Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Oz is a prominent figure known for his work as a cardiovascular surgeon and celebrity health expert. After completing his medical residency in New York, he became a professor of surgery at Columbia University and co-founded the Cardiac Complementary Care Center in 1995. His rise to fame began with his appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," leading to the launch of his own program, "The Dr. Oz Show," which won multiple Daytime Emmy awards. Oz has authored several best-selling books on health and wellness, focusing on preventative medicine and public health issues. He also founded the nonprofit organization HealthCorps to mentor high school students in health-related topics.
In 2022, Oz ventured into politics, running as the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat from Pennsylvania but was ultimately defeated. Throughout his career, he has faced criticism regarding his endorsement of alternative medicine practices, which have raised concerns about the accuracy of some health claims presented on his platforms. Despite the controversies, Oz has maintained a significant influence on public health education through television, writing, and advocacy.
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Mehmet Oz
- Born: June 11, 1960
- Place of Birth: Cleveland, Ohio
Oz spent many years as a cardiovascular surgeon and has used his medical expertise to educate the general public about important health issues. He became a celebrity health expert after appearing on several television and radio shows to offer medical information and advice. Oz’s self-help book became a best-seller and he has since launched a series of other books on personal health. In 2022, Oz unsuccessfully ran for election to the US Senate as a Republican from the state of Pennsylvania.
Prior to his television career, Mehmet Oz was a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon who successfully performed countless heart and lung operations. After finishing his residency in New York, he became professor of surgery at Columbia University in 2001, and in 2003 he and his wife, Lisa, developed the show Second Opinion with Dr. Oz, which aired on the Discovery Health Channel. Previously, in 1995, he cofounded the Cardiac Complementary Care Center, a medical center that focused on exploring alternative medicine practices for patients experiencing heart problems.
In 2004 Oz began appearing as a medical expert on Oprah Winfrey'sThe Oprah Winfrey Show. His regular appearances generated immediate popularity for the surgeon and the talk show, and Oz appeared in more than fifty-five shows over five seasons. In 2003 he founded the nonprofit organization HealthCorps, a health mentor program for high school students. He appeared on other television programs, including Good Morning America,Today, and The View, to discuss preventative and complementary health topics. He has written hundreds of columns and articles for various publications, among them Esquire; O, The Oprah Magazine; and Time. In 2005, he became the host of a radio program on Sirius XM satellite radio’s Oprah Radio channel. Also that year, he published YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body That Will Make You Healthier and Younger, with Michael F. Roizen. The book made the New York Times Best Sellers list and led to a series of YOU books by the authors. Time magazine named Oz to its "2008 Time 100" list, and he was included on Esquire’s “Seventy-Five Most Influential People of the Twenty-First Century” list. In 2009 Oz launched his own medical television show, The Dr. Oz Show, which won nine Daytime Emmy awards, including wins for an Outstanding Informative Talk Show in 2011–13 and again in 2017 and 2018. The Dr. Oz Show aired its final episode in early 2022.
Over the years, Oz has sometimes been a criticized figure with issues related to alternative medicine and pseudoscience. In 2014, Oz was involved in a diet fad controversy when the company that produced green coffee bean extract he advertised on his program was sued by the Federal Trade Commission. That year, the British Medical Journal also investigated 400 health recommendations from his television show and found that less than half were supported by medical research, and 15 percent actively contradicted the existing research.
Oz's website included episodes, recipes, and other current topics that range from skincare to cancer. Oz has published a number of books in a series with Michael Roizen, MD, such as YOU: The Owner's Manual (2005),YOU: Having a Baby (2009), and YOU(r) Teen: Losing Weight at Any Age (2013). In 2017, he published Food Can Fix It: The Superfood Switch to Fight Fat, Defy Aging, and Eat Your Way Healthy. Oz also began publishing a magazine, The Good Life, in 2014, and has written columns for O, The Oprah Magazine.
In 2018, Oz was appointed by President Donald Trump to the White House Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. Then, in 2021, Oz announced his intention to run as a Republican in the November 2022 US Senate elections in Pennsylvania. After success in the primaries, Oz became the official Republican nominee in June 2022. Oz ran against Democrat John Fetterman, then the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, in the November general election but was ultimately defeated by the Democrat in a close race.
Oz and his wife Lisa have been partners for more than thirty years.
Impact
Mehmet Oz has endeavored to educate as many people as possible about preventative medicine and public health issues throughout the 2000s. He used his celebrity status and media appearances to further his message and was an integral part of Oprah Winfrey’s mission to educate and improve lives. Oz, who faced initial success in his political career when seeking the Republican nomination for the US Senate seat in Pennsylvania, was defeated by his Democratic challenger in what was a highly publicized election during a year in which many thought majority control of the US Senate was within reach for both Democrats and Republicans.
Bibliography
Bruni, Frank. “Dr. Does-It-All.” New York Times Magazine. New York Times Co., 16 Apr. 2010. Web. 10 July 2012.
Bustillo, Ximena. "Democrat John Fetterman Beats Trump-Backed Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania Senate Race." NPR, 9 Nov. 2022, www.npr.org/2022/11/09/1131245958/fetterman-dr-oz-pennsylvania-senate-midterm-results. Accessed 23 May 2024.
Dr. Oz Show Official Website. “Mehmet Oz, MD.” The Dr. Oz Show.ZoCo1 LLC, n.d. Web. 10 July 2012.
Gabriel, Trip. "David McCormick Concedes to Dr. Oz in the G.O.P. Primary for Senate in Pennsylvania." The New Yorker, 3 Jun. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/us/elections/pennsylvania-senate-oz-mccormick.html. Accessed 23 May 2024.
PBS. “Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.: Dr. Mehmet Oz.” PBS.WNET.org Properties, n.d. Web. 10 July 2012.
Robertson, Rachael. "What Has Mehmet Oz Been Up To?" MedPage Today, 27 June 2023, www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/105227. Accessed 23 May 2024.
Schawbel, Dan. "Dr. Oz: What He's Learned from Over a Decade in The Spotlight." 18 Sept. 2017,Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2017/09/18/dr-oz-what-hes-learned-from-over-a-decade-in-the-spotlight/#5694a9f16c5b. Accessed 23 May 2024.
Specter, Michael. "The Operator: Is the Most Trusted Doctor in America Doing More Harm Than Good?" The New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2013, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/02/04/the-operator. Accessed 23 May 2024.