Trump nominates Dr. Oz to head Medicare and Medicaid and help take on ‘illness industrial complex’

Dr. Mehmet Oz, former host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022. President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday he plans to nominate Mehmet Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon and former daytime television host, as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Together, Trump said in his statement, the two men would take on “the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.” “Our broken Healthcare System harms everyday Americans, and crushes our Country’s budget,” Trump said. In 2008, Time magazine included Oz on its list of “100 Most Influential People.” But Oz is a controversial figure in the medical world whose television appearances have drawn criticism from fellow physicians who say he backs questionable alternative medicine and unproven weight loss products. “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?” After Trump’s announcement Tuesday, many public health experts took to social media to denounce Oz.