With roughly 70% of American adults classified as overweight or obese, the market for weight loss products has boomed in the last decade. Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of "The Dr. Oz Show", was faced with a panel of angered and determined senators on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. They expressed their concerns and frustrations about his continuous, open support for the 'miracle' drugs available on the market to consumers.
"My job, I feel, on the show is to be a cheerleader for the audience, and when they don't think they have hope, when they don't think they can make it happen, I want to look, and I do look everywhere, including in alternative healing traditions, for any evidence that might be supportive to them," Oz said in response to the critique, as reported by CNN. He continued on to state that he could not be held responsible for what companies say online about their products in conjunction with his opinions, and that he would tone down his language and begin to focus solidly on products that would help people lose weight.
"Either you don’t talk about these things at all, or you’re going to have to be more specific because right now," expressed Senator Amy Lobuchar (D-Minn.) in response. "This is not working. It's a major problem when people are spending more and more money and they're gaining more and more weight."
The Daily News reports that Dr. Oz is perplexed at first with the subject of the hearing. "We were invited down to Washington to testify at a hearing about scams and instead it became all about how much we hate your show," says an anonymous source. In a statement after, Oz stated that he was "pleased" with the overall outcome of the hearing because it tackled a complicated issue.