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Washington:
Donald Trump has picked Mehmet Oz, a Turkish-American doctor to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service – an agency that is responsible for the healthcare of millions of Americans.
Before landing here, Oz had been a trained cardiothoracic surgeon, after which he found fame on The Oprah Winfrey Show and then proceeded to host his own show – The Dr Oz Show, an Emmy-winning TV show that was broadcasted for 13 seasons and made him a household name.
Oz is another addition to the unconventional health team after Trump tapped Robert F Kennedy Junior as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
However, he has always pushed for insurance for all, a stance commonly held by progressives, including Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris. “It should be mandatory that everybody in America have health care coverage. If you can’t afford it, we have to give it to you,” he told The Seattle Times.
Interestingly, Oz has been accused of promoting “miracle” cures and malaria drugs like hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in the early days of the pandemic to cure Covid-19, which experts believe do nothing against the virus.
He has time and again gravitated towards “pseudoscience” in his shows, promoting homoeopathy and alternative medicine and blurring the line between science and endorsements. He has also been accused of recommending unproven pills that would “literally flush fat from your system” and “push fat from your belly”.
It is notable to mention that a 2014 British Medical Journal study said that his medical recommendations were based on evidence just 46 per cent of the time.
Despite that, Trump said in a statement that, “There may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again.”
“Women, in particular, are drawn to Dr. Oz for his advice and counsel. I have seen this many times over the years. They know him, believe in him, and trust him,” Trump said while endorsing Oz. He even made an appearance on Oz’s show and said that his wife, Melania Trump was a big fan of the show.
Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat who used to lead the Senate health committee, said in a statement, “Even putting aside the raft of alarming pseudoscience Dr. Oz has previously endorsed, it is deeply disappointing to see someone with zero qualifications being announced to head up such a critical agency.”
In a post on X, Lawrence Gostin, the director of O’Neill Institute mentioned that, “Dr Oz is unfit to run CMS. He peddles conspiracy theories on vaccines & fake cures. He profits from fringe medical ideas. By nominating RFK Jr & Mehmet Oz, Trump is giving his middle finger to science. Having worked for 40 years in public health, it’s utterly disheartening.”
Nevertheless, Oz stopped performing surgeries in 2018 but still holds a physician licence. He also tried his hand in politics in 2022, when he lost to John Fetterman while running for Senate in Pennsylvania with the help of Donald Trump.
