Mehmet Oz's controversial health claims, from the HCG diet to green coffee extract
Trump has announced his choice to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is known for his many dubious health claims.
It was a surprising pick among many surprising picks. This week, President-elect Donald Trump announced his choice to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is as famous for the “America’s Doctor” moniker as he is for the number of dubious health claims he’s made from that perch over the years.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising. After all, Trump endorsed Oz in his unsuccessful Senate bid in 2022, and in 2016 Trump appeared on Oz’s show to undergo a “surreal” on-air physical in lieu of sharing his medical records with the public. Plus, Melania Trump likes him.
Currently on his website, he calls himself global adviser and stakeholder for the online supplement and wellness retailer brand iHerb; his Instagram page also links out to the iHerb shop. That may not be the case for long.
“Under federal law, he would be prohibited from making decisions that could impact his financial interests,” said Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel and senior director of ethics for the nonprofit, nonpartisan government watchdog group Campaign Legal Center. “So that means that, as head of CMS, he would have to divest of those interests if he’s making decisions that are related to it.”
In another important way, Oz’s selection is also a downright puzzling choice to Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rating: 5