Meet the medical student who wants to bring down Dr. Oz

[Mia Dit]

Off topic, to @Mia Dit --love your avatar pic, is that a Friesian?

Hi Catly,

Yes, It's Friesian. They are so beautiful.

 

[IreneF]

Whatever Oz's motivations might be, he's convinced at least one person to do something that may have serious repercussions for her health. Green coffee extract is still "promising" whereas oral diabetes drugs have demonstrated effects. If you're overweight but healthy, go ahead and try the green coffee extract, but when you have a life-threatening disease, don't you think you're better off with a proven medication?

Everyone wants something natural, safe, and inexpensive. Probably everyone here has tried one of those. Did it work? For how long?

 

[xchocoholic]

Unfortunately, the result of NOT controlling one's blood sugar isn't a purely esthetic issue. Diabetes can and OFTEN does lead to irreversible kidney damage, blindness and loss of limbs due to gangrene. Refusing standard oral diabetes medications will most likely have a lasting impact on this woman's life, and her insurance company, most likely Medicare, will pick up the tab.

I have to assume that she's intelligent enough to watch her blood glucose when making the change.

Tc ... x

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

I have to assume that she's intelligent enough to watch her blood glucose when making the change.

Tc ... x

AND she thought enough of her doctor to tell him what she was thinking. That's trust.

She did not make a change from oral diabetes medications to green-coffee supplements, she never started on the oral diabetes medication in the first place.

Without oral diabetes medicine, which her doctor recommended, she may or may not watch her blood glucose as it continues to climb upwards. I would assume that her well-meaning doctor recommended oral diabetes medications because she was already having high blood glucose measurements in spite of her attempts to control or "watch" it with diet.

I think this patient's disregard of her doctor's advice shows mistrust of her doctor, but you can believe otherwise if you wish.

 

[xchocoholic]

Patients ignore medical advice everyday. Even those who trust their doctors.

This story is hearsay anyways. We don't know what was said.

I remember hearing a disclaimer on the Dr Oz show. He considers his show edutainment.

Adults can be expected to know what this means.

Tc ... x

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

This story is hearsay anyways. We don't know what was said.

Tc ... x

Is this also hearsay?
http://www.vox.com/2014/7/12/5891451/meet-the-medical-student-who-wants-to-bring-down-dr-oz-quackery

JB: Tell me about the policy you proposed. How did doctors react?

BM: I wrote policy for the Medical Society of the State of New York [where Dr. Oz is licensed] and the American Medical Association asking them to more actively address medical quackery on TV and in the media—specifically Dr. Oz.

The New York policy was passed in modified form. Organized medicine in New York is aware of what Dr. Oz is saying and how he is able to fall through the gaps of regulation. Many New York physicians testified at their annual meeting about the harm they are seeing happen day-to-day with their own patients. Patients stop taking proven medications in favor of "natural" medications that Dr. Oz promotes. Many patients trusted Dr. Oz more than their own family doctors and this conflict hurt the doctor-patient relationship.

When we brought the policy to the American Medical Association, they reaffirmed existing policy instead of our resolution asking them to take action against inappropriate medical testimonials on TV. The AMA basically thought they were doing enough with existing policy.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Big Pharma Sales Agent Dr. Oz Pimps Vaccines on Public After Not Vaccinating His Own Children

http://www.infowars.com/big-pharma-...ublic-after-not-vaccinating-his-own-children/
June 8, 2012

Though at times he appears to promote alternative forms of medicine that are not widely accepted by the medical establishment, Dr. Oz has shown himself to be nothing more than a Big Pharma shill that now pushes vaccines and other unproven quackery on the public as valid medicine.

This is hardly shocking in light of the fact that Dr. Oz has a financial stake in the drug industry, which was revealed back in 2009 during the time when the phony H1N1/swine flu scam was occupying the airwaves.
http://www.naturalnews.com/027451_vaccine_RealAge_technology.html.
In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper that has mostly been removed from the internet, Dr. Oz admitted that his wife and children would not be receiving the H1N1 vaccine. Most copies of this interview with Dr. Oz have been pulled from the internet.

None of this is really all that surprising, considering Dr. Oz was exposed for quietly holding shares in SIGA Technologies, a vaccine technology company that has an obvious interest in vaccine promotion. Dr. Oz even sat on its SIGA’s board of directors, if that tells you anything about his interests in promoting vaccines.

Conflicts of interest? Dr. Mehmet Oz owns 150,000 option shares in vaccine technology company

http://www.naturalnews.com/027451_vaccine_RealAge_technology.html

Is it right for someone talking about whether vaccines are safe on television to also be carrying stock options and serving on the board of directors of a vaccine company at the same time?

Dr. Mehmet Oz is a huge promoter of vaccines. He's been on television reinforcing fear about H1N1 swine flu and telling everyone to get vaccinated. But what he didn't tell his viewing audience is that he holds 150,000 option shares in a vaccine company that could earn him millions of dollars in profits as the stock price rises. It is in Dr. Oz's own financial interest, in other words, to hype up vaccines and get more people taking them so that his own financial investments rise in value.

Evidence describing these facts was delivered to NaturalNews by a private investigator named Joseph Culligan. That evidence includes an SEC document detailing how Dr. Oz. bought options on stocks for SIGA Technologies in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. SIGA Technologies (stock symbol SIGA) is a vaccine technology company with many advanced developments whose success depends on the widespread adoption of vaccines. According to SEC documents, Dr. Mehmet Oz. currently holds 150,000 option shares on SIGA Technologies, purchased for as little as $1.35 back in 2005.

If the stock price of SIGA Technologies could be pumped up even more -- say, from someone hyping up vaccines in front of a national audience -- these options could mathematically be worth millions of dollars. Just to clarify, by the way, SIGA Technologies doesn't currently manufacture a vaccine for H1N1 swine flu. It focuses on future vaccine technologies that could be applied to many different vaccines down the road.

 

[beaker]

He once recommended drinking tea to treat CFS.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Here's an older thread about what Dr. Oz has said about CFS/ME:

forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/bob-miller-asking-for-comments-to-dr-oz.22071

An article published in Feb 2013 by Drs. Oz and Roizen recommended CBT and GET along with seeing a specialist for CFS/ME:
http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2013/02/drs_oz_and_roizen_new_treatmen.html

Only between 5 percent and 10 percent of people with CFS recover from the wide range of symptoms that include fatigue, brain fog and everything from digestive woes to peripheral neuropathy and emotional problems. But new research shows that around 20 percent can recover when ongoing treatment from a medical specialist is combined with graded exercise therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.

 

[xchocoholic]

Dr Oz clearly states his info is for edutainment.

All of the adults I know, know what this means.

I'm not going to continue posting here. It's a waste of my time.

Tc .. x

 

[TigerLilea]

Unfortunately, the result of NOT controlling one's blood sugar isn't a purely esthetic issue. Diabetes can and OFTEN does lead to irreversible kidney damage, blindness and loss of limbs due to gangrene. Refusing standard oral diabetes medications will most likely have a lasting impact on this woman's life, and her insurance company, most likely Medicare, will pick up the tab.

Meds for diabetes are not without side-effects. I think people should try natural ways of getting their numbers down and only resort to prescription meds if all else fails (unless their numbers are critical then they should use both and hopefully get to the point that the meds can be discontinued). My BF's dad went through hell because of his oral diabetes medication. He did not have any quality of life his last few years. And this wasn't someone who was overweight. I've had a couple of family members who were diagnosed with diabetes but were able to get their numbers back in the normal range without the use of meds so it can be done.

 

[Christopher]

The world is every person for themselves. Make your own choices what to trust and what to ignore. Or let someone decide for you. The most important thing for these people is control. If you think your health is their priority, you're ignorant.

 

[Dreambirdie]

Overall, I like Dr Oz for many reasons, but especially because he was the ONLY popular tv show host willing to do a segment on XMRV back in 2009, when the Science paper was first published. And he was clearly empathetic towards those of us with disease, which (as we all know) is a very rare thing among people in the media.

I helped to make that happen with an email writing campaign that I started on this forum. I was able to round up Dr. Donnica Moore to be one of his guests, and I contributed ideas to her talking points. No, it wasn't perfect. He didn't get the part about exercise being bad for severe ME patients. But at least he was willing to put ME/CFS and XMRV as the opening segment on his show, which has 6 million viewers. That says a lot.

Oprah, 60 Minutes, and 20/20 were NEVER willing to do a segment like this. Oz deserves credit for his willingness to do so.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

@Dreambirdie, I referenced the thread where you discussed Dr. Oz here:
forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/bob-miller-asking-for-comments-to-dr-oz.22071

At the time, Dr. Oz wasn't making "magical" claims for any particular supplement that would cure CFS.

The OP brought up a medical student's desire to hold medical doctors to a high standard when they are discussing medical claims for supplements. This could apply to any doctor having access to the media and an audience of 5 million people. The medical student (and other New York state doctors) felt that Dr. Oz's statements about supplements overstated their efficacy and caused some people to choose Dr. Oz's advice over their personal physicians' advice and placed their health at risk. It's not about "liking" or not liking Dr. Oz, but the effect he is having on the decisions people are making about their health.

I'm all for supplements and there are many that come to mind that are beneficial for diabetes such as alpha lipoic acid, chromium, carnosine, cinnamon and many others. That's all in addition to diet and exercise. I bet that if that same patient profiled in the original article came in and said, "I've done my research and I'm going to pay close attention to my diet, exercise 60 minutes a day, join a weight-loss program and take the advice of a naturopath as to which dietary supplements will help me most, take blood sugar readings X times per day, and see how much I can lower my blood sugar that way, and will consider oral diabetes medication if I can't get my blood sugar to come down," the medical student and the supervising doctor might have responded differently. We don't know what was said at that visit, but other New York doctors felt Dr. Oz was not doing their patients any favors either.

Doctors are now very used to patients getting a lot of information (and misinformation) from the Internet. I think when a person with an advanced degree (MD, JD, Ph.D) is in the media as much as Dr. Oz is, their claims should be held to a higher standard than what is available on the Internet. A good comparison is the claims that an expert witness can make. Would Dr. Oz take the witness stand and swear that supplement ABC does XYZ, or does he just want to make TV fun?

I find that Judge Judy does a good job of quoting the law every day at 4 p.m. but I would still consult a lawyer and not try to rely on a few Judge Judy episodes to keep me out of harm's way.

When I was working as a medical technologist, I was taking a blood sample from a patient in the hospital who only had one leg and his doctor came in and told him they were going to have to amputate the other one. "Oh doc, oh no, not my other leg!!" This was due to complications of diabetes. I also had a friend who took care of her diabetic grandmother with one leg (helped her shower, dress, etc.) The doctor told them the other leg had to come off. An RN told me that diabetics die an inch at a time.

 

[Ema]

Unfortunately, the result of NOT controlling one's blood sugar isn't a purely esthetic issue. Diabetes can and OFTEN does lead to irreversible kidney damage, blindness and loss of limbs due to gangrene. Refusing standard oral diabetes medications will most likely have a lasting impact on this woman's life, and her insurance company, most likely Medicare, will pick up the tab.

Before supplements, start with what we call food in this country and the woeful diagnostic criteria for diabetes first.

How many people could reverse their diabetes with diet and exercise changes if caught early enough? But most doctors refuse to do anything until it is too late. No one should have a fasting blood sugar over 100 and not be having serious discussions about lifestyle changes with their doctor but that almost never happens. Refusing meds isn't what got most T2 diabetics into their mess. Conventional medicine played a large part too so kudos to anyone talking about alternatives to explore.

Possibly Medicare *should* pick up the tab considering the government helped create the problem in the first place by placing emphasis (and tax incentives) on processed, unnatural foods over healthy ones.

 

[Dreambirdie]

If you want to stop the diabetes epidemic, then call for a stop to eating processed garbage food full of sugar. Sugar really is toxic, and the cause of most obesity, T2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, and according to stats 75% of that is preventable. Dr Oz is not the only one who addresses this. There was also this report on 60 Minutes.

 

[Gingergrrl]

@ Doctors are now very used to patients getting a lot of information (and misinformation) from the Internet.

For me, the internet and this board have been a God-send as it led me to find and seek the help of a true CFS specialist. If I had listened to some of the misguided advice by former physicians who knew nothing about CFS (and often gave harmful advice re: exercise, I would undoubtedly be worse.) I can understand why some doctors do not want patients looking things up on-line but the good ones appreciate that we do our research and come in asking solid questions.