Letter I wrote about Dr. Oz to a local publication

Thank you for your timely postings of Jewish news, which I generally find thoughtful and useful.  However, you recently featured a story about Dr. Oz visiting Israel (below).   While I have no objection to stories about visiting Israel, I object to Dr. Oz.  He is basically a charlatan, disguised as a physician.  He has achieved fame and fortune.  He does this by dishing out advice.  His “advice” might charitably be described as “not his area of expertise” (heart surgery).  But actually much of his advice is quackery and pseudoscience.   He promotes alternative medicine, numerology, homeopathy, supplements, naturopathy and more. These are not only unproven, they are dangerous if unsuspecting people substitute them for real medical treatment.  Moreover, his success reflects the growing anti-intellectual trend in this country and the world.  Considering the high proportion of Nobel laureates among Jews and the high intellectual standards to which we aspire, in my opinion, covering such a person in your newsletter gives the appearance of condoning him and thereby demeans your publication.  I have posted some web sites that challenge his views.

 

The wonderful visit of Oz

August 08, 2013

By BEN SALES

 http://www.crescentcityjewishnews.com/the-wonderful-visit-of-oz/ 

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/dr-oz-and-green-coffee-beans-more-weight-loss-pseudoscience/ http://genome.fieldofscience.com/2013/04/dr-oz-takes-big-bite-of-bad-science.html