If you Google search “dr oz exposed” you’ll get a ton of disturbing information on the trusted TV doctor. But why wouldn’t we trust Dr. Oz? After all, he was discovered and promoted by Oprah Winfrey herself. Oprah wouldn’t let us down would she? And he is a real medical doctor. Doctors are bound by the Hippocratic oath which compels them to swear to never willfully do harm.
There’s a problem with the Hippocratic oath, however. For one thing, if you can build a consensus around a claim then you can always say that you were basing your actions on a “scientific consensus.” Many fraudulent scientific consensuses have been created over the years to foist bad products on the public, push dubious government programs, and more. Any doctor can align his opinion with a consensus- whether or not it is honest- and say he did not intend to do harm.
Sadly, the great and powerful Oz has been busted numerous times pushing bogus weight loss pills, dubious dietary supplements, stealing the content of genuine medical researchers, and pushing left-wing political agendas. Three years ago, when much of this started coming to light, it was a hard pill to swallow. But today, with the flagrant and politically motivated propaganda of the mainstream media- it’s really not such a shock to find that Dr. Oz’s credibility is nothing more than a fringed green curtain.
In 2014, Oz was grilled by the Senate and forced to admit that three diet pills he had been actively promoting were bogus and had no real weight loss benefits. Oz had been well known for years to push one weight loss solution after another based on claims that contradicted each other and amounted to a barrage of diet advice that no reasonable person could make sense of. It was only a matter of time before some of these claims should turn out to be fraudulent. Oz appeared before the Senate subcommittee and completely failed to defend himself before the grilling given him by Senator McCaskill.
“I’ve got the number one miracle in a bottle.”
“You may not believe in magic, but you will after you try this…”
“…, it may be the simple solution you’ve been looking for to bust your body fat for good.”
These are the kinds of transparent claims that Oz made to unsuspecting audiences.
McCaskill said, “I don’t know how you can say this stuff.”
Oz proceeded to defend himself on the grounds that, “I actually do believe that these pills do what I say they do.”
He went on at some length to explain the fact that the claims he made about these diet pills are not scientifically substantiated- but that he, nonetheless, still believes in them. Here, he begins to exploit the weakness in the Hippocratic oath, where- if he believes he is doing no harm, he stands a chance of getting off the hook. But even if Oz loses his license to practice medicine- that doesn’t mean he will lose his TV show and his ability to mislead millions of people.
“When you call a product a miracle, and it’s something you can buy and it gives people false hope,” McCaskill pressed. “I just don’t understand how you can in good conscience, push these products on an unsuspecting public who trusts you as a medical professional.”
Oz responded, “My job is to be a cheerleader for the audience. When I go there, they don’t think they have hope or that they can achieve their goals. I want to find anything that might be supportive of them.”
Oz can excuse himself any way he likes. But the fact is that his talent as a TV presenter does not give him the right to abuse the trust of people who may have chronic weight problems and other health problems who may be looking to him for help. There will inevitably be people who cannot afford medical advice from a doctor- so they watch his show hoping for a real solution- and he is delivering advertisements for unproven products with unsubstantiated claims.
In 2015, the Dr. Oz Show contacted the dietitian, Dr. Field Berg, who had published a compelling new book about body types and weight loss. Berg submitted his notes for the upcoming show- but the studio called and canceled at the last minute. But Dr. Berg tuned in and found that Oz had stolen his material and presented it as his own.
The Dr. Oz Show is still on the air, despite the many allegations of shilling, false advertising, and plagiarism.
~ Health Scams Exposed
