DUH? –
Oct. 21, 2022 – Oct. 21, 2022 – Oz hasn’t put forth a program and has clearly stated that he is against expanding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that has paid for and/or subsidized 35 million people who needed health insurance. In fact, he now states that he would not have voted in favor of the ACA at all. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about people with substance use disorder, but he hasn’t told us what he would do to address this key connection between health insurance and substance abuse treatment. He sticks to general statements on the need for rehab and about going after the drug cartels, which is what politicians have said since Nixon launched the “war on drugs” in 1971. Just as importantly, Oz has a long and troubling history of promoting vitamins, supplements, and foods to address other serious health conditions, when there is little or no evidence to support them. For example, he promoted selenium supplements — a mineral found in foods such as Brazil nuts — in 2012, calling them the “holy grail of cancer prevention.” Several medical reviews, including by the National Institutes of Health, said there’s no evidence that selenium could stop cancer. A research study reported that evidence supported less than half of Oz’s TV show recommendations (https://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7346).
