Dr. Oz — The Senate's Favorite Snake Oil Salesman

Mehmet Oz, once a respected cardiac surgeon at Columbia, transformed into a controversial TV host with The Dr. Oz Show, where a 2014 BMJ study found only 33% of his on-air recommendations were evidence-based. He promoted green coffee bean extract, raspberry ketones, and garcinia cambogia—each debunked yet each generating millions in supplement sales for unrelated companies. After being scolded by Congress in 2014 for being 'complicit in this scam,' Oz ran for U.S. Senate and lost. Unlike The Honest Company (rank #4), Oz never faced a product recall—just reputational damage.