Discuss Latest WCI Blog Post: The Rise of Dr. Oz and How He Made So Much Stinkin’ Money

[HikingDO]

Let's say hypothetically the Dr Oz show had great advice all the time. However, every 10th show he picks a random member of the audience and murders them. Since this is all hypothetical we're going to assume that we are in some sort of alternative reality where he can do this routinely without repercussions. He has being doing this for years, so his body count is high. So 9 out of 10 shows have excellent advice and nothing else. The 10th show also has excellent advice except for the 5 minutes where he kills someone.

Do you think the proper reaction is "Wow, you guys are being so unfair. Over 90% of the time his show has great advice"? I would hope not. The problem is that some things are so bad, that there s no realistic good he could do the rest of the time that would justify it. That's what is happening in on his actual show. I'm sure if we did a minute by minute dissection of his show, there would be some things he says that are at least fine, if not good. The problem is that the bad things are so bad, the good things don't even matter.

I’m sorry, but this is a really horrible analogy.

[AR]

I’m sorry, but this is a really horrible analogy.

I agree it's not great. You got a better one? I put about 5sec of thought into it.

On the other hand it's entirely possible that real Dr. Oz has a higher body count than this hypothetical Dr. Oz.

[ScopeMonkey]

I agree it's not great. You got a better one? I put about 5sec of thought into it.

On the other hand it's entirely possible that real Dr. Oz has a higher body count than this hypothetical Dr. Oz.

Well he does "murder" the reputation of doctors in general by shilling nonsense miracle cures..! Sorry, hard to resist.

[pierre]

I agree it's not great. You got a better one? I put about 5sec of thought into it.

On the other hand it's entirely possible that real Dr. Oz has a higher body count than this hypothetical Dr. Oz.

Can you name a specific thing he recommended they is directly killing people? I’d wager most if not all things he recommended came with a disclaimer to consult your physician and to use X in conjunction with, rather than in place of, standard of care. Can you blame it all on him if people listen to part of his advice and none their own doctor’s advice?

I also bet he believes in the things he recommends. I don’t think he’s recommending anything with malice.

[pierre]

I’m not defending anything Oz said or did, since like everyone else here, I didn’t watch his show. But it is possible that some weird voodoo type things work, but will never have any peer reviewed evidence to support it. An example:

I have nephew that wet the bed every single night until he was like 8 or 9 years old. I have a family member that does this energy healing thing where you do muscle testing and ask questions to figure out what your body or subconscious or something is telling you. She did a session on my nephew (I was standing next to her while she did it. She had a picture of him, but he was 3 states away). She somehow found the root cause of his issue and fixed it or release it or whatever they do. He stopped wetting the bed that night and has never done it again in 5+ years. Whatever she did, it worked.

[AR]

Can you name a specific thing he recommended they is directly killing people?

Depends on what you mean by directly. He was recommending snake oil, not cyanide. So, depending on your definition, probably not.

[pierre]

The disdain here is interesting. 5 pages in and the only thing I’ve learned is that he sells snake oil and everyone hates him, but no one has actually watches his show. Does anyone have an example of a recommendation he made or product he sold that was legit quackery? Or is this all hearsay…

[AR]

The disdain here is interesting. 5 pages in and the only thing I’ve learned is that he sells snake oil and everyone hates him, but no one has actually watches his show. Does anyone have an example of a recommendation he made or product he sold that was legit quackery? Or is this all hearsay…

I've seen plenty of clips of his show, but never a single episode from start to finish.

It's definitely not hearsay. In fact there is a peer-reviewed study in the literature regarding claims from his show. It has been a while since I read it, but I'm sure you can find it easily (if you can't let me know). Dr. Oz being full of it is not exactly a baseless claim.

[bovie]

Let's say hypothetically the Dr Oz show had great advice all the time. However, every 10th show he picks a random member of the audience and murders them. Since this is all hypothetical we're going to assume that we are in some sort of alternative reality where he can do this routinely without repercussions. He has being doing this for years, so his body count is high. So 9 out of 10 shows have excellent advice and nothing else. The 10th show also has excellent advice except for the 5 minutes where he kills someone.

Do you think the proper reaction is "Wow, you guys are being so unfair. Over 90% of the time his show has great advice"? I would hope not. The problem is that some things are so bad, that there s no realistic good he could do the rest of the time that would justify it. That's what is happening in on his actual show. I'm sure if we did a minute by minute dissection of his show, there would be some things he says that are at least fine, if not good. The problem is that the bad things are so bad, the good things don't even matter.

LOL. This post provided almost as much entertainment value as that hypothetical show would.

[Random1]

I never watched an entire show, but I would assume by how long it was on the air, and how much he made was a success at least for himself and entertainment value. But where he falls short is coming off as an expert by using his medical license and certification to add validity to his statements as if they were medical fact.

[The White Coat Investor]

I want your daughter’s update on her car.

The $800 car? That only lasted 14 months. The next car (a $5K Civic that might be worth $7K now) isn't particularly interesting to write or talk about.

[Tangler]

The $800 car? That only lasted 14 months. The next car (a $5K Civic that might be worth $7K now) isn't particularly interesting to write or talk about.

Awesome! I have a 2013 civic I bought used in 2016. Tell her she is in good company. Love Honda! Great cars!

As for what you said earlier that is great advice for life: Take the good/useful content and leave the rest.

A gold mine is full of dirt........we go into said mine looking not at the dirt but for the gold!

Your content has a lot of gold.

Thanks

[Tim]

The $800 car? That only lasted 14 months. The next car (a $5K Civic that might be worth $7K now) isn't particularly interesting to write or talk about.

Transportation at about $60 per month. Car for $2 per day. Amazing. And she is a published author no less.

[Lithium]

I know I’ll have made it when I drive a car that’s worth half as much as WCI’s daughter’s.

[The White Coat Investor]

Transportation at about $60 per month. Car for $2 per day. Amazing. And she is a published author no less.

You know my second daughter is learning to drive now. We're trying to decide whether to do it (the <$1,000 car thing) again and if so how much to adjust for inflation! Or we may just call the civic her "beater". It really is nicer than a true beater though. Very reliable even at 13 years old and 150K miles.