Bad Press Piles Up For Oz: From Saying Americans Have No “Right To Health,” To Owning “Shares Of Companies That Supply Hydroxychloroquine” While Hawking It

It’s only Thursday, but Oz has already faced a brutal week of press coverage: new reports revealed that Oz “said uninsured Americans have no ‘right to health,’” he “owns shares of companies that supply hydroxychloroquine, a drug he has backed as a Covid treatment,” his campaign continues to be dogged by revelations about his “Palm Beach mega-mansion,” and when asked about incest, Oz declared “it’s not a big problem.”

See for yourself:

HuffPost: Dr. Oz Said Uninsured Americans Have No ‘Right To Health’ In Resurfaced Clip
By David Moye
September 7, 2022

• TV doctor-turned-Senate candidate Mehmet Oz once said uninsured Americans don’t have a “right to health,” according to a recently resurfaced video from 2013.

• He explained his apparent belief that “health” is only a right for those who can afford insurance.

• The Independent was confused by Oz’s comments, noting that “it’s unclear how” he reconciles saying Americans don’t have a “right to health” with the notion that they do have a right to “access” health care.

• “If a doctor were to find a person had an ailment, it would still leave the individual without options — other than taking on massive medical debt — for seeking treatment, and with the burden of knowing they’re sick,” the paper’s Graig Graziosi wrote.

CNBC: Dr. Oz owns shares of companies that supply hydroxychloroquine, a drug he has backed as a Covid treatment
By Brian Schwartz
September 7, 2022

• Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz has financial ties to at least two pharmaceutical companies that supply hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that he has floated as a possible Covid-19 treatment.

• [Oz] owns along with his wife at least $615,000 in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific, according to his financial disclosure. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s website lists hydroxychloroquine sulfate as one of its available products.

• Oz and his wife also own between $15,001 and $50,000 in McKesson Corporation stock, according to the disclosure. The company labels and distributes hydroxychloroquine sulfate, according to the FDA.

• Oz’s financial ties to a producer and distributor of the drug, and his promotion of it as a potential Covid treatment, raise questions about what he stood to gain from its wider use during the pandemic.

• The FDA has… warned [hydroxychloroquine] has “not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19.”

Business Insider: Dr. Oz owns stock in companies that supply hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug he pushed the White House to use as unproven COVID treatment
By Kelsey Vlamis
September 7, 2022

• Oz owns shares of two companies that supply hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that he urged the White House to push as a treatment for COVID-19 despite a lack of evidence showing its efficacy.

• The document showed Oz and his wife owned at least a $615,000 stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific, a supplier that lists hydroxychloroquine as one of its products.

• The disclosures also showed Oz and his wife owned between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of shares in McKesson Corporation, which labels and distributes hydroxychloroquine.

• [Oz] sent emails to senior White House advisers in the early days of the pandemic promoting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.

CBS News: Dr. Oz bought Palm Beach mega-mansion with help of man embroiled in immigration fraud scheme
By Graham Kates
September 6, 2022

• Among Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz’s 18 known real estate investments, none is larger or more valuable than Louwana, a 10-bedroom historic beachfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.

• Oz’s campaign has sought to move past questions about his residency and real estate, but the Palm Beach mansion brings with it a unique set of political concerns for Oz as he tries to rebuff allegations that he’s “sort of parachuting into Pennsylvania,” said Penn State Harrisburg political science professor Daniel Mallinson.

• Oz purchased the mansion in 2015 with the help of Florida attorney Leslie Evans, whom the deed describes as a trustee for the property.

• The year before, Evans was involved in the purchase of a foreclosed Connecticut mansion. It was a transaction that became central to federal fraud cases filed in 2018 that saw four other people plead guilty to bilking investors out of millions.

• As Evans dealt with a lawsuit, a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, and ultimately a federal indictment, he continued on as trustee for the mansion, documents show.

• On Feb. 22 of this year, Evans signed a document related to the $60,000 local tax exemption for the mansion. The tax exemption was first reported by the Miami Herald.

• The celebrity doctor has struggled for months to give a clear accounting of his wide-ranging property holdings. In August, a person… approached Oz at a campaign event and asked him how many houses he owns. A video shows Oz replying, “Well I, legitimately, I own two houses. But, uh, one of them we’re building on; the other ones I rent.”

• The Daily Beast reported later that month that he actually owns 10 houses, including the Palm Beach mansion.

• Fetterman has sought to portray Oz as an out-of-stater. And according to Mallinson, the Florida mansion plays into that portrayal.

• “Fetterman has been painting Oz as somebody who’s not from Pennsylvania and is an outsider. And so more properties in other states just reinforces that same narrative,” Mallinson said.

Jezebel: Dr. Oz on Incest: More Than First Cousin? ‘Not a Big Problem.’
By Caitlin Cruz
September 6, 2022

• In an interview with morning radio show The Breakfast Club in February 2014, host Angela Yee asked Oz to weigh in on a question sent in by a listener about someone struggling with an incestuous relationship.

• “I’m going to ask you this and you tell me if this is safe for this person, okay?” Yee prompted Oz. “Well, he said, ‘Yee, I can’t stop smashing my cousin.’ That means sleeping with.” (Thank you, Yee.)

• Oz: If you’re more than a first cousin away, it’s not a big problem.

• I just… I just don’t know what made this man think he should run for office.
  
  

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