Steve Novella Vs Dr Oz
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Dr Steven Novella, host of the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe podcast and all round nice guy appeared on the Dr Oz show to discuss his position on alternative health. You can watch the entire piece below.
While I think Steve did a reasonable job under the circumstances, and presented a balanced and honest view of the state of alternative health, the same could not be said for Dr Oz. Dr Oz had his position staked out from the outset, and was not going to give any ground regardless of what points Dr Novella might make. He also came well prepared, with logical fallacies to bolster his arguments. Unfortunately for Dr Novella, all he had to defend himself with was science logic and reality. No match for Dr Oz and his brainwashed audience.
It is great to get the message out there, and it is fantastic to see the profile of someone like Steve Novella rising to this level and hopefully beyond. If only the critical thinking, scientific viewpoint could get the same sort of financial backing that Oprah pumps into the likes of Dr Oz and Jenny McCathy.
There is now a growing call for Dr Oz to return the favour and appear on the SGU to defend his position. Interesting idea, although I suspect it will just leave me with a headache and the urge to punch my iPod (Remember the Neil Adams interview . . .).
Further reading :
The Bad Astronomer has this to say about it
Orac writes
Dr Novella’s experience in his own words
Oz basically set the whole thing up to make Novella fail. It was all very weird, considering the “let’s see what your doctor has to say about it” videos were fairly critical of the points Oz was trying to make, and basically ignoring the points that Novella said. Oz was kind of just directing traffic.
I wrote a lot about Oz last week here: http://skeptikai.com/2011/04/26/oz-and-eastern-wizardry/
Steve’s breakdown of the event on the last SGU podcast is worth a listen. He never spoke to OZ prior to, or after, the taping other than a perfunctory hello. He also said that almost all of his responses made it to air intact, as they shot very little in the way of extra footage, leaving them very little room to edit.
As with most of these things, you will rarely, if ever, convert the true believer. However Steve made some good points, and those viewers who watch Oz for his non-woo health tips are more likely to have heard what Steve had to say, and are more likely to take it on board. Better that, than to have not appeared and to have been decried as a coward.
Still waiting for Dr Oz to accept the invitation to appear on the SGU though . . . . . .