Ten of America’s top physicians want Dr. Oz fired from Columbia University for “quack treatments.” The doctors addressed their opinions in a letter to Columbia’s Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, Lee Goldman. It stated that it’s “unacceptable” for a prestigious medical school to keep the television star as a member of faculty.
“Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine,” read the letter sent to the university. “Worst of all, he has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon, who gained media attention while making frequent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and has been the host of his own daytime medical show since 2009. He also is a faculty member at Columbia and holds senior administrative position in the Department of Surgery.
The doctors say Oz is misleading and endangering people with cures that have not been proven to work by science.
While Oz has yet to respond to the letter, a representative of the university’s medical centre issued a statement saying, “Columbia is committed to the principle of academic freedom and to upholding all faculty members’ freedom of expression for statements they make in public discussion.”
This is not the first time Dr. Oz’ medical integrity has been brought into question. Oz had to testify at a Senate hearing last summer after “deceptive advertising” of weight-loss supplements.
