Dr. Oz – the popular TV host and top heart surgeon hailed by Oprah Winfrey as "America’s Doctor" – is not so wonderful!!
That’s the diagnosis of health experts who have branded the TV doctor a "quack" for his enthusiastic support of New Age alternative medicine remedies such as energy therapy and hands-on Reiki healing.!
Those unconventional treatments are unscientific and in certain circumstances could even be harmful, some doctors warn The ENQUIRER!
"One part of Dr. Oz is highly rational and scientific, but I think he’s also loaded with near-delusional ideas and gives some very bad advice," said Dr. Stephen Barrett, a North Carolina-based psychiatrist who is vice president of the National Council Against Health Fraud, and co-author of The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America.
"The bottom line for me is that he does more harm than good for American health."
Dr. Mehmet Oz is a witty and energetic 49-year-old New York City cardiac surgeon who has quickly moved from making health related appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show to hosting his own syndicated medical show.
Despite his background as one of the country’s leading heart surgeons and director of the Cardiovascular Institute at New York Presbyterian Hospital, he frequently promotes Eastern medicine. His wife Lisa is a certified Reiki Master and energy-healing specialist.
His free-thinking alternative approach was highlighted on Oprah’s show last year when he said: "We are beings of energy – beings of light. The next frontier in medicine is energy medicine – how energy influences how we feel."
But one leading expert blasts "energy medicine" as unscientific.
"So-called energy medicine is pure quackery," declared Dr. David Gorski, surgeon and Associate Professor of Surgery at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Mich.
"Even the Catholic Church has recognized that fact. Recently the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declared that Reiki therapy is not compatible with Catholic beliefs and should not be supported or promoted in health care facilities.
Dr. Steven Novella, a Yale University neurologist and president and co-founder of the New England Skeptical Society, criticizes Dr. Oz’s health advice for being unproven.
"Despite his compelling stories and feel-good philosophy, I believe Dr. Oz is advocating that doctors use treatments based upon sloppy reasoning and poor evidence," he said.
Another expert called Dr. Oz a showman who oversimplifies complicated medical issues.
"Dr. Oz promotes unproven approaches such as Reiki and Therapeutic Touch, and to support them he cherry-picks studies that are positive and ignores the negative ones," Dr. Mary Ann Malloy, a nationally known Illinois-based cardiologist, told The ENQUIRER.
But not every expert contacted by The ENQUIRERt hought Dr. Oz was misguided.
"I like what Dr. Oz is doing and I agree with it," stated Dr. Ernie Bodai, a leading breast cancer surgeon.
"If a patient wants these kinds of complementary treatments, I think a doctor is right to utilize them – as long as they are used as an addition to standard medical treatments rather than a replacement."
