There’s no need for me to go into the details of Dr. Mehmet Oz’s tough questioning by the The U.S Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance yesterday.
It’s been widely covered.
But of many troublesome things he said, one stands out to me: “My job is to be a cheerleader for the audience.”
That is a pretty lousy job description.
How about:
He also said something that shows how ill-suited he is to be a health care communicator:
“When I feel as a host of a show that I can’t use words that are flowery, that are exultatory, I feel like I’ve been disenfranchised,” Oz continued, “like my power has been taken away to get people. You don’t want to be on a pulpit talking about how passionate you are about life and thinking, well you know, if I use that word it’s going to be quoted back to me.”
It’s not a pulpit. It’s not a pom-pom waving cheerleading role. The words matter, as we’ve written many times on this website. As Sen. Claire McCaskill, who chairs the Senate’s Consumer Protection panel, said to him, “You can be part of the police here or you can be part of the problem.” What he said at the hearing shows he’s still part of the problem.
The entire Senate hearing, “Protecting Consumers From False and Deceptive Advertising of Weight-Loss Products,” can be seen online.
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Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
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