Dr. Mehmet C. Oz, chairman and Professor of Surgery, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 17, 2014 , before the Senate subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance hearing to examine protecting consumers from false and deceptive advertising of weight-loss productsLauren Victoria Burke/The Associated Press
PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF
Are you feeling sheepish today, Dr. Mehmet Oz? Because you probably should be.
Best known as a daytime's preeminent healthy-living proponent on The Dr. Oz Show (and for being besties with Oprah Winfrey), the TV physician was roundly chastised by a U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday for shilling products promising remarkable weight-loss results.
In clinical tests, those same products have been shown to have about as much to do with facilitating weight loss as a hot-fudge sundae.
Regardless, in the past few years Dr. Oz has officially endorsed the products – including Pure Green Coffee Bean capsules – that prominently feature his name on the label.
Even more egregiously, Dr. Oz has routinely advocated the use of the products on his nationally syndicated daytime program The Dr. Oz Show.
A study published in 2012 concluded that chlorogenic acid, the primary ingredient in green coffee beans, helped 16 participants lose, on average, 18 pounds over a 22-week period.
Another study, which tested chlorogenic acid on lab mice, determined that the acid did not promote weight loss. In fact, the testing actually increased the mice's insulin resistance.
And a separate meta-analysis of green coffee extract in 2011 revealed that the supplement produced, on average, a five-pound loss among study participants.
The meta-analysis authors' conclusion: "More rigorous trials are needed to assess the usefulness of GCE as a weight-loss tool."
All of which was referenced at yesterday's Senate panel hearing, where Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who also serves as the chairwoman of the Senate subcommittee on consumer protection, took Dr. Oz to task for lending his name to what appears to be a modern-day version of snake oil.
"I don't get why you say all this stuff because you know it's not true," said McCaskill. "So why, when you have this amazing megaphone and this amazing ability to communicate, why would you cheapen your show by saying things like that?"
Dr. Oz's response: "My job, I feel, on the show is to be a cheerleader for the audience when they don't think they have hope and they don't think they can make it happen. It jump-starts you. It gives you the confidence to keep going."
But McCaskill clearly wasn't impressed with the TV medic's logic.
"The scientific community is almost monolithic against you in terms of the efficacy of the three products you call miracles," said McCaskill. "When you call a product a miracle, and it's something you can buy and it's something that gives people false hope, I just don't understand why you need to go there."
And perhaps boldest of all, Dr. Oz told the Senate panel that he actually does have faith in the products that he has endorsed.
"I actually do personally believe in the items that I talk about on the show," he said. "I recognize that oftentimes they don't have the scientific muster to present as fact. I would give my audience the advice I give my family all the time, and I have given my family these products."
Yet a profile of Dr. Oz in The New Yorker last year concluded that, "Oz doesn't follow any of the miracle cures or fad diets that he trots out so regularly for his audience."
Did we say sheepish, Dr. Oz? Because really, you should be ashamed.
REALITY GAME
Is the world ready for Kim Kardashian: The Video Game? The eponymous reality star went onto Instagram yesterday to reveal the first glimpse of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, a new video game to which she has lent her voice and likeness. According to the website TooFab.com, the timewaster will be a mobile game for IOS and Android devices that will allow players to build their own public profile by performing seemingly mundane tasks like going out for dinner or fleeing paparazzi. Kardashian will serve as "career mentor" for each player on their road to fame. No release date has been announced for the game.
Source: Zap2it
SWITCHING JOBS
Andi Dorfman must be planning for a long and prosperous reality-TV career, because she just quit her job as an assistant district attorney in Atlanta. The current Bachelorette resigned from her post last week, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Dorfman joined the Fulton County district attorney's office as an assistant DA back in November, 2012, and was granted a leave of absence to film The Bachelorette earlier this year. In the show's debut episode, Dorfman said, "I put the bad guys away. I love fighting crime. It's empowering."
Source: Us Weekly
TOO SOON?
The family of late singer Aaliyah has vowed to stop production of a TV-movie chronicling her life and times. The U.S. cable channel Lifetime recently announced plans for a biopic that would cast ex-Disney Channel star Zendaya as Aaliyah (full name: Aaliyah Dana Haughton), who died in 2001 in a plane crash at age 22. According to TMZ, Aaliyah's uncle and former manager, Barry Hankerson, claims the singer's family is enraged that nobody from Lifetime has contacted them about the movie, and will block any attempt by the network to use any of her music in the film. So far, Lifetime hasn't issued any response to TMZ or any other media outlet.
Source: TMZ
BAD SITUATION
Back in the heyday of Jersey Shore, GTL stood for Gym, Tan, Laundry. Now it stands for Get The Law. Ex-Shore fixture Mike "The Situation" was arrested in New Jersey at his own tanning salon, Boca Tanning Club, on Tuesday afternoon. According to a rep for the Middletown Police department, officers responded to a 911 call claiming that a fight had broken out at the salon. Sorrentino, 31, was booked on charges of simple assault and posted $500 (U.S.) bail. TMZ was first to report on the incident and claimed that Sorrentino was in an altercation with his brother, Frank Sorrentino.
Source: E!
THE BIG SPLIT
It appears Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas really are getting divorced. Sharp-eyed photographers noticed that Griffith's famous arm tattoo – a large heart with "Antonio" in the middle – was covered with makeup when she appeared on the red carpet at the Taormina Film Festival this week. Griffith was also not wearing her wedding ring for the occasion. Earlier this month, Griffith and Banderas announced their plans to split following 18 years of marriage.
Source: TooFab