We picked through his defense to show why each of his counterarguments are wrong. (Some of the doctors who wrote a high-profile letter asking Columbia University to strip Oz do seem to have potential conflicts of interest.)īut Oz has nothing to say about the substantive criticisms against him. Oz is depicting himself as a victim against critics that, he says, are working hand in hand with industry to silence him. "No matter our disagreements, freedom of speech is the most fundamental right we have as Americans. "I know I have irritated some potential allies," he wrote in Time magazine on Thursday. But rather than address their complaints head on, he mostly wants to talk about. Now Oz is finally responding to those critics. He's been lambasted by experts, by fellow doctors, even by the federal government. Oz has come under heavy criticism in recent months for promoting junk science on his widely watched television show. Other candidates in the running for the GOP nomination are Montgomery County real estate developer Jeff Bartos, investment firm CEO Carla Sands - who technically lives in Camp Hill but was, until very recently, based in California - and Trump-aligned political commentator Kathy Barnette.Dr. It recently saw a major shakeup when Sean Parnell, the candidate who had won an early Trump endorsement, suspended his campaign amid a public custody battle that saw his estranged wife accuse him of abusing her and their children. Pat Toomey’s decision not to seek reelection.
Senate seat, which is wide open after GOP Sen. Oz joins a crowded GOP field for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Claire McCaskill told Oz at that hearing. “I don’t get why you need to say this stuff because you know it’s not true,” then U.S. The journals and researchers who published the weight loss study were forced to retract it.
The Federal Trade Commission went after the company that made the supplements, alleging they falsified the data behind their claims, and the company ultimately settled a $3.5 million lawsuit. In 2014, he got what seems to be his most relevant political experience, when he was called to testify before the chamber’s subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance in an investigation into weight loss product fraud.Īt issue was a questionable study that Oz had cited on TV that said a green coffee extract pill could help with weight loss. In particular, Oz has a long history of “miracle” supplements, often diet pills. He received his MD and MBA at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine and Penn’s Wharton School, then departed for a residency at Columbia University.ĭuring his medical career, Oz practiced cardiothoracic surgery and is credited with several major innovations in the field, including developing the left ventricular assist device, a mechanical pump used to keep heart transplant patients alive while waiting for a donor heart. Oz’s own connection to Pennsylvania seems to be tenuous. Political operatives rumored to be involved in Oz’s campaign also didn’t return requests for comment. The Montgomery County address included in Oz’s statement of candidacy is for a Huntington Valley medical office and supply store connected to his wife’s father, Gerald Lemole, a doctor. They listed as their address a Bryn Athyn house also listed as Lisa’s parents’ residence. In early 2020, Oz and his wife, Lisa Lemole Oz, both registered to vote as Republicans in Pennsylvania.