Donald Trump taps TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday he will nominate television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator.
"America is facing a healthcare crisis, and there may be no physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again," Trump said in a statement.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services operates under the Department of Health and Human Services, which Trump has already selected Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead. Kennedy has said he wants to address disease rates and other health issues facing Americans, but he has also long spread misinformation about vaccines, the COVID-19 virus and more.
"Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake," Trump said.
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If confirmed by the Senate, Oz would lead one of the federal government's largest agencies. It operates or oversees health care programs that provide coverage to about half of all Americans, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act marketplace exchange.
Oz was a cardiothoracic surgeon before he began appearing as a health expert on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in the 1990s. He ultimately hosted his own show, "The Dr. Oz Show," which made him a household name. He has since publicly weighed in on various health sectors, including vitamin companies.
Trump reportedly paid attention to Oz's television appearances during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he became an informal advisor to the then-president. Oz promoted using the malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19, a theory that was debunked but spread by Trump and others for months.
Oz has been criticized for promoting medical treatments not backed by experts, such as using a combination of pregnancy hormones and a 500-calorie diet to spur weight loss.
He lost a U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania in 2022.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump selects Dr. Mehmet Oz for Medicaid and Medicaid services