In a recent study of over 2,000 U.S. surgeons conducted by SERMO, a social network for doctors, 81 percent of those surveyed said they felt that television snake-oil purveyor Dr. Oz should resign from his faculty position as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Columbia, have his license revoked, or both.
According to the survey:
- 57 percent called for Dr. Oz to resign from his position at Columbia
- 21 percent think Dr. Oz should both resign from his position at Columbia and have his license revoked
- 19 percent say they respect Dr. Oz as a physician
- 3 percent think Dr. Oz should simply have his medical license revoked
Those who responded and believed that Dr. Oz should resign or have his license taken away suggested he had violated the Hippocratic oath of “First, do no harm” by hawking untested herbal concoctions in place of actual medical treatment.
“We are taught to first do no harm. Why on earth would Dr Oz sell himself for “Dr Oz” products that are not scientifically proven to be of any benefit? Yes, he has freedom of speech, however that freedom of speech is not in line with the good practice of medicine.”
Dr. Oz has repeatedly claimed that the first amendment protects his right to use his position as a medical professional to sell, as Cher once put it, “little bottles of Dr. Good” to a bunch of suckers looking for a quick and magical cure-all.
However, historically, fraud and con-artistry have not been protected by the speech clause of the first amendment. For example, a man named Xavier Alvarez once filed a lawsuit claiming that the Stolen Valor act–which prevents people from pretending to be war veterans–violated his freedom of speech. Because obviously the first amendment means people can say whatever they want, right? Not exactly, his case was swiftly dismissed by a judge.
Source: Pinterest
Personally, I consider what people like Dr. Oz do to be a form of fraud, and believe that fraud is exacerbated by the fact that he bolsters it with his medical license and position at Columbia. Perhaps it would be best for everyone if Dr. Oz’s credentials were revoked, and, much like psychics and other charlatans, he could continue to peddle his worthless goods with a “for entertainment purposes only” disclaimer.
However, there were those who supported Dr. Oz in the bunch. One pediatrician suggested that all the doctors who signed the letter demanding Oz’s resignation were doing it because they were in cahoots with evil groups bent on taking over the world and putting us all into FEMA camps or something.
“The letter…is actually quite chilling because it seems like a clumsy attempt to get us squawking amongst ourselves. Who are the sell-outs who signed that letter? What was their agenda since they don’t even work at Columbia? I found their connections to Big Tobacco and Monsanto very unsavory.”
As I have a general rule about ignoring any words following “Big” anything, I am going to side with the 81% percent of doctors who think Dr. Oz is a ridiculous and possibly dangerous person who should have his credentials revoked.
Original by Robyn Pennacchia
