Mehmet Oz

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==Criticism==
 
==Criticism==
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{{rquote|left|“Medicine is a very religious experience.  I have my religion and you have yours. It becomes difficult for us to agree on what we think works, since so much of it is in the eye of the beholder. Data is rarely clean.”<ref>Specter, Michael.  [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/02/04/130204fa_fact_specter?currentPage=all "Is Doctor Oz Doing More Harm Than Good?"]  ''The New Yorker,'' 2/4/13.</ref>}}
 
{{rquote|left|“Medicine is a very religious experience.  I have my religion and you have yours. It becomes difficult for us to agree on what we think works, since so much of it is in the eye of the beholder. Data is rarely clean.”<ref>Specter, Michael.  [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/02/04/130204fa_fact_specter?currentPage=all "Is Doctor Oz Doing More Harm Than Good?"]  ''The New Yorker,'' 2/4/13.</ref>}}
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=== Resveratrol ===
 
=== Resveratrol ===
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One of his biggest controversies involved the chemical [[resveratrol]]. While pharmaceutical research on laboratory mice showed it had some potential as an anti-aging agent, Dr. Oz went one step further by promoting it as some [[New Age]] miracle, and pushing his own supplemental version of the chemical, despite a current lack of proof of its benefits/risks for humans.<ref>[http://healthcare.zdnet.com/?p=2285 Dr. Oz takes a risk]</ref>
 
One of his biggest controversies involved the chemical [[resveratrol]]. While pharmaceutical research on laboratory mice showed it had some potential as an anti-aging agent, Dr. Oz went one step further by promoting it as some [[New Age]] miracle, and pushing his own supplemental version of the chemical, despite a current lack of proof of its benefits/risks for humans.<ref>[http://healthcare.zdnet.com/?p=2285 Dr. Oz takes a risk]</ref>
  
 
=== John Edward ===
 
=== John Edward ===
[[John Edward]] once appeared on the Dr. Oz show.  He performed some of his <s>cold readings</s> miraculous communication with the dead for members of the studio audience.  At no point in the episode did Dr. Oz question whether Edward could really talk to dead people.
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[[John Edward]] once appeared on the Dr. Oz show, where he did what he always does, and claimed to talk with the dead while really doing a [[cold reading]] with members of the studio audience.  At no point in the episode did Dr. Oz question whether Edward could really talk to dead people.
  
 
===Reparative therapy ===
 
===Reparative therapy ===
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In November 2012, Oz provided a perfect example of [[false balance]] by giving a platform to "both sides" of the "debate" about [[reparative therapy]]. In reality, there is no debate: reparative therapy is utterly discredited and those who still promote it are a bunch of homophobic whacknuts. A very ''small'' bunch of homophobic whacknuts. As a result, gay rights groups ripped him a new one.<ref>[http://tv.msnbc.com/2012/11/30/gay-rights-groups-rip-dr-oz-show-over-episode-on-reparative-therapy/ Gay rights groups rip ‘Dr. Oz Show’ over episode on reparative therapy], MSNBC</ref>
 
In November 2012, Oz provided a perfect example of [[false balance]] by giving a platform to "both sides" of the "debate" about [[reparative therapy]]. In reality, there is no debate: reparative therapy is utterly discredited and those who still promote it are a bunch of homophobic whacknuts. A very ''small'' bunch of homophobic whacknuts. As a result, gay rights groups ripped him a new one.<ref>[http://tv.msnbc.com/2012/11/30/gay-rights-groups-rip-dr-oz-show-over-episode-on-reparative-therapy/ Gay rights groups rip ‘Dr. Oz Show’ over episode on reparative therapy], MSNBC</ref>
  
 
===Pigasus Award===
 
===Pigasus Award===
  
Dr Oz won the [[James Randi]] Educational Foundation's Pigasus Award (Media section) in 2010 and 2011 for doing "such a disservice to his TV viewers by promoting quack medical practices that he is now the first person to win a Pigasus two years in a row."<ref>http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/1260-pigasus-2011.html</ref>
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Dr Oz won the [[James Randi Educational Foundation]]'s Pigasus Award (Media section) in 2010 and 2011 for doing "such a disservice to his TV viewers by promoting quack medical practices that he is now the first person to win a Pigasus two years in a row."<ref>http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/1260-pigasus-2011.html</ref>
  
 
== Footnotes ==
 
== Footnotes ==

Revision as of 03:01, 17 February 2013

Against allopathy

Alternative medicine

Icon alt med alt.svg
Alternative articles
Doctor Oz at ServiceNation 2008, 12 Sep 2008.

Mehmet Oz is a TV doctor who first became known from his appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show between 2004 and 2009. He currently hosts his own syndicated television talk show, "The Dr. Oz Show" which first aired on September 14, 2009.

Oz is a heavy promoter of so-called complementary alternative medicine, such as rolfing and acupuncture.[1] He's hardly seen a piece of medical woo he didn't like. He has also featured anti-GMO activists on his program.[2]

The general format of the Dr. Oz television show is to invite many people who work in healthcare for the audience, go through some very logical points with real medical background and consensus, having members of the audience participate, then ruin it by trying to peddle some alternative medicine garbage.

Contents

Background

As a doctor, Oz is actually one of the most accomplished cardiothoracic surgeons of his generation,[3] making his woo-peddling all the more disconcerting. He has advocated doing whatever is necessary to keep a blood pressure no more than 115/75, five points below the normally accepted 120/80, which at least is something that's actually in his area of professional competence.

The Dr. Oz Show

Like all commercial TV programming, the purpose of the Dr. Oz Show is at least as much entertainment as medicine. Attempting to fill up nearly 5 hours of programming time each week with legitimate medicine while retaining a captive viewing audience is nearly impossible, particularly for a show that is constantly trumpeting new scientific "break-throughs" and "miracles," which in real life are nearly non-existent. Hence, Dr. Oz fills his time with all sorts of material from the dubious to the downright fraudulent. In the past he has given time to such quacks as Joseph Mercola. Oz generally stops short of endorsing these charlatans, but the fact a legitimate doctor gives them a platform at all borders on malfeasance. It also gives these medical frauds to promote themselves with "as seen on the Dr. Oz Show."

Criticism

“Medicine is a very religious experience. I have my religion and you have yours. It becomes difficult for us to agree on what we think works, since so much of it is in the eye of the beholder. Data is rarely clean.”[4]

Resveratrol

One of his biggest controversies involved the chemical resveratrol. While pharmaceutical research on laboratory mice showed it had some potential as an anti-aging agent, Dr. Oz went one step further by promoting it as some New Age miracle, and pushing his own supplemental version of the chemical, despite a current lack of proof of its benefits/risks for humans.[5]

John Edward

John Edward once appeared on the Dr. Oz show, where he did what he always does, and claimed to talk with the dead while really doing a cold reading with members of the studio audience. At no point in the episode did Dr. Oz question whether Edward could really talk to dead people.

Reparative therapy

In November 2012, Oz provided a perfect example of false balance by giving a platform to "both sides" of the "debate" about reparative therapy. In reality, there is no debate: reparative therapy is utterly discredited and those who still promote it are a bunch of homophobic whacknuts. A very small bunch of homophobic whacknuts. As a result, gay rights groups ripped him a new one.[6]

Pigasus Award

Dr Oz won the James Randi Educational Foundation's Pigasus Award (Media section) in 2010 and 2011 for doing "such a disservice to his TV viewers by promoting quack medical practices that he is now the first person to win a Pigasus two years in a row."[7]

Footnotes

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