(Mera Ishak H01)
Dr. Mehmet Oz
Dr. Mehmet Oz is introduced in chapter 34 of Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen.
Background Information:
Dr. Oz is a Turkish-American Surgeon, who was born in 1960 in Cleveland Ohio. He graduated from Harvard University in 1982. He later earned an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1986, while also earning an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business that same year. Dr. Oz is also an author, professor emeritus of cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University, and former political candidate.
How did he become so popular?
Dr. Oz first appeared on Oprah in 2004 to promote his book on alternative medicine, which was called You: The Owner's Manual. After many appearances on Oprah, he started the Dr. Oz Show, which ran from 2009-2022 and had 13 seasons. The show was, of course, produced by Oprah’s production company. The Dr. Oz Show won multiple Daytime Emmy Awards, and Dr. Oz, himself, received four Emmy Awards for hosting the show. The show ended in 2022 when Oz decided to run for a Pennsylvania seat in the U.S. Senate. He did not win this election, and, surprisingly, Oprah chose not to endorse him in this election and instead backed his democrat opponent.
Here’s Dr. Oz talking about his first time and overall experience on the Oprah show. Keep in mind this video was made 9 years ago, so the quality is not the greatest.
In this video, Dr. Oz talks about the last show that he did with Oprah. He recounts how she had a wall full of pictures of people whose lives had been changed by Dr. Oz.
Why was his show so harmful?
As someone who is highly experienced in the scientific method, Dr. Oz was promoting things on his show that were not backed by science. He was bringing psychics, who claimed to be able to speak to the dead, onto his show. Oz also interviewed Dr. Mosaraf Ali, who was the miracle healer to Sylvester Stallone, Prince Charles of England, and others. He treated them through iridology, which has been debunked. Iridology is the idea that each part of the iris corresponds to a specific area of the body, and a person’s state of health can be diagnosed by examining particular regions of the iris. Not only this, but he was also known to promote "magic weight loss supplements" and other things that allow for weight loss without diet and exercise. This is incredibly harmful to a country where 1 in 3 adults are overweight and 2 in 5 adults are obese. As a doctor, he should have been giving tips on how to live a healthier lifestyle, instead of selling false hope through supplements. Also, as a practicing surgeon, Oz would invite "energy healers" to place their hands on the patient, as Oz performed the surgery. He would also invite a reporter to watch this whole process. I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of paperwork that must have been. Dr. Oz was also a big advocate for the "vaccines cause autism" argument, which has been widely disproven.
"In 2020, Oz, like then-President Donald Trump, supported the use of a lupus and arthritis drug for the treatment of COVID-19 even though there was no scientific backing for doing so."
I found this quote on Dr. Oz’s website, which I found a bit odd. Why would Dr. Oz’s personal website include a quote that makes him look bad? Maybe that’s his way of being “objective?” Read this journal article to learn more about the critiques people have of Dr. Oz.
Here’s an episode from the Dr. Oz show where he brings on a medium. The medium gives her tips on how to communicate with those who have “crossed over” by using your “team of light.” Dr. Oz talks about how, as a scientist, he is skeptical, yet he still goes on to promote this to his viewers. They also have people share experiences where they’ve encountered loved ones who have passed. This is all to build up to the fact that you need to buy the medium’s book in order to be able to communicate with the dead and not miss their signs. This video only shows the part about the medium. In the full episode, they talk in more detail about her book.
The show has very clear Oprah influences. For one, bringing a medium on the show is something that is to be expected of Oprah, not a medical doctor. Also, in typical Oprah fashion, Oz sent everyone in the studio audience home with a copy of the medium’s book.
The Problem with Alternative Medicine
Dr. Oz is also a big supporter of homeopathic remedies. Homeopathy is defined as a “medical system that is based on the belief that the body can cure itself.” I’m sure you can tell just by the definition how problematic this can be. The issue isn’t drinking something warm to ease an upset stomach. It is choosing to resort to supplements and home remedies to heal major illnesses. This can really delay diagnosis and treatment. If you are placing all your faith in homeopathic remedies, you’re not going to your doctor and actually finding out what is going on with your body. This delay in treatment can lead some conditions to worsen. Also, these forms of alternative medicine can be very expensive. This is because they’re not actually fixing the problem, so you keep purchasing them more and more because what they are doing is mildly treating the symptoms. They give you the feeling that you’re getting better, but it's just a placebo effect. You think the remedy will work, so you begin to feel better. However, the illness or condition is still not being treated.
Alternative Medicine has become so popular that there is now a discipline of placebo studies at many universities, like Harvard's Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter. The issue with this is that we are normalizing not getting actual treatment for very real illnesses.
In Fantasyland, Kurt Andersen shows the danger of alternative medicine by talking about Steve Jobs. Andersen states that Jobs had a “very curable” form of pancreatic cancer, yet he chose to go the alternative medicine route. However, based on my research, it seems that Steve Jobs actually had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer. He chose to turn to alternative medicine because there was a small amount of scientific literature backing up traditional medicine (surgery, chemotherapy, etc.) in the treatment of this illness. What is also important to note is that there was NO literature backing up the methods that Jobs opted to use for treatment. Steve Jobs ended up going through with the surgery and lived for 7 years after. Many, including Andersen, believe he could have possibly lived longer had he opted to go through with the surgery instead of turning to fruit juices and supplements.
What is your opinion on Alternative Medicine, The Dr. Oz Show, or Dr. Oz in general?
Oz is a seductive snake oil salesman, or was... I think his senate run revealed more of his true colors. But he surely had to know that he was encouraging anti-scientific nostrums that in too many instances would distract and divert sufferers from medically relevant therapeutics.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a problem with your video embed...
Small thing: Kurt Andersen's name has an e in the last syllable, not an a,