On Thursday, the most famous doctor on television will hit back against charges that he’s a quack.
Mehmet Oz has been accused lately of using his daytime talk show “The Dr. Oz Show” to promote non-scientific treatments and cures in the interest of his own financial gain. A spokesman said this week he’ll respond aggressively to the charges during his Thursday program.
This week, a group of prominent doctors asked Columbia University to remove Oz from the faculty, where he serves as vice chairman of the Department of Surgery. They especially objected to his opposition to genetically engineered food crops, calling it “baseless and relentless.”
And newly leaked emails posted to the website Wikileaks last week seem to add evidence that Oz intentionally promoted products by Sony, one of his show’s producers. In one email to a Sony executive, Oz suggested promoting health apps on his show because it’s an area “where Sony thrives.”
But Oz insisted he has no conflicts of interest in a post to his Facebook page on Friday.
“I bring the public information that will help them on their path to be their best selves,” he wrote. “We provide multiple points of view, including mine which is offered without conflict of interest. That doesn’t sit well with certain agendas which distort the facts.”
“For example, I do not claim that GMO (genetically modified organism) foods are dangerous, but believe that they should be labeled like they are in most countries around the world,” he added.
Oz’s show received about 1.8 million viewers each weekday for the week ending April 5, according to Nielsen ratings.
