Dr. Oz Fires Back at Accusation That He’s Shilling for NFL
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Dr. Mehmet Oz is firing back at charges he’s shilling for the NFL at a time when the country’s richest, most powerful sports league is struggling with medical, legal and image problems from the player-concussion issue.
The host of the syndicated “Dr. Oz Show” described as “unfair” a Los Angeles Times column accusing him of “shamelessly shilling for the NFL.” The column, written by Michael Hiltzik, was a response to a 30-second spot aired during football games over the weekend. Part of a campaign in which celebrities and others discuss their connection to football, Dr. Oz, a former high school and college football player, describes football as a “rite of passage” that helped his teen son Oliver “grow up.” He recalls his pride when the announcer called his son’s first game tackle.
Mr. Hiltzik, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote it was a new low for Dr. Oz to endorse the NFL without adding a “cautionary disclaimer” on the risk from traumatic head injuries. Just how blistering the column was becomes clear in the lead paragraph: “Medical experts realized long ago that there’s no point in guessing how low Dr. Mehmet Oz will sink in pushing patent cures, fad diets and unproven health “miracles” on his Oprah-produced TV show. But his appearance this weekend in an NFL promotional campaign looks like some sort of a milestone.”
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