The Dr. Oz Show may be popular among viewers, but it does not mean it gives credible and evidence-backed medical advice. A new study found that some of the claims given in this show contradict scientific evidence.
Christina Korownyk, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Alberta, and colleagues wanted to determine the quality of medical advice and claims made on popular medical TV shows, so they randomly chose 40 episodes each of The Dr. Oz Show and The Doctors from January to May 2013.
The researchers, along with a team of experienced evidence reviewers, evaluated the advice given on each of these 80 episodes for their scientific accuracy, comparing them with evidence provided by published studies.
Korownyk and colleagues found that only 46 percent of the claims made on The Dr. Oz Show were supported by evidence, 39 percent had no supporting evidence and 15 percent contradict scientific evidence. Advice given on The Doctors appeared more credible as 63 percent of the show's recommendations were verified, 24 percent had no evidence and 14 percent contradicted scientific evidence.
Based on the results, the researchers said that viewers should be cautious of the recommendations given on medical TV shows because a large chunk of their advice either contradicts medical evidence or does not have any evidence to support the claims at all.
"Approximately half of the recommendations have either no evidence or are contradicted by the best available evidence," the researchers wrote. "Potential conflicts of interest are rarely addressed. The public should be skeptical about recommendations made on medical talk shows."
It is not the first time that questions have been raised on the credibility of medical talk shows. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has aggressively promoted miracle weight loss products, such as a green coffee extract and raspberry supplements, on his show, appeared in a Senate subcommittee hearing on false advertising in June earlier this year and was interrogated by Sen. Claire McCaskill about the claims he makes on his show.
Members of The Dr. Oz Show told Time that the TV show strives to challenge conventional wisdom and question the status quo, among others.
"The observation that some of the topics discussed on the show may differ from popular opinion or various academic analyses affirms that we are furthering a constructive dialogue about health and wellness," they said.
