An open letter to Doctor Oz

Let me start by saying I do not like Dr. Oz, i do think he pitches quick fixes and spreads fear through his show. However, he does not actually endorse products you see him attached to onlin, and the facebook ads are also using him without his consent. He often states this on his show or in interviews, he does not sell supplements, and the ads will use any face that sells.

Have you actually watched his show? He LITERALLY endorses weight loss pills. On his show. As a doctor. I've watched him tote raspberry ketones and that garnacia something, pretty sure he did hoodia too. I don't see how you can say he doesn't endorse products. He does, and is a terrible person for using his title as a medical doctor to make money off peoples ignorance.

Exactly!!! Also, if they used his photo without his consent, why hasn't he sued them???

Let me start by saying I do not like Dr. Oz, i do think he pitches quick fixes and spreads fear through his show. However, he does not actually endorse products you see him attached to onlin, and the facebook ads are also using him without his consent. He often states this on his show or in interviews, he does not sell supplements, and the ads will use any face that sells.

Have you actually watched his show? He LITERALLY endorses weight loss pills. On his show. As a doctor. I've watched him tote raspberry ketones and that garnacia something, pretty sure he did hoodia too. I don't see how you can say he doesn't endorse products. He does, and is a terrible person for using his title as a medical doctor to make money off peoples ignorance.

Exactly!!! Also, if they used his photo without his consent, why hasn't he sued them???

A lot of celebrity personalities don't bother with lawsuits like that because they take too much time, hard to prove, too much money and there are just plain too many doing it, suing one wouldn't stop the others.

With that said,I don't like him, he should be strung up and hung out to dry

As long as the audience keeps buying into the idea that there is an easy way to success, there will always be a seller.

This is what it all boils down to. They are providing people with something they want: a seemingly easy fix to a complicated and hard to tackle problem. If the demand wasn't there, they'd be out of business.

:drinker: I think he started off meaning well, and it's not like he personally needs the money, given that he's a highly successful surgeon. Nor is he stupid, obviously. But somehow his show has been hijacked and turned into a sideshow. Every once in awhile something interesting gets said, but it's drowned out by the sales pitch for the latest fad. It's sad, really.

Highly successful surgeons make a few hundred thousand dollars a year, not the millions he is making now.

Fair enough. He could have done a few shows and still quit while he had his reputation intact if upper middle class wasn't good enough for him, though.

Why would he quit? He still makes a lot of money doing this.

Everyone is missing the point. His goal was never to ACTUALLY help people. His goal was to use his credentials to influence people to spend money on products he endorsed and drum up viewership so he could rake in more advertising money by engaging in nutritional fearmongering, which is an extremely lucrative business. The biggest lie he ever sold was that he actually gave a poop about anyone other than himself.

He's no different than all the other "doctors" out there who have written anti-*insert demon food item here* nutrition books and make hundreds of thousands and sometimes even millions by scaring the living crap out of people and making them believe that there's some huge conspiracy to poison them within the food industry.

You make me feel so naive! Worse, you could be right.

but but but my body craves raspberry keytones !!!

I started seeing his show up on the tvs in the gym while I run. But then I found out he endorsed a book called '4 hour body' that suggests you can gain pounds of muscles doing 4 hours a MONTH of exercise. So I saw how low a bar Dr. Oz set.

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.

YES.

Well said, OP. Congrats on your success.

Before Oz got his own TV show because of Oprah...I remember seeing him on Oprah. I didn't even like him then. Some sort of vibe I got and he rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I was right with my gut feeling. I always thought he looked like a closet smoker, lol! I never trusted the man...he has that look about him...in my eyes. Thanks for posting this topic!

I think the problem is with all this stuff is it gives you hope, and then once you fail it makes you feel like you can't do this.

I was honestly convinced that I couldn't lose weight on my own. I had given up even trying because I knew I'd fail and just end up gaining the weight back, and the yo-yoing wasn't doing me any good.

I had decided to get surgery to lose the weight, but decided to give it one last try to lose the weight on my own before the surgery.

I've got a goal of 227 to lose and I've lost 107. I know in my heart I'm going to reach that goal, there's no doubt in my mind.

The thing is, how much time did I waist waiting on that "magic" pill, or trying the "snake oil" plans and failing, then convincing myself I couldn't actually do this on my own.

Just get out there and do it, it can be done. You don't need a "magic" pill, you can do it all on your own.

Before Oz got his own TV show because of Oprah...I remember seeing him on Oprah. I didn't even like him then. Some sort of vibe I got and he rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I was right with my gut feeling. I always thought he looked like a closet smoker, lol! I never trusted the man...he has that look about him...in my eyes. Thanks for posting this topic!

What is a closet smoker?

I wonder what would happen to someone who tried all his diets / pills one after another... their bodies would probably go into shock.

There is nothing wrong with smoking in moderation. Willpower, people. Willpower and personal responsibility. Smoke one a day and walk away. *satire directed primarily at the sweets in moderation crowd, cause it's 3 am and I'm feeling snarky*

There's an old saying that goes, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." There are "Dr. Oz's" in almost every profession and there are those who get burnt several times and wise up and others who choose to believe the lie. When I lived in Dallas, Texas there was a TV evangelist who literally got caught ripping the people financially off, cheating on his wife, hitting his wife, divorcing his wife...........................people still showed up, people still sent in the checks, because he promised them if they would just send in $1,000 they would receive a healing or become rich or find love. He was one of those of my vocation that makes a laughing stock of the work we try to do. But the problem is, "So many want to believe the lie."

Recently the college that employs me finally got rid of the president who has almost financially ruined our institution and is the cause for many employees to get laid off. The board of trustees and administration KNEW what he was doing, very intelligent and yet he was such a smooth talker that regardless of the financial records, they were fooled once more. Co-workers that personally were aware of his snake oil presentation would still be moved and with a tear because of the flattering words that proceeded out of his mouth. They sent him off with one dinner party after another and a nice bonus check if he would leave and the problem was, "So many want to believe the lie."

It's in politics when the party leader can say anything, promise anything and do nothing and while some will smell a rat others faithfully heed the call because so many want to "believe the lie." I don't know how many spouses I've counseled that were just positive that he won't hit me again because "he promised he would change" or that she won't cheat on me again because "she promised she will change" and the problem is he/she just wanted to "believe the lie."

If you really want to predict the future of a snake oil salesman, a politician or a person, his/her past history will be the best indicator unless you see an incredible positive and truthful change in the person. So when we get fooled once or several times, then yes, shame on the person, but if we continue to allow ourselves to be fooled, then some of the blame goes to me or us. I applaud the OP's letter but more than that, I would give her a standing ovation for seeing through the smoke and mirrors and taking charge and responsibility for her own life...............sorry for such a long post but this subject is very dear and personal to my heart.