Today we’re checking in on the ongoing Pennsylvania Senate race, where Medicare for All–along with crudites, poop tweets, hydroxychloroquine, and Turkish nationalism–has become a hot-button issue. This race is beyond interesting, shading into the bizarre! A lot is at stake, since control over the Senate is going to be hotly contested this midterm election, and this is the most likely seat to flip from Republican to Democrat.

https://youtu.be/nRyxrm0I95c

Show Notes

The Democratic candidate Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman is running against none other than Dr. Mehmet Oz, the instantly recognizable daytime talkshow host from Oprah and the Dr. Oz Show. Oz is the Trump-endorsed candidate for the GOP, and he’s been producing attack ads going after Fetterman’s alleged support for “socialized medicine,” but when we dug deep into Oz’s own healthcare plan, we came to some verrrrry interesting and uncomfortable conclusions!

The U.S. Senate is currently split exactly 50-50, with Democrats having the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. This has ruined just about everything, since it let Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema hold the country hostage. So any contested Senate seat is a potential big deal right now.

Initially, the race was seen as something of a toss-up. BUT THEN, in a surprise move, Donald Trump endorsed Dr. Oz in the Republican primary, giving him the oomph to beat hedge fund exec Dave McCormick. (Surprising because  McCormick’s campaign had many former Trump aides, including Hope Hicks.)

As of this podcast, every single poll shows Fetterman with a sizable lead in the race, a lead that keeps growing: anywhere between 5% and 18%.

So the stakes are high in this race, but we also care because these two candidates have been going after each other’s healthcare platforms… which after taking a very close look, are actually not that far apart.

The Dr. Oz Show provides general health and lifestyle advice, including promoting products to support your health. BUT, his advice is very bad as it turns out: A team of medical researchers at the University of Alberta in 2014 analyzed how many of the recommendations on the Dr. Oz Show were supported by evidence: it turns out, less than half! “evidence supported 46%, contradicted 15%, and was not found for 39%”

That same year (2014), Dr. Oz was called to testify before a Senate hearing looking at false and deceptive advertising for weight-loss products. When he was called out by Sen. Claire McKaskill for promoting fake weight loss cures, he candidly replied: "I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about on the show. I passionately study them. I recognize they don't have the scientific muster to present as fact but nevertheless I would give my audience the advice I give my family all the time and I have given my family these products. Specifically the ones you mentioned, then I'm comfortable with that part.”

In addition to diet pills, he’s promoted a lot of wild shit over the years: the idea that there are deadly levels of Arsenic in apple juice, the claim that most olive oil is fake, the concept of “Reparative Therapy” (to "repair" LGBTQ+ people).

Dr. Oz has reportedly been eyeballing a political career since as far back as 2009. Dr. Oz first jumped into politics when he became enmeshed with the Trump campaign, and then the Trump administration.

His greatest contribution, as far as we can tell, is that he played a major role pushing the Trump administration to grant emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine, the fake and dangerous treatment for COVID. And, very unfortunately, he was successful! The FDA granted a controversial emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine. Just 3 months later, the FDA was forced to reverse its authorization decision, after multiple studies showed the drug was ineffective and potentially harmful to COVID patients. The Trump administration still mounted a campaign to get hyd...