A group of Pennsylvania doctors is going after Dr. Mehmet Oz for endangering public health and mocking his U.S. Senate race opponent for suffering a stroke.
The crudité-loving TV personality has hurled several distasteful attacks at John Fetterman, who had a stroke in May just before he won the Democratic primary.
Oz has faced mockery from Fetterman and others over a bewilderingly out-of-touch video he posted earlier this year showing him grocery shopping for a veggie tray.
Attempting to clap back after the clip recently resurfaced, Oz’s campaign said Tuesday: “If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly.”
Over 100 Pennsylvania doctors have since condemned Oz, according to Business Insider.
“As a former daytime TV host, Dr. Oz exploited the hopes and fears of his viewers by promoting unproven, ill-advised, and at times potentially dangerous treatments,” Real Doctors Against Oz said in a statement to the outlet.
“He has made clear that he will put enriching himself above all else, even in instances where people’s health is endangered.”
Earlier this month, at a press conference organized by the Fetterman campaign, Dr. Val Arkoosh, one of the physicians on the Real Doctors Against Oz tour, slammed Oz for his past comments about Fetterman’s health.
“No real doctor — or any decent human being, to be honest — would ever mock a stroke victim who is recovering from that stroke in the way that Dr. Oz is mocking John Fetterman,” Arkoosh said. “It’s disgusting.”
Fetterman recovered at home for several months after his stroke. Oz’s campaign called him a “basement bum” because he hadn’t made many public appearances during that time.
Since it launched earlier this month, Real Doctors Against Oz has drummed up support for Fetterman and highlighted the threat Oz’s candidacy poses to public health, citing his history of peddling dubious cures and supplements, fad diets and other medical misinformation.