Dr. Mehmet Oz says he won’t be silenced by a group of doctors who question his ethics and object to his faculty position at Columbia University.
The doctors sent an email to the university last week attacking Oz, the celebrity host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” for pushing “quack treatments” for personal financial gain and for “baseless and relentless” opposition to the genetic engineering of food.
At a taping of the show on Tuesday, Oz said: “I vow to you right here and right now: We will not be silenced. We will not give in.”
“These doctors are criticizing me for promoting treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain, something I tell you every day on this program I never do,” he said. The full response will air on Thursday.
Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon who is vice chairman of the surgery department at Columbia, has pushed for the labeling of genetically modified foods.
“I’ve long believed that doctors should never fight their battles or each other in public, but now I believe I must,” he said at the taping on Tuesday.
The doctors who have criticized Oz are not affiliated with Columbia. The university said last week that it is committed to academic freedom and “upholding faculty members’ freedom of expression for statements they make in public discussion.”