President-Elect Donald Trump has tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz to become administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Oz rose to fame in the early 2000s as a talk show host and a frequent guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 2022, he ran for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania as a Republican, losing to Democrat John Fetterman. Before Oz can serve as CMS administrator, his nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. If confirmed, he would succeed current Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
“America is facing a health care crisis, and there may be no physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again,” Trump said in a statement. “He is an eminent physician, heart surgeon, inventor and world-class communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades.”
Oz previously served as the director of the Cardiovascular Institute at New York Presbyterian Hospital and vice-chairman and professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 2018, he was named Professor Emeritus of Surgery.
If both are confirmed, Oz would report to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. He would oversee both the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including the hospice benefit.
Oz has come forward as a strong proponent of Medicare Advantage and further privatization of Medicare.
Oz’s career has been steeped in controversy. During the COVID-19 pandemic he promoted the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which critics argued was not supported by sufficient evidence. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2020 revoked emergency authorization for the drug as a COVID treatment.
At the time, Oz owned $630,000 in stock in two companies that produced hydroxychloroquine, CNBC reported in 2022.
He also came under fire for promoting certain products on his television show, including some intended for weight loss.
“I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about in the show. I passionately study them,” Oz said in a 2014 U.S. Senate hearing. “I recognize that oftentimes they don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact. But, nevertheless, I give my audience the advice I give my family all the time. I give my family these products, specifically the ones you mentioned. I’m comfortable with that part.”
