Dr. Oz agrees to stop hawking supplements if Senate confirms him to run Medicare: report

Celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz has agreed as part of an ethics pledge to stop promoting dietary supplements if confirmed to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ABC News reported Friday.

Oz, according to the report, "has agreed to stop promoting health and wellness products if confirmed by the Senate, according to a spokesperson for the Trump transition. Likewise, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who recently raised eyebrows by appearing on his wife's social media account apparently showering naked in the background while she promoted her beauty line – also has agreed to disclose his finances and undergo a federal ethics review if confirmed as health secretary, said spokesperson Katie Miller."

In a statement to ABC, Miller said, "Both Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Oz plan to divest where appropriate and fully cooperate with the Office of Government of Ethics."

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Oz, who previously worked as a thoracic surgeon before running a daytime talk show empire that has made him a reported $200 million, has been frequently criticized for hawking unproven miracle weight loss products, few if any of which have been evaluated by the FDA for effectiveness, and some of which may actually be harmful. He ran an unsuccessful Senate campaign in Pennsylvania in 2022, where he was defeated by Democratic then-Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

His nomination to run CMS, which manages federal health insurance programs in the United States, has caused alarm among some health care experts, as he has advocated for the expansion of Medicare Advantage, a privatized alternative to Medicare run by health insurance companies like Cigna and UnitedHealthcare. Medicare Advantage is advertised to seniors as providing a wider range of benefits than traditional Medicare but has been criticized for overcharging the federal government $140 billion and arbitrarily denying claims using artificial intelligence.

The Biden administration has tried to implement greater oversight of Medicare Advantage with a new rule requiring providers to alert beneficiaries of their right to appeal claim denials, but it is unclear whether this rule will move forward with Oz in charge of CMS.