At ACSH we've pretty much seen it all. We deal with the loonies and their beliefs constantly: the fluoride conspiracy, big pharma withholding a cure for cancer, AIDS made by the US government to wipe out Africa, and of course the Jason of all scares the vaccine-autism link that persists despite a series of investigative reports proving that this link was not only wrong, but intentionally made up for monetary purposes. And so much more.
Yet today, jaws were bonking off the conference table when we discussed this latest piece of madness, courtesy of ScienceBlogs, entitled Another irony meter blown: Dr. Oz to testify in front of the Senate s Consumer Protection panel about weight loss scams.
This particular post comes to us from orac, aka David Gorski, who describes himself as a humble surgeon/scientist, but is a well-known health blogger.
The comments have already begun to pour in. Perhaps the best is courtesy of journalist, and ACSH friend Trevor Butterworth, who notes on his Facebook page, Dr. Oz testifying about weight loss scams? That s like asking Al Capone to testify about U.S. tax policy".
One reader comments (sad but true) Unfortunately, if is wasn t Dr. Oz quacking it would be someone else.
And ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom asks, Why do I get this mental image of Lindsay Lohan giving a safe driving course?
This fiasco is brought to you by Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri. One can only imagine what she was thinking.
According to St. Louis Public Radio, Months after she began focusing on bogus weight-loss products, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill plans to hold a hearing next Tuesday on the issue. And she is slated to be joined by Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of the Dr. Oz Show, which has promoted such items.
They continue,Oz is appearing, in part, as a result of a suit that the Federal Trade Commission has filed against the Florida-based company, Pure Green Coffee. According to McCaskill s staff, the suit asserts that the company capitalized on the green coffee bean diet fad by using bogus weight-loss claims and fake news websites to market its dietary supplement. After green coffee was promoted on the Dr. Oz show, Pure Green Coffee began selling their Pure Green Coffee extract, charging $50 for a one-month supply, her release said.
Dr. Bloom continues, So, if I have this right, companies promoting a phony weight loss product and show me one that isn t were promoted by the Wizard (or is it Lizard?) on his own show. Then they used this promotion to selling a bunch of useless crap, which he is now helping to investigate?? Life often makes no sense, but rarely does it make such nonsense.
ACSH s Dr. Gil Ross comments, This may be funny in some twisted way, but the reality is that there is nothing funny about Americans taking medical advice from someone of Oz s character, or lack thereof. It s actually quite a serious problem. Simply because modern medicine is flawed and doesn t have all the answers, this does not mean that alternative medicine does. This is faulty logic at its worst.
