Garcinia cambogia extract, the diet supplement advocated by Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2012 on his health show 'Dr. Oz', has seen a rebirth in stores after two years, in spite of the star's Senate hearing on consumer protection. The supplement, which was recommended by the star physician, was said to be the "simple solution you've been looking for to bust your body fat for good", in the words of Dr. Oz.
After a well-publicized Senate hearing last June, Dr. Oz's credibility was shaken and even became the subject of a racy monologue of HBO's late night show 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver'. In both instances, he was accused of using his medical degree and television popularity to favor diet supplements that have not been scientifically proven to work and could even be harmful to consumers.
Mary Engle of the Federal Trade Commission criticized the doctor for calling a product "magic" and a "miracle", stating that there was no scientific evidence to support these claims and that consumers would quickly trust the opinion of a well-respected public figure without necessarily checking facts.
Last Monday, the maker of the so-called "magic" product, green coffee extract, was charged $3.5 million by the Federal Trade Commission for marketing the aforementioned product by basing their claims on unsubstantiated science.
The FDT alleges that the company, Austin-based Applied Food Sciences, used the results of a flawed study to push forward the marketing strategy for their product; the Federal Trade Commission goes so far as to even claiming that the study's lead investigator repeatedly altered the weight of the subjects and misstated which subjects were taking the placebo and which others had been provided with the green coffee extract.
This is part of the FDA's recent fight against unscientific drugs being put forward by fake reporting and misleading marketing.
