Who is Dr Oz? The celebrity surgeon and onetime Senate candidate Trump has tapped for top role
President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has appointed Dr. Mehmet Oz had been selected to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz, a well-known physician and surgeon to television stars, unsuccessfully ran for U.S. senator in 2022 as a Republican for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, losing to current Sen. Jon Fetterman, a Democrat.
Now the son of Turkish immigrants — who is worth an estimated $200 million — will oversee health insurance programs that cover more than 150 million Americans.
Oz has been married to Lisa Lemole since 1985.
He is the latest surprise pick for a senior administrative role and the latest TV personality to join the Fox hosts Trump has chosen to lead the Defense and Transportation departments.
A frequent medical gust on the Oprah Winfrey show, Oz soon launched “The Dr. Oz Show,” a daytime medical talk show that made him a recognized medical expert across the country.
But Oz was criticized by the established scientific community for some of his medical views.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Oz was criticized by federal government health officials for approving the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the virus.
President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Dr. Mehmet Oz selected as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz famous hosted then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 to reveal and discuss his recent physical health exam to prove he was fit to serve as President of the United States.
Critics of the segment mocked the questionable nature of the program, as Oz read on a health summary sheet provided to him by Trump.
Oz, however, could find a sympathetic figure in the administration with Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Oz once recommended RFK Jr. warned in a segment about the dangers of the preservative Thimerosal in some flu vaccines, which he said contained unsafe levels of mercury.
Mehmet Oz, TV celebrity and heart surgeon, campaigns for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022
Dr. Mehmet Oz and his wife Lisa
Mehmet Oz, who ran for the US Senate, speaks as former US President Donald Trump stands behind him
The CDC pushed back against concerns about thimerosal, stating that thimerosal-containing vaccines were “safe and effective and do not pose a risk to public health.”
Oz also supported some form of universal health care in 2020, to suggest cover uninsured individuals through the Medicare Advantage Plan, which offers individuals government-approved health care plans from a private company.
In 2013, Oz warned women against keeping their mobile phone in their bra, suggesting it could cause breast cancer. mocked as a ‘myth’ by the National Breast Cancer Association.
Oz also warned on his show about unsafe levels of arsenic in apple juice, prompting the FDA to do so to describe labeled the report as ‘misleading’ and ‘irresponsible’.
Oz also promoted the use of green coffee bean weight loss pills, raspberry ketone and Garcinia cambogia for weight loss, prompting an investigation led by Senate Democrats who questioned the dubious scientific evidence that they were effective.
Oz admitted during his testimony at the 2014 Senate hearing that he acted as a “cheerleader” for his audience in promoting certain products.
“If they think they have no hope, if they think they can’t make it happen, I want to look, and I look everywhere, including in the traditions of alternative medicine, for any evidence that might support them. he said.