Dr. Oz is America’s trusted television doctor. Though his expertise is cardiac surgery, the Dr. Oz Show covers myriad subjects and tops ratings, with millions tuning in daily to heed his advice. The man has charisma on his side; his demographic is composed largely of adoring women and young mothers. Though mainstream media has slammed him for espousing anti-science views, Oz continues to promote non evidence-based health advice. He’s truly earned the “Snake Oil Salesman” title, and continues to uphold the quackery that led to the label. Indeed, a recent study found that about half of the medical advice on the Dr. Oz show is baseless or downright wrong.

In addition to baseless medical advice, Oz instills fear of genetically-engineered foods, though the world’s leading scientific organizations agree that GE techniques are inherently safe.

On his March 10th episode, Dr. Oz aired a segment on the Arctic Apple. The United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration recently approved and deregulated the genetically engineered apple after years of field testing. Engineered with an enzyme “off-switch” using a technique called “RNA interference,” Arctic Apples don’t brown or bruise when cut, bitten, or bumped. The television doctor treated the topic with his usual anti-GE sentiment. I’m a 32-year-old mom of two, and I fit solidly into Dr. Oz’s target audience. But I’m not biting when it comes to his take on Arctic Apples, or most of his drivel in general.

I took one for the team and watched that episode, titled ““The Non-Browning GMO Apple: Is It Safe?” I then co-authored a piece on the episode for Slate (check out the comments, lots of positive ones as well as a few typical cases of Shill Accusation Syndrome.) Following the relative success of our article, “Low-Hanging Fruit: Dr. Oz sows seeds of mistrust on genetic engineering” my co-author Dr. Henry Miller coordinated a letter from himself and fellow esteemed physicians to the dean of the medical school at Columbia University. Dr. Mehmet Oz holds a senior appointment there in the Department of Surgery.

The letter reads as follows:

Lee Goldman, M.D.

Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine

Columbia University Dear Dr. Goldman: I am writing to you on behalf of myself and the undersigned colleagues below, all of whom are distinguished physicians. We are surprised and dismayed that Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons would permit Dr. Mehmet Oz to occupy a faculty appointment, let alone a senior administrative position in the Department of Surgery. As described here and here, as well as in other publications, Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine, as well as baseless and relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops. Worst of all, he has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain. Thus, Dr. Oz is guilty of either outrageous conflicts of interest or flawed judgements about what constitutes appropriate medical treatments, or both. Whatever the nature of his pathology, members of the public are being misled and endangered, which makes Dr. Oz’s presence on the faculty of a prestigious medical institution unacceptable. Sincerely yours, Henry I. Miller, M.D.

Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy

& Public Policy

Hoover Institution

Stanford University

Stanford, CA Scott W. Atlas, M.D.

David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow

Hoover Institution

Stanford University

Stanford, CA Jack Fisher, M.D.

Professor of Surgery (emeritus)

University of California, San Diego

La Jolla, CA Shelley Fleet, M.D.

Anesthesiologist

Longwood, FL Gordon N. Gill, M.D.

Dean (emeritus) of Translational Medicine

University of California, San Diego

La Jolla, CA Michael H. Mellon, M.D.

Pediatric Allergist

San Diego, CA Gilbert Ross, M.D.

President (Acting) and Executive Director

American Council on Science and Health

New York, NY Samuel Schneider, M.D.

Psychiatrist

Princeton, NJ Glenn Swogger Jr. M.D.

Director of the Will Menninger Center for Applied Behavioral Sciences (retired)

The Menninger Foundation

Topeka, KS Joel E. Tepper, M.D.

Hector MacLean Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research

Dept of Radiation Oncology

University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Chapel Hill, NC