Regarding the article “Dr. Oz calls Keystone State home as he ponders U.S. Senate bid”: As a retired medical writer who probably spent thousands of hours plowing through medical journals, I find the debate over Dr. Oz’s legal residence much less relevant than the fact that he has long used his professional credentials to advocate therapies that have not only been discredited but also debunked in clinical studies … you know, those lengthy reports where doctors treat and observe many patients, have the data reviewed by independent third parties, and publish the results.
Oz lost me when he would show up on his TV show dressed in scrubs; had he rushed out of the OR to do his program? If so, he should know that his scrubs might be infected and should be discarded. That would be like a high school girl showing up at a formal dance wearing her cheerleader outfit.
Oz’s behavior is similar to “Jeopardy!” host Mayim Bialik citing her doctorate in neuroscience to peddle so-called brain supplements that, if you squint really hard and read the fine print during the last seconds of the commercial, have not been evaluated by the FDA … you know, that pesky group that likes to read clinical studies before approving treatments.
If anyone is going to move to Pennsylvania to run for the Senate, why not Washington journalist Robert Costa? At least he has legitimate ties, having grown up mostly in Bucks County. And, unlike some recently elected senators, Costa surely already knows “how a bill becomes a law.”
Jim Vespe
Mamaroneck, N.Y.