- Dr. Mehmet Oz has been nominated by President Donald Trump to lead U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- During his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee, Oz touted his accomplishments as a doctor and on TV.
- Oz's TV show ran from 2009-2022 and during that time he faced controversy for the treatments and products he promoted on the show.
Mehmet Oz, celebrity doctor and TV personality, went in front of a Senate committee Friday for a confirmation hearing after being nominated by President Donald Trump to lead U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz, known as Dr. Oz, is a cardiothoracic surgeon who became famous through his popular daytime TV show. He is expected to secure confirmation by the whole Senate, according to The New York Times.
The hearing for Oz, 64, comes as the Trump administration and Republicans are considering significant changes that would impact millions of people. These possible changes include major reductions in health insurance for low-income people and a shift toward private plans for older Americans.
According to ABC, during Oz’s opening statement to the Senate Finance Committee, he touted his accomplishments both as a physician and TV host. He shared that if confirmed, his goals for the position would deal with transparency and eliminating waste.
“We have a generational opportunity to fix our health care system and help people stay healthy for longer,” he said Friday.
Criticism for Oz began early in the hearing, as Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the committee’s ranking member, called him out during his introduction, pointing out questionable comments and actions from his past.
Who is Mehmet Oz?
Oz received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and earned his medical degree as well as an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, according to Time.
After completing his residency at Columbia University, he remained there and joined the faculty. The rest of his medical career was spent at Columbia.
As a skilled heart transplant surgeon, Oz began gaining notoriety for his unorthodox opinions on medical treatment, such as allowing patients to receive spiritual and massage interventions to assist in recovery, per Time.
Oz was comfortable in the spotlight and after gaining fame from appearances on “Oprah,” he started his own talk show focusing on health issues. “The Dr. Oz Show” ran from 2009 to 2022.
On his show, “Oz built on his medical knowledge and engaging way of communicating to discuss everything from how to keep hearts healthy to good nutrition and trendy supplements,” according to Time.
Along with his longtime collaborator Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer at Cleveland Clinic, Oz has written a series of bestselling health books. The two physicians also write a regular column that is syndicated by dozens of newspapers. If confirmed, Oz said he will give up the column.
Years of controversy around Dr. Oz
Throughout the run of Oz’s show, which aired five days a week, controversy began to swirl around Oz and the show itself. The show began promoting products and health remedies it had received endorsement fees for, per Time.
Later, an analysis from the British Medical Journal in 2014 concluded that less than half of the health advice given by Oz during his show was backed by scientific evidence.
This criticism led to Oz testifying at a Senate committee hearing on false advertising by diet and weight-loss companies in 2014. Oz testified about weight-loss products he spoke about on the show, and during the hearing he was criticized for using his popularity and fame to promote unproven treatments and products, according to Time.
Oz has also been accused of violating advertising policies and colleagues have questioned the blurry line separating Oz’s medical advice and endorsements, per Time.
Democrats claim Mehmet Oz has underpaid Medicare and Social Security taxes
Democratic staffers of the Senate Finance Committee put together a memo that says Oz significantly underpaid Medicare and Social Security taxes.
According to NBC, the memo outlined Oz’s tax returns from 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it revealed that in 2023 Oz paid no Medicare or Social Security taxes, and in 2022 he paid “negligible” amounts. The review alleges that Oz underpaid his “SECA” taxes from income through Oz Property Holdings LLC, his media entity. SECA taxes are a tax on earnings from self-employment.
These Democratic committee staff members reported that overall, Oz underpaid Medicare and Social Security taxes by around $440,000, per NBC. The staffers met with Oz and his accountant, asking the doctor to amend his tax returns to include Oz Property Holdings LLC in his SECA taxes.
Oz argued that the tax didn’t apply to him because he was a “limited partner” in the LLC.
