Thursday, October 8, 2009

Dr. Oz Should Be Held Liable For His Resveratrol Shilling

From the same nationwide talent search that brought us Dr. Phil, Oprah has introduced us to Dr. Oz. His bits follow two formulas: a 'gross-out' in which he squishes goo out of diseased organs, and an energetic summary of the New York Times Health Section.
For him, one study done on mice that produces headline-grabbing results is reason enough to effusively praise it on shows widely watched by people without the means or education to critically judge its value.  If this self-appointed "America's Doctor" (F. U. 'Surgeon General') had his way, we would jump from supplement fad to supplement fad at the drop of an NIH grant.  In fact, because of a study done on mice, Dr. Oz would like you to know that he has personally found the cure to aging -- and you can follow the sound of his panpipes to the magical world of unregulated resveratrol supplements.
Yes, Resveratrol!  I know it sounds crazy, but it turns out that a component of red wine has been proven to simulate the well-known benefits of a low-calorie diet.  Ninety-nine is the new Fifty, and we're all going to live forever.  Now, I wouldn't recommend you drink more than one glass of wine a day, [forced chuckling] so the only way to get the right amount of resveratrol is to take it in pill form.  I have to say at this point that we have no idea what the long-term effects of large doses of resveratrol in humans actually are, buuuuuuut .... if you want to be safe and start taking it before any clinical study has been completed, 500 mg is what you should start out with.


What the bad Dr. Oz neglected to mention, is that no reputable resveratrol supplement is commercially available.  In summary, Dr. Oz recommended that everyone should buy a product that doesn't exist in order to receive a benefit with absolutely no proven existence.  In the wake of his convincing hackery, a zillion banner-ad internet companies put red paint powder and who knows what else into a capsule and called it resveratrol.  You can get 30 pills of these a month for only 20$ + S&H!

Dr. Oz is outraged by this!  OUTRAGED!  He didn't want anyone to actually start taking resveratrol -- he just wanted his own syndicated buffoon show!  His suing of the internet hydra won't do anything to stop people from getting scammed in His Image, but it will help rehabilitate His Image.  Rather than 'the media' talking about the real story (that Dr. Oz is a quack trading in his credentials for celebrity) he's been able to change the conversation to one much kinder (poor Dr. Oz is the victim of internet criminals).

Let's face it -- nobody is going to get their own show talking about lifestyle improvements that have actually been proven (eating right, being active).  Shilling for magic-pills that cure all and don't actually exist is a lot more entertaining.  However, to do so under the guise of board-certified medical legitimacy is professionally and ethically wrong -- and he should be held partly responsible for the fraud that he enabled.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

hi, new to the site, thanks.