Doctors Blast Oz Over Fetterman Stroke Comments

Mehmet Oz, MD, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, is facing backlash — notably from a group of Pennsylvania physicians — after he said that his opponent, John Fetterman (D), probably wouldn’t have had a stroke earlier this year if he had “ever eaten a vegetable in his life.”

The celebrity doctor, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, made the comment after an old campaign video showing him buying ingredients for a vegetable crudité became the subject of ridicule on Twitter. Fetterman’s campaign joined in on the joke, tweeting that “in PA, we call this a veggie tray.”

“If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly,” Rachel Tripp, Oz’s senior communications advisor, told Business Insider in response to Fetterman’s tweet.

Fetterman, who currently serves as the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, had a stroke in May, which kept him off the campaign trail until earlier this month. During his recovery, Fetterman’s campaign revealed that he had been dealing with serious heart conditions including cardiomyopathy, according to a report from the Washington Post.

“I know politics can be nasty, but even then, I could *never* imagine ridiculing someone for their health challenges,” Fetterman wrote on Twitter.

A group of 100 physicians associated with the organization Real Doctors Against Oz condemned Oz following his comments about Fetterman, drawing attention to the ways he spread misinformation on his TV show.

“As a former daytime TV host, Dr. Oz exploited the hopes and fears of his viewers by promoting unproven, ill-advised, and at times potentially dangerous treatments,” the organization said in a statement to Business Insider. “He has made clear that he will put enriching himself above all else, even in instances where people’s health is endangered.”

Real Doctors Against Oz launched earlier this month, with a goal of denouncing Oz’s “history of peddling debunked supplements, dangerous fad diets, and fake miracle cures,” as well as condemning his ties to the pharmaceutical industry and support for Republican candidates who want to ban abortion in Pennsylvania. The organization has attempted to draw support for Fetterman’s campaign.

“Oz simply isn’t trusted by real medical professionals,” said Valerie Arkoosh, MD, a member of Real Doctors Against Oz, at a press conference in early August that was organized by the Fetterman campaign. Arkoosh, who is also the chair of the Montgomery Board of Commissioners, recently ended her own campaign for U.S. Senate.

“No real doctor — or any decent human being, to be honest — would ever mock a stroke victim who is recovering from that stroke in the way that Dr. Oz is mocking John Fetterman,” Arkoosh said. “It’s disgusting.”

In their recent statement, Real Doctors Against Oz highlighted years of dubious medical claims pushed by Oz, citing a Health News Review analysis that found that approximately 78% of the claims he made on his TV show were not supported by evidence-based medical guidance.

Oz had previously testified before Congress during a hearing on false advertising in the diet and weight-loss industry about statements he made on “The Dr. Oz Show” promoting green coffee bean extract as a “miracle pill” for weight loss. He also spread misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, touting hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the disease, despite evidence showing it had no benefit.

Columbia University, which previously employed Oz as part of its medical faculty, cut ties with the celebrity doctor in April of this year.