Dr. Oz Gets Sued, Twitter Not Surprised
Dr. Oz was sued today after a man was injured trying a home sleep remedy. Some people blamed the man, Frank Dietl, for ignoring previous health problems while others said that it was only a matter of time until Dr. Oz was sued.
But before we get into who’s to blame, let’s look at what happened.
On April 19, Dr. Oz told viewers of an amazing cure to insomnia. The television doctor said that filling a sock with some rice, placing it in the microwave, and then placing it on your foot could help people fall asleep.
Dr. Oz explained how the remedy worked by saying: “You do this and lie for about 20 minutes with those socks on in bed. The heat will divert blood to your feet. When your feet get hot, guess what happens to your body? It gets cold. Your body will automatically adjust its core temperature and as it gets cooler, you’re going to be able to sleep better because your body has to be cold in order to get sleepy.”
Dr. Oz warned people not to let the sock get too hot, but he failed to mention that the sleep method could be detrimental to people who have neuropathy. Why neuropathy, you ask? Frank Dietl, the man who sued Dr. Oz, said that he doesn’t have much feeling in his in foot because he suffers from neuropathy. When Dietl tried the home remedy, he ended up with third degree burns.
So, who’s to blame?
Should Frank Dietl know not to place hot objects on his desensitized feet? Should Dr. Oz know not to recommend potentially dangerous home remedies to his TV audience?
There seem to be two trains of thoughts at the moment. Some, like Melissa Stewart, believe that an “idiot clause would stop all lawsuits.
We need an “idiot clause” so we can throw out stupid lawsuits -> ! ‘Dr. Oz’ sued for ‘knap-sack heated footsie’ tip newsday.com/dr-oz-show-sue…
— Melissa Stewart (@MelissaOnline) March 19, 2013
Others, like Eric Benchimol, think that Dr. Oz has been toying with fate by recommending strange home remedies to his audience.
Dr. Oz sued over foot remedy. What? Something he recommended didn’t work and might be harmful? No! </sarcasm> jam.canoe.ca/Television/201…
— Eric Benchimol (@ericbenchimol) March 19, 2013
What do you think? Do people need to take responsibility for their own actions?
Amazes me people don’t take some responsibility for their own decisions and actions..common sense??? tvguide.com/News/Dr-Oz-Sue… via @tvguide
— brenda jolly (@brenda_jolly) March 20, 2013
Or was Dr. Oz playing with fate with his home remedies.
Dr.Oz has been sued! I knew it would not be long before he would be sued for something ….
— Garry Briggs #NFB (@Gbriggs12) March 19, 2013
The good television doctor hasn’t commented on the lawsuit yet.
You can read more about the Dr. Oz lawsuit here.
