Controversial television personality Dr. Oz on Tuesday discussed ways to battle prescription drug and heroin abuse, saying that more public awareness is needed about the problem.
“I think we need a new fried egg commercial,” said Mehmet Oz during a Capitol Hill event sponsored by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. “We need a new way of talking about your brain on drugs.”
Oz was speaking about the popular 1980s public service announcement, saying that more awareness is needed about the problems with drug abuse.
“I don’t think we are as scared of heroin today as I felt when I was a teenager,” he said.
Oz’s comments come as heroin abuse is rising, as the number of heroin overdose deaths nearly quadrupled from 2002 to 2013, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
He also called for more use of the anti-overdose treatment naloxone, which is normally used by first responders. Oz said there are some efforts to make the drug available over the counter, even saying that it should be available in the Capitol.
A direct correlation to the rise in heroin abuse is the growth of prescription drug abuse, as public health experts say that prescription drug abusers turn to the cheaper heroin after they can’t get more painkillers.
Oz’s reputation as a health professional took a hit earlier this year after a group of surgeons wrote to Columbia University asking that the cardiothoracic surgeon be removed from its medical faculty. The surgeons said Oz peddled unsafe supplements on his television show.
Oz responded on his show that the surgeons were attacking his freedom of speech.
“We provide multiple points of view, including mine, which is offered without conflict of interest,” according to a statement reported by USA Today in April. “That doesn’t sit well with certain agendas which distort the facts.”
Oz has been to Capitol Hill before, although under different circumstances. He testified before a Senate panel last year on the weight loss supplements he promoted on the show, which did not work.
Several senators spoke before Oz at Tuesday’s event, discussing legislative efforts to address the opioid epidemic.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., criticized the Food and Drug Administration for not scrutinizing new opioid applications enough and wondered “why they bring so much stuff to the market.”
Manchin was especially critical of the agency’s decision more than a year ago to approve the long-acting painkiller Zohydro without abuse-deterrent properties that make the product harder to abuse.
