[ NEWS AND COMMENT The Great and Powerful Dr. Oz Humbled in Senate Hearing DAVID H. GORSKI In June, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Safety, and Insurance, chaired by Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), held a hear- ing on “Protecting Consumers from False and Deceptive Advertising of Weight-Loss Products.” Likely few had heard of most of the witnesses giving testimony, which included rep- resentatives from the Federal Trade Commission, supplement manufac- turers, and online advertising groups. However, one witness, Dr. Mehmet Oz, stood out for his fame and influ- ence. Host of the popular daytime program The Dr. Oz Show and dubbed “America’s Doctor” by his patron Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Oz regularly pro- motes dubious weight loss advice and Mehmet Oz, host of the Dr. Oz Show, testifies at a Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance Subcom- supplements with the enthusiastically mittee hearing in Russell Building titled “Protecting Consumers from False and Deceptive Advertising of Weight- hyperbolic language of an old-time Loss Products,” June 17, 2014. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) snake oil salesman. As if that weren’t bad enough, in- loss scammers using his name to sell regularly makes on his show. Unused ter mixed with more conventional their products, a complaint Dr. Oz to not being surrounded by an adoring medical topics Dr. Oz has also fea- has made on his show. Alarmed, they audience, Dr. Oz faltered and became tured quackery such as faith healing, flooded Sen. McCaskill’s office with visibly flustered at points. “cleanses,” “detoxification,” and home- emails containing links to sources As is usual for such a hearing, each opathy; In ter net quacks such as Joseph documenting Dr. Oz’s tenuous rela- witness was allowed to read a prepared Mercola and Mike Adams; and psy- tionship with science-based medicine. statement. Dr. Oz’s statement was, chics such as John Edward and “Long It will likely never be known whether as expected, self-serving, touting his Island Medium” Theresa Caputo. It’s McCaskill had planned a trap all commitment to educating his viewers not for nothing that, upon learning of along or whether skeptics persuaded about supplements and diet. How- Dr. Oz’s impending testimony, one her to shift emphasis, but she did at ever, he must have had an inkling of blogger quipped, “That’s like asking one point use the term “science-based what might be coming, because his Al Capone to testify about U.S. tax medicine,” a term that is not com- statement also justified his show’s ap- policy.” monly used outside of skeptical cir- proach as being necessary to “engage Congressional hearings tend to re- cles. This suggests that maybe—just the viewer” and defended his having semble a Japanese Kabuki play: highly maybe—she had read material from characterized green coffee bean ex- stylized and constrained. Indeed, the the Science-Based Medicine blog about tract as a “miracle,” while grudgingly term “Kabuki dance” is sometimes Dr. Oz. acknowledging that his characteriza- used in politics to describe an event Whatever the case, unfortunately tion had resulted in “an explosion of designed to create the appearance of for Dr. Oz, the ending of this Ka- ads and marketing.” Then, completely uncertain outcome when in fact the buki dance was not pleasant for him. missing the point, he discussed epi- “actors” know how it is likely to end. Although his star power did result sodes of his show in which he went The question at the time of the an- in extensive news coverage for the after supplement manufacturers using nouncement was what the end of this hearing, it certainly wasn’t the sort of his name to advertise the two main particular Kabuki dance was intended coverage Oz wanted. Unexpectedly, diet supplements he had promoted, to be. Skeptics had reason to be con- Oz found himself the main target of green coffee bean extract and garcinia cerned that the hearing could become the senators’ wrath, particularly Sen. cambogia. a forum in which Dr. Oz was allowed McCaskill’s, over the inflated claims When it came time to question Dr. to paint himself the victim of weight- about weight-loss supplements he Oz, Sen. McCaskill would have none Skeptical Inquirer | September/October 2014 5 of it. She quoted from his show: himself, admitting that he uses “flowery” In the end, unexpectedly this hearing language to express his enthusiasm for became a big win for science-based medi- • On green coffee extract: “You may the products he discusses on his show but cine. Unfortunately, it was only one battle. think magic is make-believe, but justifying it by characterizing himself as Whether any legislation or policy changes this little bean has scientists saying a cheerleader for weight loss and health, with respect to weight-loss supplement they found the magic weight-loss for even though he was forced to admit that scams will come out of it remains to be every body type.” none of his recommendations besides diet seen, as does the issue of whether Oz will • On raspberry ketone: “I’ve got the and exercise have actually been proven make any substantive changes to his show number one miracle in a bottle to to work. He also kept saying that those next season. Seeing Dr. Oz humbled by burn your fat.” shows from which McCaskill quoted a Senate committee is satisfying, but it is • On garcinia cambogia: “It may be the were two years old and that he “doesn’t not enough. simple solution you’ve been looking use that kind of language any more.” Un- for to bust your body fat for good.” fortunately for Dr. Oz, McCaskill had For Further Information Sen. McCaskill said, “I don’t get why done her homework about this as well Gavura, Scott. 2013. Dr. Oz doubles down on you need to say this stuff, because you and immediately rattled off examples of green coffee bean with a made-for-TV clinical trial. Online at http://www.science- know it’s not true. So why, when you have language just as “flowery” from recent Dr. basedmedicine.org/dr-oz-doubles-down- this amazing megaphone and this amaz- Oz Show episodes. Oz also kept repeating on-green-coffee-bean-with-a-made-for-tv- clinical-trial. ing ability to communicate, why would that he himself doesn’t sell any supple- Gorski, D.H. 2014. Another irony meter blown: you cheapen your show by saying things ments, which is true but irrelevant. He’s Dr. Oz to testify in front of the Senate’s Con- sumer Protection Panel about weight loss like that?” featured many people on his show who scams. Online at http://scienceblogs.com/ Dr. Oz was clearly taken off guard, do sell supplements and allowed them to insolence/2014/06/11/another- and it showed in his body language. He turn their appearances on his show into irony-meter-blown-dr-oz-to-testify-in-front- of-the-senates-consumer-protection- started out by disagreeing that green infomercials for their products. panel-about-weight-loss-scams. coffee beans don’t work and tried to cite At one point, Dr. Oz tried a nonsen- Gorski, David H. 2013. The great and powerful Oz versus science and research ethics. Online multiple studies, but McCaskill had done sical defense in which he confessed that at http://www.sciencebased her homework and knew that the study he now thinks he’s done his audience a medicine.org/the-great-and-powerful-oz- Oz had relied on was small and funded by “disservice” by not giving them a list of versus-science-and-research-ethics. Hearing: Protecting Consumers from False and the manufacturer. Oz then retreated into “reputable” companies that sell the prod- Deceptive Advertising of Weight-Loss Prod- a highly disingenuous false equivalence by ucts featured on his show, while again ucts. 2014. Online at http://www.commerce. senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Hear- saying that many of the things we recom- complaining about the misuse of his ings&ContentRecord_id=c1698871-3625- mend with respect to diet are controver- name by scammers. Sen. McCaskill saw 4f67-b0e5-a06d3 sial and arguing that medicine advances right through that ploy as well, retorting, bab6ca1&ContentType_id=14f995b9-dfa5- 407a-9d35-56cc7152a7ed&Group_id=b- by embracing new ideas and challenging “I know you feel that you’re a victim, but 06c39af-e033-4cba-9221-de668ca1978a. old ideas. sometimes conduct invites being a victim. Oz, Mehmet. 2014. Protecting Consumers from False and Deceptive Advertising of It was deceptive nonsense, of course, I think that if you would be more careful, Weight-Loss Products. Online at http://www. because the controversies over these sorts maybe you wouldn’t be victimized quite commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files. Serve&File_id=eb6d07ff-1307-4220-9 of issues tend to be based in far better evi- as frequently.” bae-381ec3220b30. dence on both sides than the evidence Oz At the end of the hearing, McCaskill Science-Based Medicine. 2014. Online at http:// was able to muster to defend his green gave Oz a chance at redemption, saying, www.sciencebasedmedicine.org. coffee bean extract show. Unwittingly, “We didn’t call this hearing to beat up on he also basically admitted that the “clin- you but we did call this hearing to talk ical trial” he himself did with green coffee about a real crisis in consumer protection, David H. Gorski, MD, PhD, is in the bean extract wasn’t a real clinical trial at and you can be part of the problem or you Departments of Surgery and Oncology at all, that it wouldn’t pass scientific mus- can be part of the police.” Dr.