Over at Ethics Alarms, Jack Marshall is blogging about a recent British Medical Journal study of TV medical talk shows which found that, basically, Dr. Oz is talking out of his ass. Jack makes a good point, but this throw-away line caught my eye:
For some reason medical experts have waited over a decade to actually check out the snake oil Dr. Oz has been selling to credulous viewers…
That’s an interesting phenomenon that I’ve observed before. Many experts seem to be so thoroughly immersed in the framework of their fields that related quackery doesn’t seem relevant to what they do. I imagine it just seems so obviously wrong that they don’t even think of it as part of their field, which is why astronomers don’t spend much time debunking astrology and lawyers don’t feel the need to address the problems with redemption theory. I guess doctors don’t give much thought to TV medical advice because they don’t see it as relevant to the practice of medicine.
Medical experts have been calling Dr. Oz a quack since at least 2009. I think the problem is that, as long as Dr. Oz makes money for the TV network, then networks have a strong incentive to keep on going as if the criticisms never happened.
Yeah, that sounds about right. It’s pretty irresponsible.