14 DAY TRIAL // Dr. Oz continues to defend himself following criticism that he’s nothing short of a quack doctor who peddles quack cures to his viewers, thus disgracing the profession of a medical doctor. This time, he’s doing it on an appearance on Matt Lauer for NBC’s The Today Show, in which he draws the line between his real-life profession and his television career.
The distinction is clear, he says, as you can see in the video below: as a medical doctor, he’s committed to offering professional counseling and treatment, while as a TV personality, he’s not acting as a doctor but more like a guiding force.
Those who mistake his show for a medical one are at fault for any misunderstandings, he says.
Dr. Oz says he’s not a doctor on TV
Dr. Oz’s response comes after a group of doctors fired off a letter to Columbia University asking to have him removed from the faculty because his brand of quack medicine was irresponsible and shameless, a disservice to the viewers.
Moreover, they said, Dr. Oz was only doing it for money: his only interest was personal financial gain, which somehow made it even worse.
If you ask Dr. Oz - which Lauer did - these peers have a hidden agenda. He says they only made this move to discredit him publicly because of his stance on the need for proper labeling on GMO foods.
But there’s another aspect to it, he says: those who criticize him for giving un-medical and unsound advice on TV simply forget that he’s not in front of a camera as a doctor. The way he sees it, his mission is to keep the American public informed on the countless alternatives available before they go to the doctor’s office with a problem.
“‘Doctor’ [in the logo] is actually up in the little bar for a reason,” he says. “People don’t want to sit there and be hounded with information. I hear from viewers and doctors all the time about how we’ve helped make that conversation easier.”
This is why he chooses to talk about alternative cures and methods, about nutrition and even remedies that haven’t been scientifically proven yet on his show. They’re not meant to be interpreted as the only solution to a problem, but it’s his duty to tell his viewers about them.
The show will survive the scandal
Dr. Oz is convinced that he’s changing and maybe even saving lives with his show, even though he’s determined to distance it from his real-life profession, that of a medical doctor.
In fact, feedback has been so good so far, throughout all these years, that he’s convinced the show will survive the ongoing scandal and continue on the air for much longer. Next year, Dr. Oz celebrates his 1,000th episode, and he wants to be able to boast about an even bigger accomplishment farther down the line.