were concerning levels of arsenic in apple juice
In September 2011, an FDA scientist called a segment of Oz’s show “irresponsible and misleading” for sharing the findings of a New Jersey lab that reported concerning levels of arsenic in apple juice. A separate FDA investigation did not find cause for concern, prompting Oz’s former classmate and ABC News health and medical editor at the time Dr. Richard Besser to compare Oz’s segment to shouting “fire in a movie theatre.”
A 2017 article by McGill University’s Office for Science and Society questioned Oz’s motivations for sharing the lab’s findings. The piece wrote, “The arsenic in apple juice story amounts to no more than a publicity gimmick to hype the season opener of The Dr. Oz Show. It seems science has become the sacrificial lamb at the altar of ratings.”
Suggested supplements, diet could prevent cancer
During a 2012 episode of his show, Oz claimed selenium supplements were the “holy grail of cancer prevention.” Two years later, a study from the Cochrane Library found there was “no convincing evidence” to suggest selenium supplements can prevent cancer.
Similarly, Oz suggested eating endive, red onion and sea bass could decrease the risk of ovarian cancer by up to 75 per cent. The claim was rebuked by researchers in an article entitled, “Reality Check: There is No Such Thing as a Miracle Food,” which examined the potential risks of “miracle foods” being promoted in the media.
Did not support federally protected access to abortion
During his bid for Senate in Pennsylvania, Oz was asked whether or not he supported a federal ban on abortions following Roe v. Wade being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“There should not be involvement from the federal government in how states decide their abortion decisions,” Oz said. “As a physician, I’ve been in the room when there’s some difficult conversations happening. I don’t want the federal government involved with that, at all.”
Instead of advocating for federal protection of reproductive rights, Oz doubled down on his belief that politicians should have a hand in reproductive freedoms. “I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves,” he said.
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