Dr Oz Slammed As Wrong Half the Time by New Study

Dr. Oz was already dealing with a recent appearance before Congress that put a dent in his believability. Now another study has come out that says the famous TV doctor is wrong at least half the time....
Dr Oz Slammed As Wrong Half the Time by New Study
Written by Mike Tuttle
  • Dr. Oz was already dealing with a recent appearance before Congress that put a dent in his believability. Now another study has come out that says the famous TV doctor is wrong at least half the time.

    The British Medical Journal study outlined 40 episodes from last year that included 479 separate medical recommendations. But they found that medical research yielded evidence that only supported 46% of Dr. Oz’s recommendations, contradicted 15% and wasn’t available for 39%.

    But the study went further. Other findings of the study included these interesting tidbits:

    Believable or somewhat believable evidence supported 33% of the recommendations on The Dr. Oz Show.

    The most common recommendation category on The Dr. Oz Show was dietary advice (39%).

    A specific benefit was described for 43% of the recommendations made on the show.

    The magnitude of benefit was described for 17% of the recommendations on The Dr. Oz Show.

    Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest accompanied 0.4% of recommendations.

    The Dr. Oz Show recommended consulting a healthcare professional 9% of the time

    By the time the study was over, the researchers reached the conclusion that “recommendations made on medical talk shows often lack adequate information on specific benefits or the magnitude of the effects of these benefits. Approximately half of the recommendations have either no evidence or are contradicted by the best available evidence. Potential conflicts of interest are rarely addressed.”

    Their recommendation?

    The public should be skeptical about recommendations made on medical talk shows.

    Back in June, Dr. Oz came in to a Commerce subcommittee hearing in the U.S. Senate to testify about weight-loss product fraud. While he was there, Senator Claire McCaskill let him know how she felt about his show.

    “I don’t get why you need to say this stuff because you know it’s not true,” McCaskill said to Oz.

    “No one is telling you not to use passion, but passion in connection with the words ‘miracle,’ ‘weight loss’ and ‘pill’ is a recipe for disaster in this environment in terms of the people looking for an easy fix and getting sometimes delusional,” she said.

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