Attack on Dr. Oz nothing more than an attempt to muzzle free speech

When you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. And you can bet television’s Dr. Mehmet Oz saw this burn coming a mile away.

He’s been speaking out about the powerful genetically modified food industry. He’s been supporting labeling and your right to know what’s in your food.

And it looks like he’s now the victim of a smear campaign by a GM industry trying to silence one of its loudest – and most famous – critics.

You may have heard that a small group of “prominent doctors” signed off on a letter asking Columbia University to remove Dr. Oz from its faculty. And if you follow the GM foods debate closely, some of the names on that letter probably rang a bell.

One of the authors was Dr. Gilbert Ross. And he’s not just prominent for having served time at a Pennsylvania prison for Medicaid fraud – he’s also acting president of the American Council on Science and Health.

ACSH has defended asbestos, pesticides, and even Agent Orange, which poisoned our Vietnam vets. And ACSH’s latest mega-paying gig is promoting GM food and beating back its biggest threats – like labeling – any way it can.

One of the other names on the letter was Dr. Henry I. Miller, a former ACSH trustee who has spent a career defending the GM industry. He was the medical reviewer at the FDA for the very first GM drugs. And he helped fast-track the licensing of GM insulin and human growth hormone.

For groups like ACSH – and their attack dog doctors like Ross and Miller – Dr. Oz is public enemy number one. Dr. Oz reaches millions and for some time now he’s been sounding the alarm about GM foods covered in dangerous herbicides like Roundup.

Dr. Oz supports GM food labeling, saying “you have the right to know what’s in your food.” But that’s a right Big Food is never going to hand us without a fight.

Make no mistake about it. The campaign to discredit Dr. Oz is about silencing opposition to GM foods. It’s about powerful, billion-dollar bullies trying to muzzle free speech.

And that’s something we all need to stand up against – whether you’re a fan of Dr. Oz or not.

Sources:

“Kochs, Corps, and Monsanto trade group have bankrolled group attacking Dr. Oz” Rebekah Wilce, April 23, 2015, PRWatch, prwatch.org

“Dr. Oz should go, say 10 physicians in a letter to Columbia, Robert Lowes, April 17, 2015, Medscape News, Medscape.com