Political neophyte Dr. Mehmet Oz needs to answer a few questions during his primary campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Oz has come a long way in the public eye since hosting the Discovery Channel’s “Second Opinion with Dr. Oz” in 2003: over 60 appearances on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show, becoming a daytime talk show host himself beginning in 2009, author of eight bestselling books, and now a declared Republican candidate for U.S. senator in Pennsylvania in 2022.
His daytime “The Dr. Oz Show,” which covered health matters, medicine (including the “alternative” variety), and pseudoscience over the years, ended its 13-year run on Jan. 14 after he announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. The show was very popular and it received five Daytime Emmy Awards for “outstanding talk show/informative” while Oz himself has earned four Daytime Emmy Awards for “outstanding informative talk show host.”
China Connections
The first controversy involves recent revelations in Politico of Oz’s long-term sponsorship deal to promote the products of Usana Health Sciences for 10 years on his show. The company is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.Oz’s sponsorship deal with Usana is eye-popping. According to Politico, “in a 2018 court filing made in a trademark infringement case against Usana, the plaintiff said that Oz’s show was paid more than $50 million in the previous five years to promote the products of Usana.”
That promotion has included business travel to China, which involved filming some segments of his show by state-owned China Central Television (CCTV), as well as promotional tours with Usana representatives.
What makes all of this particularly relevant in the Pennsylvania senate primary is Oz’s main line of attack against McCormick, a former hedge fund manager, for his management of $5 billion in Chinese assets. McCormick has already made Oz’s own Chinese connections a campaign issue.
Ties to Turkish Government
The second controversy involves Oz’s various connections to Turkey. He maintains dual Turkish-American citizenship and actually served in the Turkish military during the 1980s.These connections need to be explained by Oz in greater detail.
Pseudoscience, Weight-Loss Pills, COVID Cure
Oz’s residency as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City led to the establishment of the affiliated Cardiac Complementary Care Center in 1994 at which he practiced the controversial technique called the “therapeutic touch.” As described by Mount Sinai, therapeutic touch involves “laying on of hands” to supposedly balance the energy fields of the body.“The committee chastised him about the unscientific claims he makes about weight loss treatments on his popular show. Members of the committee … worried that Oz’s statements fuel a predatory industry of supplement-sellers. … After Oz endorses unproven products such as green coffee extract and raspberry ketone, businesses often use his own quotes to help them sell products that are ineffective at best and dangerous at worst,” the report said.
The supplement industry has received considerable oversight by the U.S. Congress because many of the claims made by manufacturers have not been proven or validated by the FDA. Oz has—inadvertently or not—served as a good marketer for the supplement industry over the years.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump appointed Oz to the Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. While serving in that capacity, Oz endorsed the use of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to combat COVID-19.
Carpetbagger
Lastly, Oz may have a carpetbagger problem to overcome, as he only recently established residence in Pennsylvania. He is a longtime New Jersey resident where he owns a six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion, according to Hello! Magazine.But then, if Hillary Clinton could claim to be a New Yorker and win election to the U.S. Senate in 2000, carpetbagging accusations may be the least of Oz’s worries.
Can Oz overcome these controversies, especially his troubling China connections, to win the Pennsylvania primary? Or could a lesser candidate without “Chinese baggage” break through? Time will tell.