Dr. Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor appointed by President Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since 2023, is an expensive pitchman at Iherb, a California supplement retailer.
He actively promotes Iherb products on social media, recommending supplements that say it stimulates hair growth and provides smoother skin. Olive oil sold by Iherb “may actually help Alzheimer's,” he said.
Dr. Oz also found himself a significant investor in supplement companies, according to a filing released Wednesday by the government's Ethics Bureau.
Dr. Oz has pledged to sell the majority of his multi-million dollar holdings, including investments in numerous healthcare companies and two artificial intelligence companies.
However, his Iherb Holding's fate, one of the biggest in his portfolio and rated unspecified numbers ranging from $5 million to $25 million, according to experts who reviewed his disclosure form. Not known.
In one submission, Dr. Oz pledged to sell his Iherb Holdings “as soon as possible, within 90 days of confirmation,” according to the Senate to government office by the Senate.
In another government disclosure, he repeated the language, but later opened the possibility that even if he was at the helm of the agency, the company would still hold Iherb shares until it was publicly available or acquired. Ta. One of these events could soar up inventory and become Dr. Oz's rampage.
Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis who specializes in government ethics, said the conflicting language of disclosure left him vague about whether he would sell his holdings. “The draft is poor and unclear,” she said.
Richard W. Painter, a former ethics official with George W. Bush's management, said the language was vague. “I don't know if he'll sell it,” he said.
Dr. Oz, 64, also showed in his application that he would retain economic benefits for an entity called Iherb Oz Partners LLC, created in 2023 when he became the company's pitchman. What the entity does is unknown, and so is whether or not it has another ownership in the IHERB.
Dr. Oz's spokesman, Christopher Crepitch, refused to discuss any obvious contradictions.
Dr. Oz, a cardiac surgeon who gained fame as a daytime television host who ran for 13 seasons, has been frequently criticized for supporting suspicious treatments and promoting products in his shows. He failed in 2022 for the Pennsylvania Senate.
His financial application highlights how wealthy Dr. Oz and his family are, with net worth somewhere between about $90 million and $335 million. His wife, Lisa Oz, is one of the numerous heirs of Asplundh Tree Expert, one of the nation's largest private companies, providing trees removal and related services to utilities and municipalities. Financial disclosure forms allow you to list estimates of asset values over a wide range, making it impossible to identify a couple's net worth.
Dr. Oz is preparing for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee and meeting with various Washington lawmakers. The panel has not set a date for his testimony, but it is expected that he will do so in the coming weeks as his financial and ethical theories statements have been submitted to the committee.
His investments in IHERB and other healthcare companies could be a focus for some lawmakers. As the country's largest Medicare official, he was able to press private plans that offer insurance under the federal program to increase coverage for vitamins and supplements sold by Iherb and others.
Dr. Oz listed dozens of investments, including healthcare companies that do business with the US government, and said he would end his relationship with him and sell it. Among those holdings are UnitedHealth, a conglomerate that sells private insurance plans for the medicare seniors, Abbvie and Eli Lilly, for-profit hospital chain HCA Healthcare, and supplement company Pantheryx. There is a Group.
In the new submission, Dr. Oz also cited the role of advisor to three healthcare companies. Eko Health is a manufacturer of digital stethoscopes. House Pharma; a Florida heart disease practice, a heart disease partner. The government's ethics agreement states that if confirmed, he will resign from his role in those companies and sell their holdings.
He also said he plans to sell his shares in several major technology companies, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. He owns Bitcoin, worth up to $1 million. He was not selling any of the assets listed in the filing.
