A team of researchers led by Christina Korownyk of the University of Alberta’s Department of Family Medicine took a look at the medical information on two tv doctor shows, “The Dr. Oz Show” and “The Doctors,” which have average daily audiences of 2.9 million and 2.3 million respectively. The paper was published in the BMJ.
When looking at the shows individually, there was evidence to support 46% of the claims made on the “Dr. Oz Show.” Approximately 15% of the claims made on the show were contrary to what has been reported in scientific literature. There was no evidence to support or reject 49% of the claims made on the show. “The Doctors” had slightly better results, with 63% of the claims supported by scientific evidence. About 14% of the claims on the show are contradicted by evidence, and there is no evidence for or against 24% of the show’s claims.
I think 63% is quite a lot better than 46%.
Anyway – I recommend using the internet instead.
Interesting. I wonder about the magnitude of the errors. Are we talking about suggesting three aspirin instead of two? Or using Lorenzo’s Oil for cancer? (I guess I could take the drastic step of reading the article :D.)
A quick note: the passage quoted contains a typo. It should say “When looking at the shows individually, there was evidence to support 46% of the claims made on the “Dr. Oz Show.” Approximately 15% of the claims made on the show were contrary to what has been reported in scientific literature. There was no evidence to support or reject 39% of the claims made on the show.”
I wonder how taking the first link when searching google for a problem would stack up against these guys?