New York (CNN Business) – Fox News has displayed a knack in recent weeks for inviting prominent television doctors on its air who make absurd comments that ignite controversy.
Since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, the conservative network has hosted Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Drew Pinsky, and Dr. Phil McGraw on its programs.
While the three household names have all had success in daytime television, each of them has previously faced serious criticism from medical professionals. Moreover, none of them are infectious disease experts.
And yet Oz, McGraw, and Pinsky have all appeared on Fox News, making comments that support the network’s editorial viewpoint, but which fly in the face of what health officials have said about the coronavirus.
In the weeks before President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the pandemic on March 13, Fox News hosts and personalities spent continually downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus.
After Trump’s declaration, their tone became more serious. But it has again shifted of late, with high-profile hosts and personalities now pushing to end the shutdown and questioning whether it was even prudent in the first place.
Neither Oz, nor McGraw, nor Pinsky are on the payroll of Fox News. The network does have a pool of paid medical contributors, which includes Dr. Marc Siegel, Dr. Martin Makary, and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, that it regularly uses to discuss the virus.
But Oz, McGraw and Pinsky are household names, giving what they say and the advice they dispense significantly more weight. And the comments each of them have made while on Fox News have supported the message the network was promoting at one point or another.
A spokesperson for Fox News declined to comment for this story. But all three doctors have walked back the controversial comments they’ve made during their appearances on the network.
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Fox News has displayed a knack in recent weeks for inviting prominent television doctors on its air who make absurd comments that ignite controversy | Analysis by Oliver Darcy https://t.co/Z2WkoaSU3e
— CNN (@CNN) April 18, 2020
This is so stupid https://t.co/c7d8rVNpjI
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) April 17, 2020
Oz is and always has been a quack. I know people who swear by everything he says. But he used to peddle supposedly natural remedies for everything from hangnails to cancer, some of which were found to be ineffective and/or downright harmful. And I remember him once making some statements about diabetes that were contrary to what I know about the disease and my knowledge comes from experts in the field (I’m a diabetic, so I’ve learned everything I could from the people who know the disease). The guy should have been sued for malpractice and had his medical license revoked. He’s a fraud and a dangerous one at that.
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