Centre County doctors share ‘deep concern’ about Mehmet Oz as Pennsylvania Senator
More than 10 doctors from around Centre County participated in a “Real Doctors Against Oz” tour stop in State College Monday, hosted by John Fetterman’s senate campaign.
The tour is led by Pennsylvania medical professionals who don’t trust Dr. Mehmet Oz and say he poses a threat to Pennsylvanians, according to a release from Fetterman’s campaign.
Dr. David Werner retired two years ago after practicing in State College since 1978. He was the chief of staff at Mount Nittany Medical Center for three years. He said Oz has “abused people’s trust in doctors” and therefore felt compelled to speak out.
“As doctors we prefer not to be active politically. We advocate for our patients. We don’t advocate for politicians,” Werner said. “But we feel that it is necessary to stand up today against the unethical actions of Mehmet Oz, who’s abused people’s trust in doctors. He has done this for his own financial gain. In our opinion, his unethical actions disqualify him from being a senator from Pennsylvania.”
Abortion and women’s health was brought up by different doctors, including by Dr. Jeanette Trusky, a retired obstetrician-gynecologist who practiced in State College for 25 years and was head of the department for a decade at Mount Nittany. She said she wanted to speak because women’s health is on the ballot.
Oz is “100% pro-life” and believes life starts at conception, according to his campaign website. But, she said, making abortion illegal doesn’t stop them, it just makes them dangerous and women needlessly die. While abortion is commonly used to refer to a termination of an unwanted pregnancy, she said they’re also used for complications during pregnancy.
Twenty to 30% of embryos do not survive the first three months, Trusky said, and in that case, termination through medication or surgery is recommended. But in states where abortion is already illegal, these patients are denied care by pharmacists and physicians, she said, who are concerned about legal trouble.
“When they present to an emergency room with pain and heavy bleeding, they are treated with disdain and suspicion that they brought this on themselves. That’s on top of the heartache, pain and fear they’re already experiencing,” Trusky said.
But complications later in pregnancy can be even more serious and often require termination.
“Even if the law provides for exceptions to save the life of the mother, how far does a physician have to go to establish the woman’s life is in danger? Are the first subtle signs enough? Or will they be second guessed by a DA? Do they have to wait until the woman is clearly in danger of imminent death,” Trusky said. “Abortion is an integral part of women’s health care, making it unavailable will result in women dying.”
She said Oz’s position on abortion — that life begins at conception and that termination after that point would be murder — has implications beyond abortion access. It can also make IUDs and postcoital contraception illegal, and questions whether in vitro fertilization could still be practiced, she said.
Dr. Paul Wooley practiced family medicine in Centre County for more than 40 years and said Oz doesn’t support a woman’s right to choose.
“Regarding women’s rights, he does not support the right of a woman to determine her own destiny, her health or her life course. Instead, regarding issues of abortion, he leaves it to the legislature to limit a woman’s freedom, although it is the woman’s life and she is the one who lives out the consequences of what the government interference does to her life,” Wooley said.
He said Oz has used his medical degree and public appearances for his own self-promotion and without any regard of its impact on the medical community.
“I have deep concern about Dr. Oz who has strayed from the path of honesty and integrity for his own benefit. He has no expertise in infectious disease or public health, but he is making recommendations about containing and treating COVID, which are absolutely wrong … and he has done this for his own benefit,” Wooley said.
Dr. James Serene, who worked as an orthopedic surgeon and most recently worked for Penn State Sports Medicine, said he was bothered by an article that said Oz has stock in a company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, which supplies hydroxychloroquine. He also supported the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID, which is not recommended by the World Health Organization.
Dr. Mary Callahan, a retired family physician who practiced for 31 years in Centre County and a volunteer at Centre Volunteers in Medicine, said the lack of ethics is the most concerning thing to her and other doctors.
She said the promise that those in her profession makes is to help patients using what they know to be true, and by taking the Hippocratic oath, Oz promised to do good for the sick and hold himself from wrong and corruption. Instead of doing that, Callahan said he’s made money on products that were later found to be part of pyramid schemes, made “bogus claims” on his television show, promoted conversion therapy, and promoted other things that had little to none evidence supporting it.
A spokesperson for Oz’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The election is Nov. 8.
