Dr. Mehmet Oz wasn’t just a poor choice to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services because he lacked the requisite skills and background; he also was haunted by his embarrassing background.
The New York Times reported in 2021, for example, that Oz had a history of “dispensing dubious medical advice” and making “sweeping claims based on thin evidence.” The article referred to bizarre comments the television personality made about everything from weight-loss pills to apple juice to cellphones.
The Washington Post had a related report during Oz’s ill-fated GOP campaign for the Senate, adding that during his show’s 12-year run, Oz “provided a platform for potentially dangerous products and fringe viewpoints, aimed at millions of viewers, according to medical experts, public health organizations and federal health guidance.”
Years later, too little has changed. The Hill reported:
Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on Tuesday called the seasonal flu vaccine ‘controversial of late’ and advised various Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiatives as ways to ‘overcome’ the virus.
Appearing on Newsmax, Oz spoke on this year’s flu season, which has been marked by a more severe strain than previous years.
In context, the Newsmax co-host asked about the growing number of Americans struggling with a dangerous flu strain. It led the CMS chief to stray far from his lane and start pontificating in irresponsible ways.
“Every year there’s a flu vaccine,” Oz said. “It doesn’t always work very well. That’s why it’s been controversial of late.”
Except it hasn’t been “controversial.” Every year, thousands of Americans die of influenza, and the more people get flu shots, the better off they’ll be. Oz, a physician by trade, must understand this. Indeed, Dr. Jerome Adams, Trump’s first surgeon general, noted online earlier this week that this year’s vaccine will make flu viruses milder and make hospitalizations less likely, even if there’s a mismatch between the annual vaccine and the predominant strain. “Even in mismatched years, flu vaccines provide cross-protection because the strains are related,” Adams wrote on X. “Historical data … show mismatched vaccines can still reduce lab-confirmed flu risk by around 50-60% overall and are particularly good at preventing severe outcomes like hospitalization and death.” As for why Oz took an irresponsible message to a national television audience, I won’t pretend to be able to read his mind — though it’s worth emphasizing for context that he not only has a lengthy history of pushing dubious medical advice, he’s also part of a Republican administration with radical ideas related to public health, including flu shots.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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