Since “Jeopardy!” tried to broaden Dr. Mehmet Oz’s next stint as a guest presenter on the show, social media users have criticized the TV star for being “dangerous“And shilling”medical disinformation for profit. “
Oz, a former health expert at The Oprah Winfrey Show, has long been a controversial figure in the medical world. In addition to repeatedly selling fraudulent weight loss products and providing a platform to “debate” the benefits of conversion therapy, a 2014 British Medical Journal study found that half of its medical advice was “unfounded or wrong”. In 2015, a group of fellow doctors even wrote to the dean of medicine at Columbia, saying the school’s partnership with him was “unacceptable”.
More recently, Oz – whom Donald Trump appointed to the Sports, Fitness and Nutrition Council in 2018 – suggested that schools should reopen during the coronavirus pandemic because “only” 2% to 3% more people could die.
Oz’s selection as “Jeopardy!” The guest presenter is part of the program’s larger effort to have multiple presenters as replacements until a more permanent one replaces Alex Trebek, the beloved longtime presenter who died of pancreatic cancer last year.
In February, “Jeopardy!” issued a press release announcing that Oz would be the presenter for a period of time, praising him as the winner of 10 Daytime Emmy Awards for “The Dr. Oz Show” and bragging about his role as an assistant physician at the NewYork Presbyterian- Columbia Medical Center and as the author of “more than 400 original publications, book chapters and medical books”.
The announcement caused an initial wave of concern, prompting The Ringer to speak to the former “Jeopardy!” competitors last month on the decision to put Oz in place of Trebek.
Lindsey Shultz, a four-game winner in 2019 who works as a public health analyst, told The Ringer: “When you made your career in popular media, at best, conveying confidence in unproven drugs and, at worst, implicitly causing your audience to doubt the process by which the rest of us live and are lost trying to defend for an entire year – I’m not sure if a fact-based program is the best place for you. “
Later, more than 500 ex- “Jeopardy!” the contestants signed a letter published on Medium to oppose the choice of Oz as a guest host.
“Dr. Oz represents what has become a dubious trend in America: the elevation of the accredited speaker at the expense of academic rigor and consensus, “says the letter, which later calls his appointment” a slap in the face for everyone involved “.
When “Jeopardy!” The Twitter account shared the introduction of Oz in his first appearance on Monday, critics responded by calling him “dangerous and self-enriching fraud ” it is a “pseudoscience hawker charlatan. “
Actor LeVar Burton’s name even started to become a trend on Twitter, as people shared that they wanted the host of “Reading Rainbow” to be the guest host of “Jeopardy!” instead of Oz.
“Danger!” and LeVar Burton did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Before Oz’s performance, Katie Couric was a presenter for two weeks and raised $ 230,504 in donations to Stand Up To Cancer. The cumulative gains made during the appearance of Oz will go to HealthCorps, “a national non-profit organization committed to eliminating health inequalities in communities at risk, educating and empowering students, giving them tools to improve their physical and mental health ”.
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