Posted by Gary Schwitzer in Uncategorized
Dr. Oz was named best talk show host in the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy awards.
Meantime, a NY Daily News column was headlined, “Emmys, don’t be led down Dr. Oz’s yellow brick road: Oprah’s favorite doctor promotes quackery.”
Here’s a promo from his site for an episode on “Dr. Oz’s Ultimate Anti-Aging Guide.”
Dr. Oz is behaving in a way that is an embarrassment to the medical profession and scientific community. He has sold out completely for the ratings game – it’s as if truth and integrity have no value for him. I don’t know which is worse – his snake oil, or the fact that it’s popular enough to potentially win him an Emmy? We need better science education in schools… I’m seriously worried about America’s future.
Unfortunately, once you’re on TV you have to hype a lot of crap. Crap sells…boring simple advice that works doesn’t. Sadly, that has become the American way.
Ken Leebow
http://www.feedyourheaddiet.com
This in the face of all the data. I wonder how many men would opt out of PSA testing if they really knew and understood the statistics?
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/06/27/2010-06-27_free_psa_tests_to_wrap_up_as_tales_of_survival_multiply.html
I don’t think the article you link to meets the standards you seem to hold other articles to.
The author clearly has a strong bias against any form of medicine except allopathic medicine. The language is emotionally charged and full of contemptuous labels. Whatever Dr. Oz is up to, this article is not a rigorous evaluation of his methods. I am curious as to why you have put this link on your site.
While many complementary strategies show little effect over placebo, the same is true for many medications and surgical procedures. If one is to label the former as “quackery” then the latter should be labeled such as well.
You asked why I put the link to the NY Daily News column on my site.
I believe in the marketplace of ideas. You don’t have to agree with everything that appears on the site in order to embrace the exchange of opinions and ideas.
Bad, bad sign: Being legitimately criticized for lack of intellectual integrity in the pages of the Daily News.
I think Dr. Oz is doing the best he can to straddle the mainstream and alternative points of view, both in medicine and in media. While no one can be everything to everyone, the best one can hope for is that in order to address the serious lack of science education in America, one must go to where the under-educated are and mix in a bit of substance gradually while still satisfying the desire for wishful thinking that continues to plague our neural networks. Maybe if those in the scientific community would spend more time educating and less time developing what amounts to billion dollar panaceas, then maybe we would be a society that prevents chronic disease through eating nutritious food, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep, rather than one that stays up late watching crap while eating crap. Or we can continue down the road we are on, one which has our youth growing fat and feeling empowered by killing each other in virtual worlds (the video game industry is bigger than all other forms of entertainment combined) and feeling justified in their increasingly extended adolescent rebelliousness.
Disclaimer: I welcome comments but will delete those with any kind of product pitch, profanity, personal attacks or those from anyone who doesn’t list what appears to be an actual e-mail address. I will also end any thread of comments that are repetitive. Because I moderate comments, I can’t keep reacting to repeatedly inaccurate or unsubstantiated claims. We don't give medical advice so we won't respond to questions asking for it.
Overall, this was an easy-to-follow summary. But there was a clear difference between this and a competing Boston Globe story, which did a better job offering context and analysis.
This Boston Globe blog post gave its audience a more thorough understanding of an emerging approach to virtual colonoscopy than the Wall Street Journal.
Longer, but overall not any better, than the coverage from the competing LA Times story. Not thorough enough to explain what this preliminary research actually means for readers–which is not much at this point.
We will not display your name or e-mail address on the site, nor will we share youre-mail address with any third parties.
For site updates and news from Gary, find us on Twitter:
HealthNewsReview: @HealthNewsRevu
Gary Schwitzer: @garyschwitzer
Copyright © 2012 Health News Review
Dr. Gayle posted on June 28, 2010 at 12:31 pm
It just shows you if Oprah is backing your show production what you can do, Sadly however Oz gives out too much superficial information about natural health. I’ve been in NH for 50+ years, and I’m also a 3 decade+ health professional. known as an expert in my field.