Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

The radio life of Dr. Oz has been snuffed out by Oprah. From today's Tom Taylor column...

Draw your own conclusion – Oprah Winfrey pulls the plug on “Dr. Oz” radio minutes. The “Daily Dose with Dr. Oz” feature was picked up by Westwood in mid-2010 and quickly grew its affiliate base. Dr. Mehmet Oz’s successful daily syndicated TV show reinforced his popularity, which began with his endorsement by Oprah Winfrey on her TV show. Now Westwood’s telling affiliates that “After many years, [Winfrey’s] Harpo Productions has decided to end production” of the Dose. No explanation, but it’s reasonable to speculate about the heat Dr. Oz is taking over some way-beyond-alternative medical treatments and ideas he’s featured on his TV show. A group of ten physicians is accusing Oz of "promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain." They’d like him dropped from his daytime job as Vice Chair of Columbia University’s surgery department. No matter how that plays out (and some of Dr. Oz’s colleagues at Columbia defend him), Westwood is moving on. It says “based on availability in your market, we would like to offer your station ‘A Better Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta’” – the TV doctor associated with CNN as its chief medical correspondent.