President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday he had selected Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz, a well-known television celebrity doctor and surgeon, ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator as a Republican for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2022, losing to now-Senator Jon Fetterman, a Democrat.
Now the son of Turkish immigrants – who is estimated to be worth $200million will oversee health insurance programs that cover more than 150 million Americans.
Oz has been married to Lisa Lemole since 1985.
He is the latest surprise pick for a senior administration role and the latest TV personality alongside the Fox hosts Trump has chosen to run the Departments of Defense and Transportation.
As a frequent medical gust on the Oprah Winfrey show, Oz soon launched ‘The Dr. Oz Show,’ a daytime medical talk show that made him a recognized medical expert across the country.
But Oz ran into criticism in the established scientific community for some of his medical views.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Oz was criticized by federal government health officials for endorsing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the virus.
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz famously hosted then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 to reveal and discuss his recent physical health exam to prove he was fit to serve as President of the United States.
Critics of the segment derided the dubious nature of the program, as Oz read from a summary sheet about his health that Trump provided him.
Oz, however, may find a sympathetic figure in the administration with Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary for Health and Human Services.
Oz once featured RFK Jr. in a segment warning of the dangers of the preservative Thimerosal in some flu vaccines, which he argued included unsafe levels of mercury.
Mehmet Oz, TV celebrity and heart surgeon, campaigns for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022
Dr. Mehmet Oz and his wife Lisa
Mehmet Oz, who ran for the US Senate, speaks as former US President Donald Trump stands behind him
The CDC pushed back against concerns about Thimerosal, stating that thimerosal-containing vaccines were ‘safe and effective and do not represent a public health risk.’
Oz also endorsed a form of universal health care in 2020, proposing covering uninsured individuals through the Medicare advantage plan, which offers individuals government approved health care plans from a private company.
In 2013, Oz warned women against storing their cell phone in their bras, suggesting that it may cause breast cancer, derided as a ‘myth’ by the National Breast Cancer Association.
Oz also warned on his show about unsafe levels of arsenic found in apple juice, prompting the FDA to describe the report as ‘misleading’ and ‘irresponsible.’
Oz also promoted the use of green coffee bean weight loss pills, Raspberry ketone, and Garcinia cambogia to help lose weight, which prompted an investigation led by Senate Democrats, who questioned the dubious scientific evidence showing that they were effective.
Oz admitted during his testimony at the 2014 Senate hearing that he acted as a ‘cheerleader’ for his audience when promoting certain products.
‘When they don’t think they have hope, when they don’t think they can make it happen, I want to look, and I do look everywhere, including in alternative healing traditions, for any evidence that might be supportive to them,’ he said.
