Democratic super PAC rolls out multimillion-dollar ad buy targeting Oz on ‘miracle’ medications, investments

A super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is rolling out a multimillion-dollar ad buy targeting Pennsylvania Republican Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz on his drug company investments and his backing of “miracle” medical solutions.

“He calls himself a doctor. But Doctor Oz sold out his patients. On his TV show, Oz promoted reckless and dangerous medical advice,” a narrator says in the Senate Majority PAC’s one-minute ad, called “Sellout,” which was first shared with The Hill. 

“And made millions of dollars pushing fake miracle cures like this,” the narrator continues, before the ad cuts to clips of Oz saying, “This miracle pill can burn fat fast” and “I’ve got the No. 1 miracle in a bottle to burn your fat.”

“Mehmet Oz has no place in the U.S. Senate—unless it’s being hauled in front of Congress to be held accountable for hawking fake miracle cures and pushing reckless medical advice,” Maryam Ahmed, spokesperson for Senate Majority PAC, said in a statement. “We’re making sure voters know the truth about Oz: as a celebrity doctor, he repeatedly sold out his patients to benefit himself and he would do the same to Pennsylvanians as a Senator.”

The multimillion-dollar radio ad buy comes just days after The Washington Post reported that Oz, who has leaned on his background as a doctor in his campaign, backed products and diet solutions on his show that were often unproven or debunked.

The Post also noted that, at times, Oz offered caveats to medications he discussed on his show, and his spotlighting of preventive health has also received some praise. 

CNBC reported last month that, according to financial disclosures it obtained, Oz had stock in McKesson Corporation and Thermo Fisher Scientific, both of which are hydroxychloroquine suppliers. Early in the pandemic, he backed using the anti-malaria drug to tackle the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Salon reported earlier this summer, also citing Oz’s financial disclosures, that he had invested in both CVS Health and UnitedHealth despite his criticisms of rising insulin costs. 

Oz campaign spokesperson Brittany Yanick told the Post, “On his show, Dr. Oz welcomed open, honest conversations and opinions from all kinds of folks. It’s idiotic and preposterous to imply that he shared the same beliefs and opinions as every guest on his show, or that having someone on his show constitutes a blanket endorsement of their beliefs.”

Democratic candidate John Fetterman took advantage of the fresh reporting in a new video on Monday, which compares Oz to the Dr. Nick Riviera character from “The Simpsons.” Dr. Nick is known in the TV series for his role as a “quack” doctor. 

Recent polls show the crucial Senate race between Oz and Fetterman tightening, including a recent survey from Emerson College Polling and The Hill released late last month showing Fetterman at 45 percent compared to Oz’s 43 percent. The polling, however, falls within the margin of error, effectively tying the two.