Ten physicians sent a letter to Lee Goldman, MD, Columbia University's dean of the faculties of health sciences and medicine, asking the school to remove Mehmet Oz, MD, the television personality and cardiothoracic surgeon, from its faculty.
"We are surprised and dismayed that Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons would permit Dr. Mehmet Oz to occupy a faculty appointment, let alone a senior administrative position in the Department of Surgery," the physicians wrote in the letter, which was published in full by The Washington Post.
Dr. Oz, who is perhaps best known for his medical advice on The Oprah Winfrey Show and his own The Dr. Oz Show, is also vice chair of the department of surgery in the New York City-based Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Oz has been under fire for the contentious medical advice and opinions he voices on weight-loss products, vaccines, Ebola and food products, according to the coverage in The Washington Post.
"Dr. Oz is guilty of either outrageous conflicts of interest or flawed judgments [sic] about what constitutes appropriate medical treatments, or both. Whatever the nature of his pathology, members of the public are being misled and endangered, which makes Dr. Oz's presence on the faculty of a prestigious medical institution unacceptable,” the letter reads.
In response to the letter, school spokesman Doug Levy wrote Columbia remains committed to allowing freedom of expression and academic freedom for faculty, according to The Washington Post.
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