For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to become a physician. Now that my dream has finally come true, I have begun to look back on my journey in self-reflection. It’s interesting that through all my years of grinding through the pre-med curriculum, I never saw myself as anything but a doctor. I never took international affairs classes, I never studied public policy, and I never pondered the idea of working as a politician. Unfortunately, it seems that in today’s age, qualifications are becoming meaningless.
Just this week, the world had learned that someone who has never studied or worked in politics, has decided to represent the American people... again. That’s right, Dr. Mehmet Oz has big aspirations to run for the Republican Senate seat of Pennsylvania.
Don’t get me wrong, obviously there are many successful people in this world who don’t have the college degree or the necessary background to succeed in their respective field. The problem I have with Dr. Oz is a problem that many people have: his continued spew of unscientific claims makes me question whether he is truly vested in the interests of Americans, or if he’s just searching for money and power.
I’m not the first person to cast doubt on Dr. Oz. In fact, a famous study in the British Medical Journal found that only 46% of all recommendations on the Dr. Oz Show were supported by evidence, 39% of recommendations had no supporting evidence, and 15% of recommendations were contraindicated (Korownyk et al., 2014). For me personally, I can’t fathom myself as a physician where only 50% of my practice is based on scientific evidence. So why should we elect Dr. Oz to the Senate?
I might be ok with Dr. Oz being appointed to a medically-related position such as within the CDC, but as a senator, his actions don’t just affect the health of American citizens, they have huge implications for other sectors such as homeland security or economic reform. I would argue that non-malfeasance and his potential to harm society are ethical reasons to vote for someone else.
If Dr. Oz were to become a senator, America will have “stretched the boundaries of legitimacy” (Tilburt et al., 2017). For the simple fact that his show spreads misinformation, Dr. Oz should stay as far away as possible from any public office.
References:
Korownyk, C., Kolber, M. R., McCormack, J., Lam, V., Overbo, K., Cotton, C., Finley, C., Turgeon, R. D., Garrison, S., Lindblad, A. J., Banh, H. L., Campbell-Scherer, D., Vandermeer, B., & Allan, G. M. (2014). Televised medical talk shows--what they recommend and the evidence to support their recommendations: a prospective observational study. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 349, g7346. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g7346
Otterbein, H., & Allison, N. (2021, November 19). Pennsylvania Republicans baffled by celebrity doctor’s Senate bid. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/19/pennsylvania-republicans-dr-oz-senate-bid-523023
Tilburt, J. C., Allyse, M., & Hafferty, F. W. (2017). The Case of Dr. Oz: Ethics, Evidence, and Does Professional Self-Regulation Work?. AMA journal of ethics, 19(2), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.2.msoc1-1702
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