Mehmet Oz

Mehmet Oz

Mehmet Oz at the 2010 Time 100 Gala
Born Mehmet Cengiz Öz
June 11, 1960 (1960-06-11) (age 51)
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Nationality American-Turkish
Occupation Cardiac surgeon, talk show host, author
Years active 2002–present
Spouse Lisa Oz (1985–present)
Website
http://www.doctoroz.com

Mehmet Cengiz Oz (Turkish: Öz, pronounced [ˈøz], born June 11, 1960), also known as Dr. Oz, is a Turkish-American cardiothoracic surgeon, author, and host of The Dr. Oz Show, a daily television program focusing on medical issues/personal health.

Oz first appeared on the The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2004, and later on Larry King Live and other TV programs. In 2009, Winfrey's Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures launched The Dr. Oz Show.[1]

Contents

Early life

Mehmet Oz was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Suna and Mustafa Öz who had emigrated from Konya Province, Turkey.[2][3] Mustafa Öz was born in Bozkır, a small town in central Turkey. Mustafa Öz earned scholarships that allowed him to emigrate to the United States as a medical resident in 1955. Suna Öz (née Atabay) who comes from a wealthy İstanbul family is the daughter of a pharmacist with Shapsug descent on her mother's side.[4][3]

Oz was educated at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1982 he received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University.[5] In 1986 he obtained a joint MD and MBA degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The Wharton School.[6] He was awarded the Captain’s Athletic Award for leadership in college[7] and was Class President followed by President of the Student Body during medical school.[8]

Career

Oz has been a professor at the department of Surgery at Columbia University since 2001.[9] He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.[10] His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, and health care policy. With his collaborators, he has authored over 400 research papers, book chapters and medical books and has received several patents. He performs around 250 heart operations annually.[11]

Oz is the founder and chairman of HealthCorps, a non-profit organization that pays a small stipend to recent college graduates to spend two years in high schools mentoring students about health, nutrition, and fitness.

In 2009, Oz joined Jeffrey T. Arnold (founder of WebMD) as co-founder of Sharecare, Inc.,[12] providing an interactive QA platform that allows industry experts to answer health-related questions.[13]

Television, radio and movies

Oz appeared as a health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show for five seasons.[14] On the show, he addressed issues like diabetes[15] and promoted resveratrol supplements,[16] which he claimed were anti-aging. His Transplant! television series won both a Freddie[17] and a Silver Telly award.[18] He has appeared on Good Morning America, the Today show, Larry King Live and The View, as well as guest-hosting the Charlie Rose show. In addition, he served as medical director of Denzel Washington’s John Q.[19] He currently hosts The Dr. Oz Show on television and a talk show on Sirius XM Radio.[3] In January 2011, Oz premiered as part of a weekly show on the Oprah Winfrey Network called "Oprah's Allstars". In each episode, he, Suze Orman and Dr. Phil answer various questions about life, health and finance.

Author

Oz authored six New York Times best sellers including YOU: The Owner’s Manual, YOU: The Smart Patient,YOU: On a Diet, YOU: Staying Young, YOU: Being Beautiful as well as the award winning Healing from the Heart. His new book, YOU: Having a Baby, was published by Free Press on December 1, 2009. He has a regular column in Esquire magazine and O, The Oprah Magazine and his article “Retool, Reboot, and Rebuild” was awarded the 2009 National Magazine Award for Personal Service.[20]

Awards and honors

Time magazine ranked Oz 44th on its list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2008[21] and Esquire magazine placed him on its list of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century.[22] He was called a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum[3] and one of “The Harvard 100 Most Influential Alumni” by 02138 magazine.[23] He won the Gross Surgical Research Scholarship.[23] He was listed in “Doctors of the Year” by Hippocrates magazine and in “Healers of the Millennium” by Healthy Living magazine.[24] Oz is annually listed in the Castle Connolly Guide of the top United States doctors,[25] as well as other ranking groups.

Other awards and honors include:

Personal life

Oz lives in Cliffside Park, New Jersey with his wife Lisa.[29] They have been married since 1985[30] and have four children. The second names of his children are Turkish: Daphne Nur, Arabella Sezen, Zoe Yasemin and Oliver Mustafa.

Oz is fluent in both English and Turkish.[31] He is a holder of both Turkish and American citizenship, having served in the Turkish Army to retain his Turkish citizenship.[32]

His father's family believes in the integration of Islam and government; his mother's family are secular Muslims. He has been influenced by the mysticism of Sufi Muslims,[33] as well as the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, the Swedish scientist, philosopher, and Christian theologian.[34] He recently wrote in Spirituality and Health Magazine that "As I came into contact with Swedenborg's many writings, I began to understand Swedenborg's profound insights and how they applied directly to my life". He mentions Swedenborg's ideas that marriage lasts to eternity, everyone has a purpose in this world, God is love, and Swedenborg's answers to "Why do bad things happen?".[35]

Oz is a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation. "When I meditate, I go to that place where truth lives," he said. "I can see what reality really is, and it is so much easier to form good relationships then."[36]

Health

In August 2010, Oz was diagnosed with a pre-cancerous polyp in the colon during a routine colonoscopy[37] which was performed as part of his show. Oz said that the procedure likely saved his life.[38]

Controversy

Arsenic in apple juice

In September 2011, Oz drew criticism for a show focusing on the dangers of arsenic in apple juice. After learning about possible contaminants in apple juice in America, Oz's medical unit investigated arsenic levels in popular juice brands. Oz hired an independent toxicology laboratory, EMSL, and found arsenic levels in some samples to be above the limit U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows in drinking water.[39] A school district took apple juice off its menu after the show.[40] The FDA said "there is currently no evidence to suggest a public health risk"; something Dr. Oz had previously disclaimed.[41][42][43][44]

RealAge drug marketing

Oz is a spokesman and advisor for the website RealAge.com, which The New York Times has criticized for its pharmaceutical marketing practices. The site solicits medical information from visitors to determine a visitor’s biological age and then uses the visitor's medical profile for pharmaceutical marketing purposes. As The Times reporter explained the significance of this fact: "While few people would fill out a detailed questionnaire about their health and hand it over to a drug company looking for suggestions for new medications, that is essentially what RealAge is doing."[45]

Integrative medicine

Oz is a supporter of integrative medicine, combining alternative therapies with conventional medical treatments.[2] Some conventional medical practitioners allege that Oz is promoting unproven and harmful alternative medicine practices on The Oprah Winfrey Show[46] and elsewhere.[47][48][49] Oz, however has stated that these cures are merely to be considered, and are not to be used as replacements for conventional medicine, which he says is sometimes the best option. In an interview with O: The Oprah Magazine, Oz described homeopathy to be "worth considering" as an adjunct therapy for headaches,[50] despite the fact that there are no homeopathic remedies approved by the Food and Drug Administration for relieving headaches or any other condition,[51] and that there is no reliable evidence homeopathy is anything more than a placebo effect.[52]

Books and publications

Television shows

References

  1. ^ Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television To Launch Dr. Oz, Oprah.com, June 13, 2008.
  2. ^ a b Zak, Lana (2009-08-31). "Dr. Oz on Complementary Medicine: 'Challenge the Status Quo'". Good Morning America. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=8450292. Retrieved 2009-10-12. 
  3. ^ a b c d "Faces of America: Dr. Mehmet Oz", PBS, Faces of America series, with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2010.
  4. ^ "Dr. Mehmet Öz’ün Düzce’ye uzanan soyağacı". Jineps. 2011-01-01. http://jinepsgazetesi.com/index.php?module=news&news_id=11655&cat_id=106. Retrieved 2011-09-17. 
  5. ^ "EXECUTIVE PROFILE: Mehmet C. Oz M.D". Business Week. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=7641721&privcapId=79086309&previousCapId=29249600&previousTitle=The%20Cue%20Ball%20Group,%20LLC. Retrieved January 12, 2011. 
  6. ^ Ratner, Lizzy (2007-08-14). "The Great and Powerful Dr. Oz". New York Observer. http://www.nyobserver.com/2007/great-and-powerful-dr-oz. Retrieved 2007-09-24. 
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ "Dr Oz – The Dr Oz Show – Dr Mehmet Oz - About.com". Talkshows.about.com. http://www.talkshows.about.com/od/thedrozshow/p/DrOzBio.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  9. ^ "Mehmet C. Oz, MD, FACS - Department of Surgery". Asp.cumc.columbia.edu. http://asp.cumc.columbia.edu/facdb/profile_list.asp?uni=mco2&DepAffil=Surgery. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  10. ^ "Mehmet Oz | Professor, Columbia University". Big Think. http://bigthink.com/mehmetoz. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  11. ^ "Dr. Mehmet Oz, Heart Surgeon with a Big Heart". Theturkishtimes.com. 2003-01-09. http://www.theturkishtimes.com/archive/03/0503/f-oz.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  12. ^ "Sharecare, Inc.". Businessweek.com. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=79086309. Retrieved 2011-04-01. 
  13. ^ "Names You Need To Know In 2011: Sharecare". Forbes.com. 2010-11-16. http://blogs.forbes.com/zinamoukheiber/2010/11/16/names-you-need-to-know-in-2011-sharecare/. Retrieved 2011-04-01. 
  14. ^ "Live your best Life". Oprah.com. http://www.oprah.com/contributor/dr-mehmet-oz. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  15. ^ "Oprah Winfrey takes on a killer: type 2 diabetes". USA Today. 4 February 2010. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-02-04-Oprahdiabetes04_ST_N.htm. Retrieved 12 January 2011. 
  16. ^ Smillie, Dirk (16 June 2009). "A Headache For Dr. Oz". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/15/mehmet-oz-oprah-business-media-resveratrol.html. 
  17. ^ "The FREDDIE Awards". Thefreddies.com. http://www.thefreddies.com/Awards/Results.aspx?CategoryId=17&Year=2006. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  18. ^ "The 31st Annual TELLY Awards | Winners". Tellyawards.com. http://www.tellyawards.com/winners/list/?l=L&event=7&category=1&award=S. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  19. ^ [2]
  20. ^ "American Society of Magazine Editors - 2010 National Magazine Awards Winners Announced!". Magazine.org. 2010-04-22. http://www.magazine.org/asme/magazine_awards/nma_winners. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  21. ^ "The 2008 Time 100". Time. 2009-04-30. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733754_1735329,00.html. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
  22. ^ Five, Column (2008-09-16). "Influential People - 21st Century". Esquire. http://www.esquire.com/features/most-influential-21st-century-1008. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  23. ^ a b "Listing". Neco.org. http://neco.org/profileList.php?list=o. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  24. ^ a b c d e "Mehmet Oz Biography". tvguide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/mehmet-oz/bio/215510. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  25. ^ "Doctor Listings". Castleconnolly.com. http://www.castleconnolly.com/doctors/index.cfm. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  26. ^ "Welcome to The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre". Rissc.jo. http://www.rissc.jo/. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  27. ^ "Which Celebrities Can You Trust?". E-Score Celebrity: Ranked by Attribute “Trustworthy”. 2010-09-10. http://blog.epollresearch.com/2010/09/23/which-celebrities-can-you-trust/. Retrieved 2011-11-12. 
  28. ^ Mestel, Rosie (April 1, 2011). "Dr. Oz, Andrew Wakefield and others, um, 'honored' by James Randi". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-dr-oz-andrew-wakefield-james-randi-awards-20110401,0,3573991.story. Retrieved April 2, 2011. 
  29. ^ Bruni, Frank. "Dr. Does-It-All", The New York Times, April 16, 2010. Accessed March 22, 2011. "That is his base line, to which he adds more yoga, short runs and basketball games with friends near his home in Cliffside Park, N.J., when he can."
  30. ^ Married on July 29, 1985 in Bryn Athyn, PA - New Church Life, 1985, p. 430.
  31. ^ "The Wizard of Dr Oz - talkturkey". Talkturkey.us. 2009-07-19. http://www.talkturkey.us/2009/07/the-wizard-of-dr-oz.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  32. ^ Brown, Chip (1995-07-30). "The Experiments of Dr. Oz". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/30/magazine/the-experiments-of-dr-oz.html?pagewanted=3. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
  33. ^ "Henry Louis Gates Jr. Faces of America: Dr. Mehmet Oz". Theroot.com. 2010-08-19. http://www.theroot.com/multimedia/meet-faces-america-dr-mehmet-oz. Retrieved 2010-08-28. 
  34. ^ Gardner, Martin (2010) Swedenborg and Dr. Oz. Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 34, no. 5. [3]
  35. ^ "Spirituality & Health: Mehmet Oz Finds His Teacher". Spirituality-health.com. http://www.spirituality-health.com/NMagazine/articles.php?id=1768. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  36. ^ Skube, Daneen. "Become a wizard of multitasking!". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/tribu/ct-tribu-skube-multitasking,0,5213589.column. 
  37. ^ "Dr. Oz 'high risk' after cancer scare". USAToday.com. 2010-09-01. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/09/dr-oz-high-risk-after-cancer-scare/1. Retrieved 2010-10-18. 
  38. ^ Triggs, Charlotte (2010-09-01). "Dr. Oz Has Colon Cancer Scare". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20417551,00.html. Retrieved 2010-11-30. 
  39. ^ Arsenic in apple juice - Dr Oz's extensive national investigation
  40. ^ School District Pulls Apple Juice from Menu after Dr. Oz Report on Arsenic (Medical Daily, Sept. 15, 2011
  41. ^ Apple juice safe despite arsenic, FDA tells Dr. Oz (CBS News, Sept. 15, 2011)
  42. ^ FDA Slams 'Dr. Oz' for Apple Juice Report (MedPage Today, Sept. 15, 2011)
  43. ^ Apple Juice Showdown: Dr. Oz Arsenic Claim Questioned by Dr. Besser (ABC News, Sept. 15, 2011)
  44. ^ http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-oz-answers-your-questions-about-arsenic-apple-juice
  45. ^ Stephanie Clifford, "Online Age Quiz Is a Window for Drug Makers", The New York Times. March 25, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/technology/internet/26privacy.html
  46. ^ "The Oprah-fication of medicine". Science-Based Medicine. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=497#more-497. Retrieved 2010-08-28. 
  47. ^ "Senator Tom Harkin: NCCAM and inviting the Four Horsemen of the Woo-pocalypse into the Senate: Respectful Insolence". Scienceblogs.com. http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/03/senator_tom_harkin.php. Retrieved 2010-08-28. 
  48. ^ "You. You. Who are you calling a You You?". Science-Based Medicine. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3370. Retrieved 2010-08-28. 
  49. ^ "David & Goliath: A Dramatic Role Reversal Spurred On By The Media". Science-Based Medicine. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2033#more-2033. Retrieved 2010-08-28. 
  50. ^ "Dr. Oz Recommends Homeopathy in Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine". Homeopathyresource.wordpress.com. 2009-10-27. http://homeopathyresource.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/dr-oz-recommends-homeopathy-in-oprah-winfreys-o-magazine/. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  51. ^ "Homeopathy: The Ultimate Fake". Quackwatch.org. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  52. ^ "Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy". UK Parliament. 2010-02-22. http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-archive/science-technology/s-t-homeopathy-inquiry/. Retrieved 2011-12-26. 

External links