Scamfluencers - Dr. Oz: Supplement Spin Doctor

Episode Date: July 10, 2023

In the mid-90s, Dr. Mehmet Oz is a rock star surgeon with a reputation for performing on high-profile clients. He eventually scores his own television show, and soon he becomes daytime television royalty. Oprah even dubs him “America’s doctor.” But his drive for stardom has him hawking questionable products, mostly related to weight loss. When his medical reputation is up in the air, he does what past-their-prime reality stars do best: he pivots to politics.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to Scanplenzer's ad-free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Sarah, as you know, I have a lot of guilty pleasures, and today I wanted to tell you about one of them, which is daytime TV. Sasha, as someone who skipped an insane amount of school growing up, I'm right there with you. Like, all I did was watch daytime TV. That's how I learned what everything was.

Yeah. And I love it, but the truth is, we don't normally think of daytime TV as having any impact on our political futures. Like, in what world do Mori Povic and his countless paternity tests really matter? That's the point, right? It doesn't matter. Yeah, I mean, I was a big oprahead. I would watch her every single day when I got home from school. And I remember people being like, maybe Oprah should be president. Do you remember that? I do. And it's funny that you mentioned Oprah. Because this story,

I'm about to tell you, has to do with Oprah's power to turn other people into superstars overnight, or better and often or worse. Mike Williams set off on a hunting trip in a North Florida lake, where it was thought he met his fate in the jaws of a vicious alligator, except that's not what happened. And after the uncovering of a secret love affair, the truth would finally be revealed. Binge all episodes of Over My Dead Body Gone Hunting right now, ad-free, on One Drey Plus. This is my voice.

It can tell you a lot about me, and I'm not changing it for anyone. In impiar's black Stories, Black Truths, you'll find a collection of NPR episodes centered on the Black Experience. Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever you get podcasts. It's April 2012, an audience is gathered in Studio 6A at New York's Rockefeller Center.

When the lights go up and the applause sign flashes, an audience has gathered in Studio 6A at New York's Rockefeller Center. When the lights go up and the applause sign flashes, the tall slim man bounds on stage. He's wearing a suit and has quaffed brown hair. It's Dr. Mehmet Oz, the host of CBS's daytime talk show called DAH, the Doctor Oz Show. And he's one of the biggest daytime TV stars in the world. He stares right into the camera as if he's speaking directly to you. This little bean has scientists saying they've done a magic weight loss cure for every body type. It's green coffee beans.

Dr. Oz is at the top of his game. The show is in its third season and it gets around 3 million viewers a day. He's just won back-to-back daytime Emmy Awards in the outstanding informative talk show category, and he's been called America's Doctor by none other than Oprah Winfrey. His show's massive popularity has been fueled by episodes promising a new miracle cure for whatever health issue you're most anxious about. Want to avoid heart attacks? Dr. Oz will tell you what to eat. Afraid of cancer? Dr. Oz has the solution. And he's really starting to hone in

on one thing his audience can't seem to get enough of. Weight loss. Like with these green coffee beans. When turned into a supplement, this miracle pill can burn fat fast for anyone who wants to lose weight. This is very exciting and it's breaking news. About 30% of the episodes on the Doctor Oz show focus on losing weight, but this episode

is different. Because this time, Oz's claims of a so-called magic answer will land him directly in the crosshairs of the U.S. Senate. It's the beginning of the tie turning against Oz, and it'll force millions of faithful viewers to ask themselves, what exactly is the good doctor prescribing and doesn't work? From Wondry, I'm Sashi Cole, and I'm Sarah Hegey, and this is Scamful Inswers.

Today, we're following the remarkable rise and spectacular downfall of one of the country's most famous television doctors. Dr. Oz's multi-decade career spans the most high stakes in competitive worlds. Life for death surgery, cutthroat TV, and eventually national politics. In a life-built for public consumption, it's on the biggest and brightest stages that Dr. Oz will eventually crumble. I'm calling this one Dr. Oz, the supplement spin doctor. Dr. Oz, the supplement spin doctor. Gotcha. Well, Sarah, we know by now that Dr. Oz has a, shall we say,

complex relationship with medicine. And it all goes back to his family roots. His father, Mustafa, was also a doctor in Turkey. The elder Oz was a driven and ambitious man. He moved his family to Cleveland in the 1950s to be a medical resident. And that's where Mammoth Oz was born in 1960. A year later, Mustafa trained in cardiothoracic surgery in Atlanta.

He eventually moved the family to Delaware where he became the chief of thoracic surgery at a hospital. He reached the peak of Western medicine. But when Oz spent childhood summers in Turkey, he witnessed a different approach to health care. Here's what he says about it years later on the podcast, on being with Christa Tippett. Take Turkey as an example. You would never leave a patient in the hospital there

unless you had a relative with them. In the United States, we have visiting hours. No one can see the patient. We blocked them out. You know, I do kind of understand what he's saying here. Like the healthcare system, I feel like in the West does not really prioritize morale and like having family visit.

Yeah, I mean, Western medicine is generally a lot colder. But at home, it's playing by the rules that counts. All through Oz's childhood, Mustafa demands excellence. If Oz scores 97% on an exam, his father doesn't say, good job. He asks, did anyone do better than you? It's big immigrant parent energy.

I remember it very well. But for Oz, it seems to work. He gets into Harvard and then he earns both medical and business degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. By the time he's 26, he's a resident in cardiac surgery at New York's Presbyterian Hospital, run in collaboration with Columbia University. His career is on track, but his parents want him to be happy outside of work, too. So one night in 1984, Mustafa and Oz's mom invite him to meet them for dinner.

They're meeting another couple. We're now in Cardio Thurastic Surgeon, Gerald Lemoll and his wife. Gerald's a bit of a medical rebel. He's credited as the first surgeon to play rock music in the operating room. Very cool. But the two couples aren't here to talk medicine.

Oz is single, and Gerald's 21-year-old daughter, Lisa is also single. And the two sets of parents are hoping that Oz and Lisa will hit it off. Lisa is petite with long, dark hair and piercing blue eyes. She's an actress, and she actually played a recurring character on Dallas, one of the most successful shows of the 80s. Lisa's parents don't tell her that this dinner is a setup.

But when she arrives at the restaurant and Oz greets her, she can't take her eyes off of him. The two of them start dating and just seven months later, Oz proposes. At this point, things really couldn't be going much better for Dr. Oz. But he doesn't just want to excel at medicine. He wants to change health care.

And he's going to start with what he can control, his operating room. It's 1995, and Oz is thriving. He wins a prestigious award for best research by a medical resident, and he gets a patent for a device that he creates that detects heart failure. But Oz wants to approach healthcare differently. Lisa's recently become a rakey master,

and her dad, Gerald, along with his unconventional ideas about medicine, has become Oz's mentor. And since Oz is now a young, hot shot surgeon at Columbia University, the higher ups indulge in some of his alternative ideas about health. Then, one day, he meets Jerry Woodworth, a registered nurse.

Jerry has blue eyes and brown hair, and he describes himself as a free spirit. He's also interested in combining traditional and alternative medicine. Both men believe that mind, body techniques, and things like energy healing, hypnosis, and massages can help people before, during, and after heart surgery. Together, they create the cardiac complimentary care center to research the use of these

approaches with patients at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. And this includes bringing 52-year-old Julie Moths into the operating room. Now, Julie is an energy healer who manages the vibes. Here's as she talked about her work at the hospital in an interview with CNN at the time. Asked him to experience the vibrational energy, the heart of the new heart, and experience the vibrational energy of the body, and slowly bring the two together. Yeah, if I'm getting heart surgery, the last person I want is someone who's like, let's think about the vibes.

Vibes are important for medicine. Yeah, I mean, this Julie woman does not sound like someone I want around me at any point in my life. Yeah, probably not. Well, Oz is able to exert influence on the powers that be at his hospital. But then, in the fall of 1996, he gets unexpected exposure to a whole new audience.

Like a jewel sparkling in the October night, Yankee Stadium is packed to the gills. In October, the Yankees make it to the World Series. It's their first shot at the championship in 19 years. But their manager, Joe Torrey, is distracted. His brother, Frank, is in the hospital. It doesn't look good. Frank's already had three heart attacks, and now he needs a heart transplant. And then, just as the Yankees are about to play the first game in the

series, some good news, they found a donor for Frank, and one of the surgeons performing the transplant is Dr. Memeh Mett Oz. The surgery goes off without a hitch. Frank is healing, Joe is relieved, and Dr. Oz gets to be the night in shining armor as the yank he's going to win the World Series. The entire city explodes in celebration. This is crazy because for everything I know about Dr. Oz and how much I've been exposed to him throughout my life, watching TV, I didn't actually know he was a skilled surgeon

that could perform a heart transplant. Like, yeah, I really just thought he was, oh, like, he's just a normal medical doctor, but he is actually quite skilled. Yeah, he's a real ass doctor. Dr. Oz is thrust into the spotlight. People act like he won the world series. And something in him switches. His colleague later says that this moment was Oz's first big splash of publicity, and he loved it. By this point, he performs about 250 operations a year. He's also contributed to eight books and written more than 100 medical papers

since he began as a resident. And in 1999, he also publishes Healing from the Heart. It's a book about his radical approach to Western medicine. In it, he talks a lot about integrative medicine, which includes taking supplements and exercising daily to prevent illness. Yeah, so this is when it really begins.

I mean, it's good advice you should work out to prevent illness, but that's how they get you. It starts off with normal things. You go, yeah, I guess I should be exercising. Maybe I should be taking these vitamins. Well, Oz is appearing on news segments and seeking out publicity, hyping up his work at the Cardiac Complementary Care Center.

But his co-founder, Jerry, wants to pump the brakes on all the media attention until they gather more evidence to support their alternative approach. By 2000, Jerry's had enough, and he pulls the plug on the center. But Oz trucks along, creating his own newer thing. The Cardio Vascular Institute

and Integrative Medicine program. It's basically the same idea, but now it's tied solely to the doctor Oz name. And he doesn't stop there. Oz wants to build a legacy outside of the operating room, outside of the hospital, outside of the world of medicine entirely. Dr. Oz wants to be famous.

Three years later, Lisa's closing in on a deal that will change their lives forever. Her friend just landed a new gig at Discovery Channel. So Lisa makes a pitch. What if Dr. Oz, one of America's most acclaimed surgeons, brought his expertise and his message to the masses with a TV show? Great idea.

Yeah. It's not right, but it's a good TV. Yeah, here we fucking go. Lisa understands the power of the screen and what it can do for the Dr. Oz brand. Her producer friend is in, and they develop a new show called Second Opinion with Dr. Oz. World renowned heart-searching, Dr. Memeidaz takes on the most critical health concerns of our times, discover the future of medicine from those who are making it, and become a

world expert on your own body. I wonder what the tone of this show is because this was at the point when Discovery Channel wasn't as we know it now. Yeah. So I do wonder if this was like, you know, this first kind of show he had, if it was perhaps a little less sensational or if it wasn't as kuku? Yeah, it was a little more grown-up for sure. But second opinion only gets one season. That said, it kick-starts a new era of Dr. Oz's life and career. He gets comfortable on camera and develops an easy-going get authoritative style. More importantly, he builds a relationship with one of his first guests, a daytime TV pioneer who came on to talk about weight loss. None other than Oprah Winfrey.

About a year later, Oz is in a giant building in downtown Chicago. The awning outside reads, the Oprah Winfrey show. In 2004, this is hollowed ground. The Oprah Show has been running for nearly 20 years and averages 9 million viewers a day. It's easily the number one daytime show of its time. After Oprah appeared on Second Opinion,

her producers called Oz to ask him to come onto her show, and he shows up wearing $14 powder blues grubs and purple latex gloves, looking like he just got out of the operating room. And Sarah, he's a hit. He quickly lands himself a regular guest spot, and his segments are all over the map. Like, here he is on Oprah talking about belly fat.

We're gonna teach a little bit of vocabulary today. This is a critical part of it, called the momentum. It sounds like momentum, but without the app. Where is it? Where is it in your body? It's actually hooked up to your stomach, but I did better. I brought you some.

You brought it up. And of course, my personal favorite, anal fizzers. I'm going to be the ate-as-you-can-put-that-down. Good. I guess, because you've got to be the poop. OK. All right. Put your fingers in there.

Now, you open it often here. Poop, poop, poop, poop. This is pretty funny and very typically over. Like, we're talking about a woman who put a bunch of fat representing the weight she lost on a wagon and pulled it out in front of her audience. So none of this surprises me. And also, it is really crazy that this guy is obviously very intelligent

and very skilled, like he's a heart surgeon, but that doesn't mean he has like a special expertise and like all that kind of stuff. Like he knows as much as just about any doctor then, right? Yeah, I wouldn't say he's necessarily an expert on pooping, but he is the manward listening to about these topics. But let's fast forward a few years to 2009. After 88 appearances on the Oprah show, Oprah and her production company offer Oz his own show, The Doctor Oz Show, and it's the most successful daytime TV launch

in more than a decade. Oz keeps getting bigger. He's named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the Year. And later, financial documents will show that he's making as much as $10 million a year from the show. And don't forget, Dr. Oz is still employed by Presbyterian Hospital as a surgeon. His success and pop culture relevance far surpass anything his dad could have envisioned,

but his level of ambition has no ceiling. And as a star rises, that ambition soon turns to greed. His methods and beliefs will go from unusual to deeply questionable. And I feel like a... It's June 2011, more than a year after the Dr. Oz show debuted. Oz and Lisa sit amongst the beautiful people inside the Las Vegas Hilton for the 38th annual Daytime Emmy Awards. They smile as Anderson Cooper announces the award for Outstanding Talk Show host. He says that there's a tie. Regis Filibin and Kelly Rupa for live

with Regis and Kelly, and Dr. Oz. Here he is and his acceptance speech. Humans historically have always had healers in their communities. People they trusted people who had insight. I think much of America has lost that connection. And what we do this show about is to get folks to realize that all they have to do is love themselves

as much as we love them. Later in the ceremony, Oprah is honored after wrapping up the 25 year run of her show. And then the Doctor Oz Show wins another award for outstanding informative talk show. It's an appropriate handoff, as the Oz Show is about to move into Oprah's former time slot across much of America, the

torch is officially passed. But the pace of making the Dr. Oz Show is relentless. They take more than 160 episodes a year, and the focus starts to zero in on promoting what some might call dubious health suggestions. Some episodes are about Oz's specialty, the heart, but many others focus on weight loss, with titles like Dr. Oz's 3-Day Detox, Oz approved 7-Day Crash Diet, and Eat Yourself Skinny. As a doctor, Oz has a medical and ethical mandate to tell the truth. But as a TV star, it's about keeping viewers hooked. And over the course of the show, he finds that the best way to do that

is to hit at people's fears and insecurities about their bodies. One topic he touches on almost as often as weight loss is cancer. In an interview with the New Yorker, Oz called Cancer, quote, our Angelina Jolie, we could sell that show every day.

There are also some really dicey episodes, like ones about communicating with dead relatives and gay to straight conversion therapy. And Oz once claimed on air that Apple Juice sold in the US contained arsenic. Oh my God, that's like an old wives tale we heard in junior high. Also, to call cancer, your Angelina Jolie

is so deeply twisted. That's insane. He's like, you know what? Love that cancer. It sells the magazines. Well, Oz is torn between his ethical responsibilities and the temptations of having such a humongous platform. If he says something like this about raspberry ketones on a show,

now I've got the number one miracle in a bottle to burn your fat. Stores can't keep them on the shelves. This is known as the Oz effect, and that has some people seeing Oz not just as a name, but as an opportunity. It's April 2012, and Lindsay Duncan is feverishly typing out an email to his team. Lindsay is the founder and CEO of the Dietary Supplement Company Pure Health. He trades in the world of naturopathy and calls himself a celebrity nutritionist. Lindsay has thin lips, brown eyes, and a gleaming white smile. And right now, his eyes are locked on the computer screen.

A producer for the Dr. Oz show has just emailed him regarding the opportunity of a lifetime. Based on what we know from court documents and reporting from the Washington Post, the producer asks if Lindsay has studied green coffee bean extract as a weight loss supplement. And if so, would he be able to talk about how it works? His team immediately says yes.

Lindsay would be happy to appear on the show to talk about how it works? His team immediately says yes. Lindsay would be happy to appear on the show to talk all about it. But the truth is, Lindsay has never heard of green coffee beans or what its extract could do. What he does know is the power of the Oz effect. So hours after a green to go on as an expert on green coffee bean extract, Lindsay starts doing his homework on what it even is.

Then he places an order for the raw materials to make it. green coffee bean extract, Lindsay starts doing his homework on what it even is, then he places an order for the raw materials to make it. And then, days later, he tells Oz's audience all about how magic this bean really is. Participants who took green coffee bean extract lost a total of 17 pounds each. The most interesting part of this clinical trial that was done on humans, not rats or monkeys, is that there were absolutely zero side effects. If this was a thing that were true, the whole world would be completely and fundamentally changed.

Yeah, it's like people who think that silver will cure cancer, as if the healthcare industry wouldn't monetize that immediately. No, exactly. It's like one of those things that's like on an infomercial that's playing at 3 a.m., you know? Yeah. Well, during his appearance, Lindsay also mentions a company he trusts as a source for the green coffee bean extract, pure health. But he never mentions that it's his company to anyone at the Dr. Oz show. Everything Lindsay says on the show is geared towards selling his supplements. He and his staff direct Oz's team to purehealth100.com

as the place viewers can go to buy green coffee bean extract. It's a site that they literally just created in time for Lindsay's appearance on the show. Dr. Oz helps Lindsay shill the stuff. No questions asked. It comes from the fruit of the coffee plant and the reason it's different from regular old coffee beans, it hasn't been roasted. It holds on to this element that seems to help people lose weight. In the three years after Lindsay's appearance, pure health sells $50 million worth of green

coffee bean extract products. But federal regulators and U.S. senators have questions about the show's pattern of dubious claims. And soon, they will demand answers. It's June 2014, and Dr. Oz is in Washington, D.C. sitting at a heavy oak table in front of a Senate subcommittee. As usual, TV polish is gone. His hair falls across his forehead.

Messier than the slick back look he usually sports on air. He's pale, there are bags under his eyes. Dr. Oz looks off. This is his most important public appearance, probably ever. He's testifying in front of the Senate subcommittee on consumer protection. And though this is just a hearing, these senators appear ready to put Dr. Oz on trial.

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill takes the lead. She's dressed in a blue and white power suit, thick toward a shell glasses, and has a perfectly trimmed shock of blonde hair. This lady is not messing around. She is about to snatch Dr. Oz's soul out of his body by reading his own words back to him. She reads aloud from transcripts of his show where he makes claims about cures for weight loss. Senator McCaskel and the rest of the subcommittee

grill Dr. Oz on the long list of quote, cures he's touted. Everything from diet pills to supplements, including the green coffee bean extract and raspberry ketones, both lack any medical evidence that they actually work. I don't get why you need to say this stuff, because you know it's not true. So why when you have this amazing megaphone

and this amazing ability to communicate, why would you cheapen your show? Dr. Oz has never really been in front of any kind of critical audience. And as he tries to defend himself, it shows. Among the natural products that are out there, this is a product that has several clinical trials. There was one large one, a very good quality one that was done the year that we talked about this in 2012.

I want to know about that clinical trial. Because the only one I know was 16 people in India that was paid for by the company that was producing it. And it actually gets worse. Dr. Oz decides now is the time to be honest, maybe too honest. If I can just get across the big message that I actually do personally believe in the items that I talk about in the show. I passionately study them. I recognize that oftentimes they don't have the scientific moisture to present as fact.

I mean, in any just world, this guy would not have a career as a daytime talk show host. He's a doctor. People are supposed to trust him. I know. It's so bad. And again, Sarah, this is the subcommittee hearing. So no one is leaving here with a fine or jail time, but Oz is under oath. And Senator McCaskell is getting this all on the record. She's calling Oz a snake oil salesman in front of all of America. And the blows keep coming.

Just five months after the Senate hearing, the British Medical Journal publishes a study about his show. They found that at least half of all of Dr. Oz's claims either can't be verified by medical research or they've been straight up debunked. Then in January 2015, almost three years after Lindsay Duncan's appearance on Oz's show, the FTC sues Lindsey.

They claim that he's no naturopath. Instead, he's just a marketer with distance learning degrees from a now-defunct natural health college. They call Lindsey deceptive and they seek to ban him from making future false health claims. Lindsey quickly settles and agrees to repay customers $9 million. Wow, that is such a burn. You're a marketer with a distance learning degree. You're nothing. It's so mean. And the FTC also reaches a $3.5 million settlement with the company that did the so-called diet studies

that Lindsay cited on the show. The researchers paid to write the studies admitted that they couldn't prove their findings. And federal regulators discovered that the data used in the studies, things like the participants' weight, had been altered. The Dr. Oz show quietly removes any traces of affiliation with green coffee bean extract on its website.

But they don't issue an apology. Instead, they release a retraction saying that this, quote, sometimes happens in scientific research. The story of the people and the products that Dr. Oz sells on his shows simply do not match reality, and the walls are starting to close in on him. Soon, the unrest about Dr. Oz reaches his professional home of Columbia University in New York.

It's where he got his start as a cardiac surgeon, plus a faculty appointment with the medical school and a senior administrative position in the Department of Surgery. In April 2015, a few months after the FTC comes down on Lindsey Duncan, a group of doctors across the U.S. released an open letter calling on Columbia to sever its ties with Dr. Oz. They say his work is full of lies and misinformation. Oz is pissed. He strikes back on his TV show. Doctors should never fight their battles or each other in public.

But now I believe I must." He launches into a 30-minute screen, naming and personally questioning each of the doctors who called him out. Sarah, do you want to read what he says to end the segment? Sure, he says, these 10 doctors are trying to silence me. I vouch you right here, right now. We will not be silenced. Oh my God, they're trying to silence you.

There's like some conspiracy where they don't want people to know good things. Like what it's implying is so fundamentally crazy. Well, like all people who are silenced, Oz gets to publish a 1300 word rebuttal in Time magazine. And also Matt Lauer, who has never done anything wrong, interviews Oz on the Today Show, specifically about firing back at his critics.

You are a medical doctor. Have you upheld that trust over the years on your program? With our question, I have it. I'm very proud of what we've done on this show. Even with all of this media support for his counterattack, Oz's empire is on shaky ground. This 20-year-old grift has been very profitable for him. But now, he needs to take refuge

where all disgrace TV figures though. Electoral politics. And I feel like a letter. Lacka, lacka, lacka, lacka, lacka, lacka, lacka. In 2016, the US is in the throes of Trump, Mania. And I feel like a... Like a... In 2016, the U.S. is in the throes of Trump, Mania. One of the big talking points of the election is whether Trump, at 70 years old, is physically fit to serve as president. Trump understands the power of TV

like few others in American history. Any figures, what better way to prove his fitness than by getting a clean bill of health from America's doctor? So, he appears on the Dr. Oz show. If your health is as strong as it seems from your review of systems, why not share your medical records?

Why not? Well, I have really no problem in doing it. I have it right here. I mean, should I do it? I don't care. Thank you. Trump hands Dr. Oz two sheets of paper, which he says are from his doctor. Dr. Oz reviews

them and declares him fit to run and serve as president. Well, I mean, if Dr. Oz is saying so, he looks at the papers and he was like, yeah, I, I think this guy should be president. He's fit to run for president. Sure, just two men that I trust for sure. But you know what, if you think about it, Oz and Trump are a natural fit. They're both celebrities who love the limelight. They have a tenuous relationship at best with the truth. And now, they have a common enemy, the so-called establishment.

The establishment ridicules what they have to say, but both Oz and Trump say they represent the common man. And that no idea, political or medical, is too out there. As you know, Trump goes on to win, but a couple of years into his presidency in July of 2018, Oz reaches a $5.4 million settlement in a class action lawsuit over false advertising. The suit accuses him of exaggerating

the benefits of weight loss supplements. Oz doesn't admit fault, but he promises not to re-air three episodes of his show that promote the dubious products. And then he catches a break. Around this time, Trump creates a sports fitness and nutrition council and gives Oz a spot. The relationship with Trump and his voters seems fruitful, and Oz must think, if a loudmouth former TV host with no political experience can get to the top, then why can't he?

It's March 2020. COVID-19 is spreading. Dr. Oz feels like a man meeting the moment. He starts focusing a lot of energy on one potential treatment, hydroxychloroquine. It's a medication commonly used to treat lupus, but on March 28th, the FDA issues an emergency order to use it on some patients hospitalized with COVID. About a week later, Oz is making the rounds on TV touting the drug, like this spot on a

San Diego CBS affiliate. Less fever, less cough, and less pneumonia problems. And most doctors in the world, this is their number one choice of products you recommend. Trump says hydroxychloroquine works for him, and that endorsement puts the odds effect on steroids. The drug cells out everywhere. The demand is so strong,

loop is patients are having a tough time filling their prescriptions. Then, in April, studies show that using hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID could be causing more harm than good. The FDA says it can lead to severe cardiac events. After the study drops, Oz goes on Fox News to say, quote, we don't know if hydroxychloroquine actually works. But he never fully retracts his original recommendation. And here's the kicker. Two years later, it's revealed that Oz owns more than $600,000

in stocks of pharmaceutical companies that make and distribute hydroxychloroquine. It's something he never disclosed in any on-air appearances. But by November 2021, things are moving fast for Oz. His third act in American life is about to begin, because this is when he announces he's running for Senate. Sarah, can you read a bit from his Washington Examiner op ed? Yeah, he says, during the pandemic, I learned that when you mix politics and medicine, you get politics instead of solutions.

That's why I'm running for the U.S. Senate to help fix the problems and to help us heal. I mean, this is obviously such a bullshit because the statement doesn't really make any sense. I just don't understand what his expertise is if you're supposed to be mixing politics and medicine. Yeah, I mean, it's all over the place. But the other thing to know is that he's running for Senate in Pennsylvania. Even though court know is that he's running for Senate in Pennsylvania, even though court records show that he's lived in New Jersey for most of his adult life.

His homes, jobs, and offices have always been based in New York and New Jersey. Insider reports that Dr. Oz began absentee voting in Pennsylvania elections in 2021 by registering with his in-laws address. Weeks after announcing his run, Dr. Oz Elisa by a $3 million home in Pennsylvania's Montgomery County. But a national TV show turns out to be very different from a national campaign.

Running for public office usually means releasing a lot of information about your financial life. And that will forever change how Americans see Dr. Oz. Dr. Oz files the paperwork to run for public office in mid-2022 and the press descends, analyzing the extent of his empire. A Philadelphia inquire investigation reveals Oz's net worth is somewhere between $104 million.

And when reporters dig into the financial statements, they find a lot of uncomfortable ties to companies that have appeared on the Dr. Oz show. For years, Oz promoted a probiotic made by a company called Pantherics. The Daily Beast reports that while promoting its products, Oz owned a stake in the company, and he served on its board for years,

and was paid as a consultant. Then, Politico discovers that Oz owned a stake in the company, and he served on its board for years and was paid as a consultant. Then, Politico discovers that Oz had a lucrative relationship with Ussana Health Sciences, a multi-level marketing company that makes supplements, skincare, and other wellness products. Oz was paid upwards of $50 million to feature their products on air and on his show's website, and he gave speeches and presentations on behalf of the company. The ratings for the show begin plummeting. And after 13 seasons,

Oz has to shut his show down because he's running for Senate. But he has his work cut out for him, running against the popular, experienced, and charmingly unpolished Lieutenant Governor John Federman. Though Oz may be unflppable in the operating room or his own soundstage, he suffers major stumbles on the national political stage, including in trying to act like he hasn't been a multi-millionaire for more than half of his life.

So Sarah, it's time we talked about the Crudite video. I thought I just grew up shopping and went to Wig Nurse and my wife went to some vegetables for crudite. So here's a broccoli. That's two bucks, a ton of broccoli. Here's the Miss Farragus. That's $4. And she loves salsa. Yeah, it's salsa there.

$6. Must be a shortage of salsa. What is it he's just going to like the produce section and just picking stuff out. And what's the point he's trying to make? That things are expensive? Yes. That regular people can't make crudite's anymore.

He is blaming Joe Biden for the cost of organic asparagus for his crudite platter. A crudite platter is just vegetables and like a dip, right? Yeah, correct. It's a vegetable tray. And he's also talking about being in a place called Wagner's because he's confusing to American grocery chain names and fused them into one. Like the place he's referring to does not exist.

I do love this display of how out of touch someone can be, you know. Well, somehow it gets worse. A few months before the Senate race, John Federman has a life-threatening stroke. An Oz, who is somehow still a licensed doctor, could use this as a moment to show some empathy and expertise. But instead, his spokesperson tells the media, quote, if John Federman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn't have had a major stroke and wouldn't be in a position of having to lie about it constantly. Even though it's just an awspokesperson, aws never condemns the remark.

He just says, quote, the campaign has been saying a lot of things. Aws' political career was dead before it ever really began. Oprah, his biggest backer for years, throws her support behind Federman, who ultimately beats aws by five points. Almost every major link he's made in his 40-year career is gone. His show, his reputation, his positions at Columbia, even Trump is pissed that Oz lost and reportedly blames his wife Melania for suggesting that he back him.

Dr. Oz, a generationally gifted heart surgeon, created an empire. But underneath it all, he took the very trust gained with viewers and turned it into a grift. He did it with pills, unproven diet plans, magazine covers, primetime TV spots, and eventually, a failed attempt to turn it all into votes. So has the answer to father's question? Did anyone do better than you, Oz?

Sarah, has this story made you decide to give up on the medical profession entirely? Like, can we trust no one, not even a doctor? Not even a heart surgeon? I mean, if anything, this just shows that like, you can be the best in your field of something that is so hard to do and still be totally blinded by the idea of being a little bit famous. Do you think there's a version of the world where Dr. Oz just stays in his lane and he

just becomes a really famous heart surgeon? No, I don't think so. I mean, I think he got a taste for fame. And also, you know, it's pretty rare to have a doctor be so good at being this eloquent. And he does have a gift for being able to speak publicly. And I think he got high off that feeling. I think it's an interesting reminder that doctors are just people and people have terrible motivations. Yeah, doctors are just people and they can be easily swayed by fame,

but also they do take an oath for this to be a very altruistic profession. Not saying that stops people from doing bad things, but it's like he did go against everything there is to being a doctor after performing this miracle heart surgery. I think it's easy to believe you're the smartest guy that will ever exist when you can replace someone's heart with a different one and have them live. Oh, yeah. Listen, if I could do that, I would start believing my own hype as well.

Like, there are very few things I could do and they give me an overinflated ego in a lot of ways. So I couldn't imagine being able to do this and not going a little bit crazy. Yeah, I think Dr. Oz thought he was the American dream. I mean, he's the child of immigrants. You know, he works his way up. I'm sure he doesn't view himself as a NEPO baby despite the many connections he had in the medical space. And that he was going to make it and become president. A hundred percent this guy would have run for president. Well, Sarah, did you learn anything today? You know what, I did learn something today.

I really thought Dr. Oz was just a general practitioner. I didn't know he was so skilled and I think he kind of erased that from his own history by being crazy. So my whole thing is, if you're super accomplished at something, just stop there. You don't need a new thing. You don't need to add an extra layer to something if you're super accomplished at something, just stop there. You don't need a new thing. You don't need to add an extra layer to something that you're already good at.

Yeah. Today's lesson is if you're good at something, just do that. Don't do new things. You don't need to be good at several things. Look at us. We're not good at anything. And here we are hosting this podcast that you are listening to. Yeah, imagine we tried doing more.

We're barely keeping this together. Hey, prime members, you can listen to scamful answers, add free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. This is Dr. Oz, the Supplements Spin Doctor. I'm Sachi Cole, and I'm Sarah Haggi. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at scamfluencersatwondery.com.

We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were the making of Dr. Oz by Julie Ballouz for Vox, the operator by Michael Spectre for the New Yorker, the experience of Dr. Oz by Chip Brown for the New York Times, and how a fake doctor made millions from the Oz effect, and a bogus weight loss supplement by Abby Philip for the New York Times, and how a fake doctor made millions from the Oz effect and a bogus weight loss supplement by Abby Philip for the Washington Post. Adrienne Chung wrote this episode, additional writing by Us, Sachi Cole and Sarah Haggy.

Our senior producer is Jen Swan. Our producer is John Reed. Our associate producers are Charlotte Miller and Lexi Peary. Our story editor and producer is Sarah Annie. Our story editor is Eric Thurm. Sound Design is by James Morgan. Backchecking by Will Tavlin, our music supervisor is Skat Folaska's for Freeze Unsink. Our senior managing producer is Ryan Lourr. Our managing producer is Mac Gant. Our coordinating producer is Desi Blaylock. Kate Young and Olivia Rashard are a series

producers. Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Our senior producer is Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Janine Cornelow, Stephanie Jens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marshall Louis, for Wondry. you