No wizard: Dr. Oz scolded by senators for ‘miracle’ weight loss claims

A U.S. Senate panel probing bogus diet product ads took celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to task on Tuesday for touting weight loss products on his syndicated television show. Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, the chairwoman of the Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection, said Oz had a role in perpetuating weight loss fraud through his show. Part of the hearing focused on green coffee extract, a dietary supplement Oz touted in 2012 as a “miracle.” The show heightened interest in the product, and Oz testified he devoted much of a second show to telling viewers how his name was being used unscrupulously to sell it.

I don’t get why you need to say this stuff because you know it’s not true.

Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, said at the hearing, a follow-up to a Federal Trade Commission crackdown in January on fraudulent diet products

Oz, the host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” said the products gave people hope to keep trying to lose weight. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, and he said the No. 1 topic asked about on his website was weight loss.

I actually do personally believe in the items that I talk about on the show. I recognize that oftentimes they don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact.

Dr. Mehmet Oz

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