The Dr. Oz Show and "The Doctors" may not be as accurate as you think

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It seems that most doctors these days cannot go a day without having patients mention Dr. Oz or The Doctors TV show.  Patients will often tell their doctors that they read about a specific test or treatment on one of these shows and would now like to try them.  This can sometimes lead to frustration for the patient and the doctor.  The question is, are these shows correct in their medical recommendations?

The British Medical Journal just released a study that looked at claims made by The Dr. Oz Show and The Doctors.  They randomly selected 40 episodes of each show and evaluated all of the recommendations made in these episodes.  They found that there was evidence for only 54% of the 160 total recommendations in medical literature.  On The Dr. Oz Show, there was no evidence for 39% of claims and 15% of the claims were actually the OPPOSITE of true medical recommendations.  On The Doctors, 63% of the recommendations were supported by medical literature and 14% of the recommendations were again opposite of medical standards.

If those numbers aren't shocking enough, there is one more important number.  The study found that "Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest accompanied 0.4% of recommendations."  This number indicates the honesty of these shows in promoting products that they are affiliated with.  For instance, if Dr. Oz is promoting a new type of herbal tea for weight loss and he is the spokesperson for that tea, he should be disclosing this information.  However, only in 0.4% of the cases was this ever disclosed.  In fact, Dr. Oz was summoned by Congress for his promotion of the green coffee bean diet for these very reasons.

Health is a very sensitive topic because it can be a roller coaster of emotions.  Patients go to their doctors and ask for advice under the assumption that their advice is based on at least some type of evidence.  Often times a doctor may make a recommendation and may tell the patient that there is not enough evidence for this yet but that isolated cases have shown positive results.  This is perfectly acceptable because not every recommendation has a large number of studies to back it up.  However, making claims on national television that are not supported or are at times completely incorrect is unethical.  Be an advocate for your health and form a trustworthy relationship with your doctor.  They would be happy to answer your questions and work with you.  The doctor-patient relationship is a sacred one, not one that can be had with a television set.  So the next time you watch one of these shows, do your own research or ask a doctor with an unbiased opinion.  It may save you a few bucks, and your life!