Mehmet Cengiz Öz

Mehmet Cengiz Öz, M.D., (born 11 June 1960 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA) was born in the United States to Turkish Muslim immigrant parents. As one would expect, he likely was circumcised as a child in accordance with Turkish and Muslim practice. He is fluent in both Turkish and English. Öz has dual citizenship in both Turkey and the United States.

He is a physician and heart surgeon, but retired to become a television personality after an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show and had his own daytime television show for many years. His show was called Dr. Oz. It had to be cancelled when he entered politics.

Mehmet Öz is classified as a circumcised doctor. It is typical for circumcised doctors to have little knowledge or understanding of the foreskinned penis — a normal body part.

Politics

Dr. Öz entered politics in 2022 when he ran as a Republican in Pennsylvania for the United States Senate. He lost to Democrat John Fetterman.

Nomination

President-elect Donald J. Trump has nominated Öz to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. If his nomination is approved by the United States Senate, then he would report to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr.

Conflicts of interest

National Public Radio (NPR) reported that Dr. Öz., who is quite wealthy, has "invested a substantial part of his wealth in health care and food firms", which may give him a conflict-of interest.

Views on child circumcision

Mehmet Öz collaborated with Michael F. Roizen to write a book about having a baby. In that book they stated with regard to circumcision of newborn infant boys:

Early in a baby's life there are some things that you absolutely have to cut, like the umbilical cord and his fingernails. And there are some things you don't have to cut; his hair, for instance. Also falling into the latter category: foreskin.

Here's what we can tell you. Looking at the research, there does seem to be some evidence that circumcision reduces certain infections, including HIV and other STDs (and reduces transmission of STDs to partners many years hence). But there are no strong data to show that it must or must not be done; its an elective procedure, after all. Most parents make the decision based on religious and cultural customs, as well as the simple "what pop looks like" or "what he'll look like in the locker room" arguments.

Professor Jonathan A. Allan, in his stunning new review of circumcision culture observed:

The foreskin here is likened to hair and fingernails rather than say skin to which it is actually similar. Additionally, the authors ignore a vital difference: both fingernails and hair continue to grow, while the removal of the foreskin is complete and permanent. The foreskin here is no more like fingernails than finger are. Experts do not recommend the amputation of fingers because fingernails are susceptible to hangnails or becoming ingrown. The authors of the book (which include television personality Dr. Oz) inform readers than in one fashion or another a choice will have to be made, but that choice is not terrible serious. They treat the matter almost flippantly. After all, the foreskin, in this rendering, is not terribly important: Keep it, don't keep it, doesn't matter. That is the choice is almost inconsequential, like cutting fingernails or hair. In essence they understand circumcision as a choice about style rather than substance. The problem is that there is little consideration of what the foreskin does or why it might matter.

The comments on circumcision by Drs. Roizen & Öz are illustrative of a problem that plagues American pediatric medicine. American males have been largely circumcised at birth for several generations so when they became medical doctors they also become circumcised doctors, who usually are completely ignorant of the sixteen functions of the human foreskin, Roizen & Öz make no mention of the extreme pain, the physical and psychic trauma, the possible risks_and_complications of surgery, the violation of human rights of the child, or the medical ethics of amputating a normal, healthy body part from a fellow human being without consent of the patient. Goldman (2004) argued that there is much inappropriate bias in favor of child circumcision among American health care professionals. that certainly applies to the work of Roizen & Öz.

Video

Youtube maintains a very large collection of videos on a wide variety of subjects by and about Dr. Öz.

Publications

A search at PUBMED found 372 articles of which Dr. Öz was a listed author. All are in the field of cardiovascular medical science. Dr. Öz has not published regarding the foreskin, circumcision, or genital integrity.

See also

• Circumcised
• Islam
• United States of America

External links

• Official website. Retrieved 21 November 2024
• Wikipedia article: Mehmet Oz