Mehmet Oz, a long-time resident of New Jersey, has announced he’s running for a U. S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania. You’ll know him better as the TV doctor, Dr. Oz. Do you really want to know him as Sen. Oz? That’s up to you.

But I think the first two lines on him on Wikipedia speak volumes.

“He has promoted pseudoscience and alternative medicine, and has been criticized by physicians, government officials, and publications, including Popular Science and The New Yorker, for endorsing unproven products and non-scientific advice. The British Medical Journal published a study that found more than half of the recommendations on medical talk series including The Dr. Oz Showeither had no evidence or contradicted medical research.”

So as reality no longer matters to a lot of voters, he may just be a shoo-in. But let’s take a brief look at just some of this doctor’s alternate universe.

Oz has gone on record saying your astrological sign could “reveal a great deal about our health.” Astrology is a pseudoscience.

Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine.

He once touted green coffee extract as a “magic weight-loss cure.” The company behind the hopelessly flawed study that Oz touted paid millions to the Federal Trade Commission for the bogus claim.

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill said to Oz at the time, “The scientific community is almost monolithic against you in terms of the efficacy of the three products you called miracles.”

He claimed umckaloabo root extract “has been incredibly effective at relieving cold symptoms.” It isn’t.

The man is widely regarded as a quack.

Ten doctors signed a letter of concern to Columbia University stating among other things, “Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine, as well as baseless and relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops. Worst of all, he has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain.”

Oz has promoted guests on his show like faith healers, psychics, anti-vaxxers like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and discredited people who peddle in unproven medical claims such as Joseph Mercola, a b.s. artist who has often been touted by other b.s. artists.

He has brought Reiki healers, mystics who draw on unseen energy, of course, into his operating rooms while performing sensitive surgeries on patients.

The man is widely regarded as a quack. Now he wants to be a member of the United States Senate.

Come to think of it, he may be in perfect company.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.

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