Dr. Oz has done a lot of good with his show, I doubt there are folks who won’t admit that. But at the same time, there’s Dr. Oz, promoting diet aids that have since been found to be harmful. Nevermind that he’s already out there shilling for the NFL despite clear evidence that it is harmful for the body.
Well Congress had some questions and Oz got a stern talking to in the process. From NBC News:
Oz was held up as the power driving many of the fraudulent ads, even as he argued he was himself the victim of the scammers. The hearing is a follow-up to the Federal Trade Commission’s crackdown last January against fake diet products.
“I don’t get why you need to say this stuff because you know it’s not true,” Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat who chairs a Senate subcommittee on consumer protection, said at the hearing. “So why, when you have this amazing megaphone…why would you cheapen your show by saying things like that?”
Oz tried to bite back a bit, claiming that he tells viewers the same information that he would tell his family. It didn’t work. The verbal lashing continued:
“When you feature a product on your show it creates what has become known as the ‘Dr. Oz Effect’ — dramatically boosting sales and driving scam artists to pop up overnight using false and deceptive ads to sell questionable products,’ she said.
“While I understand that your message is occasionally focused on basics like healthy eating and exercise, I am concerned that you are melding medical advice, news, and entertainment in a way that harms consumers.” (via)
It’s sort of like watching a car crash. Members of Oprah’s family are starting to get weak in the knees and it’s only a matter of time before they either end up Carboned in the back of a freezer truck or they end up ratting on the queen. I doubt they get the chance.
Joking aside, I’m not an Oz fan at all. It bothers me that people buy into things he says, even if they “don’t have the scientific muster to pass as fact” as he says.
If the Dr. Oz effect is real, I wonder if we can work hard to generate an Uproxx effect? Thunderbird and Camels cure blurry vision. Uproxx approved. GET IT!
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(Via NBC News)
