Doctor Oprah Will See You Now...
..Where is Chad Everett When You Need Him?
Oprah Winfrey is a great actress. When I first saw "The Color Purple" I thought that her role as Sofia was one of the most remarkable performances I have ever seen. It has been twenty-one years since that role and no one has toppled her from that top berth.
Chad Everett is not a great actor but a really good one. For those not born last millennium, Chad Everett played Dr. Joe Gannon on the television series "Medical Center" from 1969-1976. Interestingly, the timing of the closing of the show coincides with when Medicare started ratcheting down payments and managed care started growing. It seems Dr. Gannon got out just in time.
There is a huge difference though. Everett's most famous quote "I am not a doctor, but I play one on TV" is a subtle but real disclaimer. Many people, though actually believe that Oprah either is a doctor or has the same amount of medical validity as a doctor. She is many things. She is many amazing things. She is a remarkable actress. She is a true leader. She is a great media innovator. She is not a doctor. She isn't even close. When she parades one health tip after another on her show you might as well sign up for cyanide. It has the same validity.
Recently, she had a show on a dermatologic technique. I know this, not because I watch her show - not because I actually have a life but I am sometimes busy when it airs - but because the NY Times had a full page article on the issues surrounding her "reporting" of this cosmetic technique. It seems that there are quite a few complications associated with this technique. This conveniently was left out of her show. Some dermatology experts pointed this out in the article.
Big deal I say. Oprah isn't wrong.
Wait a minute Dr. K., I thought you were gearing this article up to bash Oprah reporting irresponsibly about a medical procedure. No way, Jose. Oprah is OK in my book, Why? BECAUSE SHE IS NOT A DOCTOR!
She knows she is not a doctor, I know she is not a doctor, and the rest of the world should know it too. There are only two freakin' idiots in this equation - the people who watch her and then flock to get this cosmetic crappy procedure without consulting a reasonable doctor and worse, the doctors who decide to perform this procedure because they want to ride the wave of popularity and cash in.
Oprah is cool. She isn't supposed to do a balanced, super study on the pros and cons of everything presented on her show. HELLLLLLO - It's her show. She can say what she wants.
If she told you to suck on an Anthrax PEZ would you go out to the Al Qaeda Convenience store and load up? Of course, not. She is not the problem but you are if you do not perform due diligence and properly check out all you see on TV and read on the Internet.
If you blindly sign up to something medical you saw on the Oprah show and your skin slid down like hot fudge on an ice cream cone then you deserve it. End discussion. Go Oprah!
We cannot be so kind to the scores of doctors who offer snake oil procedures that offer the same relative integrity that a Pocket Fisherman has to true deep sea fishing gear. While Oprah is not a doctor- these people are.
A doctor is a professional who is granted a license to behave in the public trust. When the scum of Enron, Worldcom, Adelphia, Tyco and others rip off the public it is business. They are not professionals. We almost expect them to be lower than the common rat and they rarely disappoint us.
But a doctor must stem the tide of the public's zeal for quick and easy fixes and solutions that are not based in data and have complications hidden from public view. It is the doctors that rapidly adopted, without giving patients full informed consent of possible hazards, the cosmetic dermatologic procedures shown on the Oprah that failed the public trust.
We all should be better than that. That is the concept of the public trust. Doctors are given a great gift. It is a privilege and honor to have the opportunity to care for another person in the intimate ways we do. We can't be perfect but we need to try to think of medical solutions that are in the best interests of our patients- all the time.
Dr. K.
Related Topics: Plastic Surgery: It's Not Always A Fairy-Tale Ending (WebMD Video), Who Gets Plastic Surgery and Why
Technorati Tags: oprah winfrey, plastic surgery, medical practice
Oprah Winfrey is a great actress. When I first saw "The Color Purple" I thought that her role as Sofia was one of the most remarkable performances I have ever seen. It has been twenty-one years since that role and no one has toppled her from that top berth.
Chad Everett is not a great actor but a really good one. For those not born last millennium, Chad Everett played Dr. Joe Gannon on the television series "Medical Center" from 1969-1976. Interestingly, the timing of the closing of the show coincides with when Medicare started ratcheting down payments and managed care started growing. It seems Dr. Gannon got out just in time.
There is a huge difference though. Everett's most famous quote "I am not a doctor, but I play one on TV" is a subtle but real disclaimer. Many people, though actually believe that Oprah either is a doctor or has the same amount of medical validity as a doctor. She is many things. She is many amazing things. She is a remarkable actress. She is a true leader. She is a great media innovator. She is not a doctor. She isn't even close. When she parades one health tip after another on her show you might as well sign up for cyanide. It has the same validity.
Recently, she had a show on a dermatologic technique. I know this, not because I watch her show - not because I actually have a life but I am sometimes busy when it airs - but because the NY Times had a full page article on the issues surrounding her "reporting" of this cosmetic technique. It seems that there are quite a few complications associated with this technique. This conveniently was left out of her show. Some dermatology experts pointed this out in the article.
Big deal I say. Oprah isn't wrong.
Wait a minute Dr. K., I thought you were gearing this article up to bash Oprah reporting irresponsibly about a medical procedure. No way, Jose. Oprah is OK in my book, Why? BECAUSE SHE IS NOT A DOCTOR!
She knows she is not a doctor, I know she is not a doctor, and the rest of the world should know it too. There are only two freakin' idiots in this equation - the people who watch her and then flock to get this cosmetic crappy procedure without consulting a reasonable doctor and worse, the doctors who decide to perform this procedure because they want to ride the wave of popularity and cash in.
Oprah is cool. She isn't supposed to do a balanced, super study on the pros and cons of everything presented on her show. HELLLLLLO - It's her show. She can say what she wants.
If she told you to suck on an Anthrax PEZ would you go out to the Al Qaeda Convenience store and load up? Of course, not. She is not the problem but you are if you do not perform due diligence and properly check out all you see on TV and read on the Internet.
If you blindly sign up to something medical you saw on the Oprah show and your skin slid down like hot fudge on an ice cream cone then you deserve it. End discussion. Go Oprah!
We cannot be so kind to the scores of doctors who offer snake oil procedures that offer the same relative integrity that a Pocket Fisherman has to true deep sea fishing gear. While Oprah is not a doctor- these people are.
A doctor is a professional who is granted a license to behave in the public trust. When the scum of Enron, Worldcom, Adelphia, Tyco and others rip off the public it is business. They are not professionals. We almost expect them to be lower than the common rat and they rarely disappoint us.
But a doctor must stem the tide of the public's zeal for quick and easy fixes and solutions that are not based in data and have complications hidden from public view. It is the doctors that rapidly adopted, without giving patients full informed consent of possible hazards, the cosmetic dermatologic procedures shown on the Oprah that failed the public trust.
We all should be better than that. That is the concept of the public trust. Doctors are given a great gift. It is a privilege and honor to have the opportunity to care for another person in the intimate ways we do. We can't be perfect but we need to try to think of medical solutions that are in the best interests of our patients- all the time.
Dr. K.
Related Topics: Plastic Surgery: It's Not Always A Fairy-Tale Ending (WebMD Video), Who Gets Plastic Surgery and Why
Technorati Tags: oprah winfrey, plastic surgery, medical practice
3 Comments:
I wholeheartedly agree with this post. Oprah has WAY too much influence, but that's the fault of the dumb schmucks who listen to her.
True. People these days need to take responsibility for their medical care and not just go with what's popular. It's the "Well, it all natural" thing that really gets me. People take vitamins and herbs without really checking all the pros and cons. Lots of herbs interact with medications or shouldn't be taken if a person has certain medical conditions, but people take them because they're "natural," right?
Who's fault is it if you don't look into the "natural solutions" before taking them? The same person who needs to evaluate their doctor's recommendation in the same way.
Kudos to the person who said "Oprah has WAY too much influence". Women treat her as if she is a god. Wake up people! She is a person who just got lucky in what she does. True, she gives a lot of money to charities but she wants her publicity for that. The true philanthropist gives money also but does not want or need the limelight that he/she gave but feels great about it. Oprah NEEDS and WANTS all the exposure of what she donates. That is the big difference! You get it now??
Simple Simon
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