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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOprah's Favorite, Dr. Oz Admits His Weight Loss 'Miracles' Are Phony in Congressional Testimony
http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/oprahs-favorite-dr-oz-admits-his-weight-loss-miracles-are-phony-congressDr. Mehmet Oz doesnt want to be part of the problem. He wants to be part of the solution. But when the daytime television host and sometimes snake oil peddler appeared before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday to testify about false advertising for over-the-counter weight loss cures, he had a hard time defending his own larger-than-life claims.
During the hearing, Claire McCaskill, chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, made it clear that she thinks Oz abuses his influence. In whats commonly known as the Dr. Oz Effect, products that the cardiologist endorses on his show or that advertisers claim to have been endorsed by him fly off the shelves. People want to believe they can take an itty-bitty pill to push fat out of their body, McCaskill scolded. I know you know how much power you have. I know you know that.
While acknowledging that theres no such thing as a miracle pill that can replace diet and exercise, Oz insisted that the products he promotes can be used as a short-term crutch.
I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about on the show, he said. I passionately study them. I recognize they dont have the scientific muster to present as fact but nevertheless I would give my audience the advice I give my family all the time, and I have given my family these products. Specifically the ones you mentioned, then Im comfortable with that part.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Dr. Mehmet Oz doesnt want to be part of the problem. He wants to be part of the solution. But when the daytime television host and sometime snake oil peddler appeared before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday to testify about false advertising for over-the-counter weight loss cures, he had a hard time defending his own larger-than-life claims.
During the hearing, Claire McCaskill, chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, made it clear that she thinks Oz abuses his influence. In whats commonly known as the Dr. Oz Effect, products that the cardiologist endorses on his show or that advertisers claim to have been endorsed by him fly off the shelves. People want to believe they can take an itty-bitty pill to push fat out of their body, McCaskill scolded. I know you know how much power you have. I know you know that.
While acknowledging that theres no such thing as a miracle pill that can replace diet and exercise, Oz insisted that the products he promotes can be used as a short-term crutch.
I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about on the show, he said. I passionately study them. I recognize they dont have the scientific muster to present as fact but nevertheless I would give my audience the advice I give my family all the time, and I have given my family these products. Specifically the ones you mentioned, then Im comfortable with that part.
FlaGranny
(8,361 posts)many of these shows, never once did the doctor claim anything was a "miracle." That's ridiculous. Every single product he discussed does have research and a history behind it (I've looked up the studies). He always advocates a healthy diet and lifestyle. Says the specific product "may" be helpful. The main problem is that people find web sites that make outrageous claims about a product and then Oz gets blamed for the claims. Many times he has said that exact same sentence on the show: "no such thing as a miracle pill that can replace diet and exercise." That show has been responsible for saving lives by publicizing various disease symptoms. It has also been responsible for many people changing their diets and lifestyle and becoming healthy.
Yes, I guess I am defending him. By the way, the headline of the post is misleading. Dr. Oz has never claimed any product was a miracle.
P.S. I find that men tend to hate the man, maybe that's because the women love him?
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)snake oil salesman,making money off of people's desperation. And he has claimed diet pills are "miracles":
(On green coffee extract) You may think magic is make-believe, but this little bean has scientists saying they found the magic weight-loss for every body type.
(On raspberry ketone) Ive got the number one miracle in a bottle to burn your fat (raspberry ketone)
(On garcinia cambogia) It may be the simple solution youve been looking for to bust your body fat for good..
He doesn't even deny this.
Orrex
(63,263 posts)LOL. No, that's not it.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
eShirl
(18,507 posts)because he's one of those doctors that gives me the creeps.
catbyte
(34,534 posts)That was a whole lotta nuthin'.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,069 posts)AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)"Snake oil peddler" -- yep, pretty much.
I wish he and that other Oprah creation -- Dr. Phil -- would just go the fuck away.
LuvNewcastle
(16,867 posts)Liars and self-promoters extraordinaire. I'm just glad Oprah went the fuck away. Her show promoted more awful shit than I can name, especially in her book club. People like her are examples of what's wrong with America's way of getting informed. Her show was almost as bad as Fox News.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)I don't know anything about the book club, but my gut reaction was was to doubt that a book club could be so bad. What is so bad about it?
LuvNewcastle
(16,867 posts)People who don't usually read look for something to read, and so they decide that surely Oprah would promote books that would be worthy of their time. So they read the trash that Oprah promotes instead of reading something that might give them some insight into their lives and the lives of others. Other than ruining an experience that could be valuable to people's lives and benefit the lives of others as well, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Oprah's book club.
AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)I came across some good fiction that I probably never would have heard of otherwise. But the more it went on, the more the quality fell off. (Either that, or I found better book recommendation sites.)
I never got the Worship at the Altar of Oprah crap. Maybe I'm just too cynical, but I would never slavishly follow ANYONE the way a lot of people follow her. Oz and Phil would never have gotten as far if they weren't riding her coattails. Both are charlatans, both are hacks, and both have probably caused MORE problems than they have "cured." The promos for Phil's shows make me cringe. He has NO business meddling in some of the issues that he does.
EDIT: One more observation about Oz. He's also a fear-mongerer extraordinare. The theme for his show should be the old Joe Jackson song "Cancer" -- because according to Oz, just about everything causes it. I take what that guy says with a HUGE grain of salt. I hope this diet shit busts him, but probably not, given the number of his sheeple who take what he says as gospel.
Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)maindawg
(1,151 posts)This is the pharm corp attacking a man who presents people with advice and recomendations to a healthy lifestyle. This is a man who has a forum that is not restricted by the pharm.industry.
They hate that. They fear dr's who openly advise us on how not to get sick.
Dr Oz is doing a good service.
The problem with americans is that we are fat. We are like lab rats they feed us high fructose corn syrup in every product on the shelf.Mono sodium glutimate used to be banned until Don Rumsfeld destroyed the FDA in 1980.
Now we are a mess. Now we all take pills everyday. So when DR Oz give us advice on how to be healthy, they hate that.
eShirl
(18,507 posts)sufrommich
(22,871 posts)lose weight and it costs nothing. Every other weight loss "miracle" is a scam aimed at naive people.
LuvNewcastle
(16,867 posts)I absolutely have to exercise to lose weight; I can't just change my diet. I've tried it. The most I'll lose by changing my diet is 5-10 lbs., and that's if I'm lucky. Exercise is a must if you really want to lose significant weight, that is, unless you're severely obese and you eat constantly. I hate to tell people that, but if they're anything like me, there's no substitute for exercise.
ejpoeta
(8,933 posts)that's why those diet plans say lose the first 10lbs free. that's not the hard part. losing the rest is. and just eating preportioned food from weight watchers or any of the other ones isn't going to do it. but people want a miracle pill to fix the problem. it's hard though. i have had a hard time. I can't seem to motivate myself.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)He peddles woo and gives terrible advice.
And MSG was never banned... Where do you get your information? NaturalNews?
LostOne4Ever
(9,296 posts)Dr. Woo!
There is nothing too out there for him to support. No fad diet is too psuedoscientific, or no quack advocating new age mumbo jumbo too unbelievable to him. The lowest point was when he had a show gave the people advocating (the long discredited) gay reversion therapy equal time and representation on his show.
LuvNewcastle
(16,867 posts)I've always gotten a bad vibe from the man, and that just convinces me he's an asshole. He has a new thing you need to do every fucking day. If people followed every little piece of advice he gives, they would would do nothing but munch all day on a handful of this and a pill for that. So much for losing weight and staying healthy! It's a wonder someone hasn't sued his ass already. He fucking deserves it as much as anybody.
maindawg
(1,151 posts)But you can say hes a bad guy ? He is a Dr. If he allowed someone he disagrees with, equal time then that says alot about his character. I know the way to health is through proper diet and exersize. However, there are many things outside that you can do to make yourself healthy. Also , I would advocate that anything you can suggest to motivate a person to work towards better health is a good idea. If you need to take a placebo to justify your plight in your own mind then fine. Everyone is unique, what works for one may seem silly to another.
catbyte
(34,534 posts)equal time to that is just plain wrong.
LuvNewcastle
(16,867 posts)Yeah, I guess I need some gay reparation to keep myself from getting AIDS, huh? Want to be "healthy?" Well fucking stop being queer! Quit being a gay whore and maybe you won't catch any nasty viruses, huh? Thank God for people like Dr. Oz! How many other people would give "equal time" to these bastards!
dsc
(52,172 posts)or maybe one about the role of Hispanics should give equal time to the Minute Men
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)dsc
(52,172 posts)to state their views, it is quite another to have a group on a Dr. show giving medical quackery.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)I don't believe it at all....but sunshine is a great antiseptic
Did appearing on Phil Donohue suddenly give them legitimacy?
dsc
(52,172 posts)been a historian and said that the Klan was justified in its behavior. Dr. Oz, note the word Dr. had these quacks on to tell the world that they could cure gays with nary a word from him saying otherwise.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)"So a show that is about civil rights should give equal time to the klan"
dsc
(52,172 posts)Dr. Oz's show was advocating this non sense.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)He unequivocally sides with established scientific community that finds it rubbish.
http://blog.doctoroz.com/dr-oz-blog/reparative-therapy-controversy
dsc
(52,172 posts)This is what he did on the show.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/dr-oz-reparative-ex-gay-therapy-backlash-_n_2211621.html
The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) felt similarly, saying they would not have particpated in the broadcast had they known NARTH would be represented. The Dr. Oz Show provided a platform to a fringe organization promoting dangerous and harmful practices that every major health, mental health and education organization has consistently repudiated as harmful to youth," Executive Director Dr. Eliza Byard is quoted as saying. The Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) were more pointed in their response to the show, adding in an email statement: "Although the show also featured guests who condemned the idea and practice of 'reparative therapy,' Dr. Oz himself never weighed in, and the audience was misled to believe that there are actual experts on both sides of this issue."
Oh and here is his statement
"After listening to both sides of the issue and after reviewing the available medical data, I agree with the established medical consensus. I have not found enough published data supporting positive results with gay reparative therapy and I have concerns about the potentially dangerous effects when the therapy fails, especially when minors are forced into treatments."
so lets review the tape so to speak
Dr. Oz never lets his guests know that NARTH will be on the show, he never opens his mouth during the show to say that it is snake oil being sold by NARTH, and in point of fact during the show, from his own statement, he apparently didn't know it was snake oil. Now contrast that to Donahue and the Klan. I would bet my last dollar that Donahue made it perfectly clear to his guests that the Klan would be on the show, made his distaste for the Klan abundantly clear, and in point of fact had distaste for the Klan going in. But other than that, they were just the same.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Were those his words
dsc
(52,172 posts)and apparently went into the show thinking that there might well be something to reparative therapy. From his own statement.
"After listening to both sides of the issue and after reviewing the available medical data, I agree with the established medical consensus. I have not found enough published data supporting positive results with gay reparative therapy and I have concerns about the potentially dangerous effects when the therapy fails, especially when minors are forced into treatments."
The show was a he said he said with NARTH being treated the same as legitimate science.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)you are not a mind reader.....and that is how any scientist would answer
dsc
(52,172 posts)he put on a show with NARTH and gay groups discussing reparative therapy. He utters not one single solitary word during the show stating that such therapy is quackery, he doesn't tell his other guests NARTH is going to be on the show, and after he gets roasted in the media for his misconduct he issues a statement saying that looking at all the evidence, which has to include his show that he has problems with that therapy. He is a promoter of quacks.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)that is YOUR interpretation......its you opinion....you seem to be the only one with it...
TBF
(32,139 posts)progressoid
(50,013 posts)Screw Dr. Oz.