Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity TV host, vigorously defended the medical advice he dispenses on his show, striking back on Thursday against physicians who called his faculty position at Columbia University unacceptable in an email to the school last week.
During an episode of his syndicated daytime talk program, The Dr. Oz Show, that was broadcast on Thursday, Dr. Oz said his critics were attacking his freedom of speech.
I vow to you right here and right now, we will not be silenced, he said.
Dr. Oz, who is the vice chairman of Columbia’s surgery department, also defended the advice he shares on his show.
My life’s work has been built around one simple message: You have a right and a responsibility to become a world expert on your own body, he said during the show, which was taped Tuesday. And the way you do that is by having access to the best, most current information; multiple points of view; and diverse opinions.
He said that he never promotes treatments or cures for his own financial gain.
Last week, 10 doctors sent an email to the university contending that Dr. Oz promoted quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain.
Dr. Oz attacked the credibility of the doctors who criticized him.
The show said that several of the doctors who signed the email have big ties to big industry. The show specifically highlighted Dr. Henry I. Miller, a fellow in scientific philosophy and public policy at the Hoover Institution, which is part of Stanford University, who sent the email, for his vocal support of genetically modified foods and connection to the American Council on Science and Health, a pro-industry lobbying group.
In an emailed statement, Dr. Miller said: My interest was and is solely to protect the academic respectability of a prominent medical institution. Dr. Oz’s record speaks for itself, and there is plenty of data which suggest that his medical judgment is questionable.
Dr. Oz, who used about half of the one-hour episode to address his critics in mostly general terms, summoned several guests to defend him. He also reiterated his position that genetically modified foods should be labeled.
In addition to defending himself on the show, Dr. Oz also wrote an opinion article on Time.com, published Thursday, in which he tried to explain his approach to medicine.
I don’t expect all of my colleagues to understand this marriage between conventional medicine and the broader definition of wellness that the show pursues, he wrote. I expect and respect the criticism of colleagues who struggle with my approach and I try to improve the show accordingly.