Fact-checking doctors give TV’s ‘Dr. Oz’ a poor grade

What do real-world doctors have to say about the advice dispensed on “The Dr. Oz Show”? Less than one-third of it can be backed up by even modest medical evidence.

If that sounds alarming, consider this: Nearly 4 in 10 of the assertions made on the show appear to be made on the basis of no evidence at all.

The researchers who fact-checked Dr. Mehmet Oz and his on-air guests were able to find legitimate studies related to 11 percent of the recommendations made on the show.

“Consumers should be skeptical about any recommendations provided on television medical talk shows,” the researchers wrote in a study published this week in BMJ. “Viewers need to realize that the recommendations may not be supported by higher evidence or presented with enough balanced information to adequately inform decision making.”

Critics of Oz, an accomplished cardiac surgeon with degrees from two Ivy League universities, complain that his show is little more than an hourlong infomercial for weight-loss fads like green coffee bean extract. (The Federal Trade Commission has sued the company that hawks this dubious product.) A large group of physicians, pharmacists and other researchers from Canada focused on “Dr. Oz” and “The Doctors,” another daily talk show that averages 2.3 million viewers per day. Members of the research team watched 40 episodes of each show, which were randomly selected among all the episodes that aired in the first five months of 2013.

They found that 32 percent of the 479 recommendations made on “The Dr. Oz Show,” either by the host or his guests, fell under the heading of “general medical advice.” Another 25 percent of the claims were about diet (i.e., foods that boost the immune system) and 18 percent were about weight loss.

On “The Doctors,” 66 percent of the 445 recommendations were about “general medical advice.”

Among all of these recommendations, the researchers randomly selected 80 from each show and looked to see what evidence, if any, could back them up. “In an attempt to be as fair as possible” to the shows, they wrote, they “used a relatively broad definition of support.”

And yet only 21 percent of the recommendations on “The Dr. Oz Show” could be supported by what the researchers considered “believable” evidence. Another 11 percent were supported by “somewhat believable” evidence.

The recommendations made on “The Doctors” were more credible – 32.5 percent were supported by “believable” evidence and another 20 percent were backed by “somewhat believable” evidence, the researchers found.