Dr. Oz.Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Dr.Mehmet Ozstopped seeing patients years before his latest venture, a political campaign, but is still teaching at Columbia University.
But the school says this switch was made years ago.
A spokesman for the university confirms to PEOPLE that “Dr. Oz became special lecturer and professor emeritus in 2018. The title change reflects the fact that he has not been seeing patients since then, however, he still teaches at Columbia.”
Oz, 61, is also listed as a “Special Lecturer in the Department of Surgery” at Columbia.
A rep for Oz’s campaign did not respond to PEOPLE’s questions regarding the change in title.
In announcing his campaign, Oz drew heavily on his medical background, writing in an op-ed forThe Washington Examinerthat he wanted “to help fix the problems and to help us heal.”
Writing that theCOVID-19pandemic had ultimately led him to enter the Pennsylvania Senate race, Oz believed that many of the more-than 750,000 American COVID deaths were “preventable.”
He also echoed broader conservative sentiment about the flaws in policies to prevent infections.
“Dissenting opinions wrote leading scholars were ridiculed and canceled so their ideas could not be disseminated,” he wrote. “Instead, the government mandated policies that caused unnecessary suffering. The public was patronized and misled instead of empowered. We were told to lock down quietly and let those in charge take care of the rest.”
The Dr. Oz Show / Season 11.Sony Pictures Television
Oz became a nationally-known name withThe Dr. Oz Show, which launched in 2009 after he made a name for himself as a frequent guest onTheOprah WinfreyShow.
While it helped propel the cardiothoracic surgeon’s television career, the show also proved controversial, and Oz has been accused ofpromoting unproven medical treatmentsand making false or misleading scientific claims in the years since it has been on the air. (In response toaNew York Timesarticle last yeardetailing some of the issues, his campaign said he went against the “established grain” but was focused on his patients. Oz himself has said he tries to reach the audience where they are and “empower “them.)
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Last month, Sony confirmed thatThe Dr. Oz Showwould come to an end in January, amid the host’s Senate run (according to the Federal Communications Commission, candidates running for office must receive equal airtime, which made his show a potential problem).
source: people.com
