'Remember the con': Dr. Oz's campaign, unable to spell own address, attacked for 'miracle' cures
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for a Pennsylvania Senate seat after winning a razor thin primary race, is now trailing in the polls. In recent weeks, new financial and medical ethics concerns have arisen, along with controversy over his Pennsylvania residency status. Oz is a longtime resident of New Jersey.
Trump-endorsed Oz misspelled the name of his Pennsylvania address on his official declaration of candidacy form, claiming "Huntington Valley" instead of "Huntingdon Valley." Before he gave up his entertainment career as a celebrity surgeon to run for U.S. Senate, Mehmet Oz was best known as the host of daytime TV's "The Dr. Oz Show.”
According to his financial disclosure filed in April of 2022, required of all Senate candidates, Oz valued his assets between $104 million and $422 million. If elected, he would be one of the wealthiest members of the Senate.
Oz has defended his ties to Pennsylvania. He told Pittsburgh's Action 4 News that he went to school in and has a house outside of Philadelphia.
"We grew up just south of Philadelphia," Oz said. "I went to medical school at Penn in Philadelphia, went to business school at Wharton in Philadelphia. I married my wife in the house we live in right now in Montgomery County, outside of Philadelphia."
In addition to the controversy surrounding his residency, according to a new report from the Daily Beast's Sam Brodey, Dr. Oz is being called out by medical ethics experts for plugging health supplements without noting to customers his personal financial stake in the companies.
"Oz’s platforms boosted PanTheryx products without disclosing Oz’s personal financial relationship to the company," reports The Daily Beast. "In 2018, for example, videos ran on the Dr. Oz Show website that were sponsored by DiaResQ, another PanTheryx supplement. None of the PanTheryx products Oz plugged were approved by the FDA; one study found DiaResQ was 'no better than a placebo."
The American Medical Association’s code of ethics discourages physicians from selling or being paid to endorse any health products beyond medication. If they do so, the AMA says physicians have an ethical obligation to disclose "the nature of their financial interest in the sale of the products."
A new ad from a political interest group attacks Oz for making dubious claims claims about products, with Oz remarking, "I’ve got the number one miracle in a bottle to burn your fat" and promoting a "miracle pill."
The video opens with the headline, "Remember the con."
"Oz has been the target of criticism from senators, a British medical journal, Columbia University colleagues and a class action lawsuit over his promotion of products on his TV show," Politifact reports.
The November Pennsylvania Senate election contends to be one of the most important midterm races to follow. Sen Pat Toomey (R), who announced he would not run again, is supporting Dr. Oz, along with former president Trump.
With Tiffany Terrell.