An open letter to Doctor Oz

An open letter to “Dr.” Oz.:

My whole life I have been fat. There have been ups and downs, but it always comes back to that. My whole life there have been snake oil salesmen offering me an easy fix. Two pills a day, and I can be skinny just like this mystery tribe in the Amazon nobody has heard of until this past year.

After the first couple hundred dollars I gave up. No matter how late at night I was watching TV and eating Fritos I would NOT pick up that phone. Sure, I’d spend the rest of the night dreaming that there was a pill out there, and I could forget about the work I would surely have to do to get rid of this weight that went on so enjoyably.

And then you came along. So charming and engaging. You were on TV. Oh, you didn’t start off as a salesman I’m sure. I remember watching you as you progressed. You started off with interesting facts about my body. You had engaging visual aids. Every show wasn’t about a new magical weight loss cure.

This letter won’t affect you in any way, I’m sure you sleep like a baby at night, most likely on 1800 count Egyptian cotton sheets. But I want to explain to you the effect you have on people like me. And I want to explain what Gross Moral Turpitude is Sir. Because unlike the person you seem to think I am, I am fat, NOT stupid.

What you do when you pitch these quick fixes from your pedestal of trust is steal time. The time I spend researching your raspberry ketones or your garcinia cambogia is time I could be researching valid exercise programs or planning my meals for the week. You rob me of my ability to think for myself. You fill my head with hope that has zero chance of being fulfilled. I am a smart woman, but I am still human, and oh, don’t you work that angle.

Gross Moral Turpitude: conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals.

When you were first offered that contract to push raspberry ketones and have your face plastered all over the internet, did you have a qualm of guilt? I’m genuinely curious. When you see your face all over Facebook “informing” us of the “latest wait loss brekthrough!!!!” [misspelling intentional] do you pause for a moment?

You have broken every rule of good morals, and you actively hurt and dismiss the community you preach to so convincingly. For make no mistake-at this point you are less a doctor and more a preacher.

In a country that has so many lawsuits, I'm not sure why you haven't been targeted yet, but I cheer the day. The harm you cause, is long lasting.