Since 2023, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor who has been nominated by President Trump to lead centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an expensive pitchman for Iherb, a supplement retailer in California.
He has promoted Iherb products aggressively on social media, and recommends supplements that he says they will stimulate hair growth and offer a smoother skin. Olive oil, which Iherb sells, he said, “maybe it can actually help with Alzheimer's.”
It appears that Dr. OZ is also a large investor in the supplement company, according to the registrations released on Wednesday by the Office of Government Ethics.
Dr. OZ promised to sell the vast majority of his holdings of millions of dollars, which are varied and include investments in numerous health care companies and two artificial intelligence companies.
But the fate of his Iherb -Holding, one of the largest in his portfolio and appreciated for a non -specific figure in the reach of $ 5 million to $ 25 million, is unclear, according to experts who have assessed his forms of disclosure.
In one application, Dr. promised OZ to emit his Iherb companies “as quickly as possible, but no later than 90 days after confirmation” by the Senate to the Government Post.
In another publication of the government, he repeated that language, but then kept the possibility open that even once he is at the helm of the agency, he can retain what Iherb shares until the company is publicly or is purchased. Each of those events can cause the shares to rise and result in a windfall for Dr. Oz.
Kathleen Clark, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, who specializes in the ethics of the government, said that the conflicting language in the disclosure was vague about whether he would sell his participations. “It is poorly prepared and unclear,” she said, noticed that it even contained a typographic error.
Richard W. Painter, a former ethical officer on the board of George W. Bush, said that the wording was ambiguous. “I can't find out if he's going to sell or not,” he said.
Dr. OZ, 64, also indicated in the archives that he would retain a financial interest in an entity called Iherb OZ Partners LLC, founded in 2023 when he became the pitchman of the company. What the entity does is unknown, and that is also whether it has a separate property interest in Iherb.
Christopher Krepich, a spokesperson for Dr. Oz, refused to discuss the apparent discrepancy.
Dr. Oz, a heart surgeon who became famous as a host of a TV show during the day who ran for 13 seasons, is often criticized for supporting questionable medical treatments and for promoting products in his show. He ran in vain for the Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022.
His financial files underline how rich Dr. Oz and his family are, with assets somewhere near around $ 90 million to $ 335 million. Lisa Oz, his wife, is one of the countless heirs of one of the largest private companies in the country, ASPLUNDH Tree Expert, who offers tree pain and related services for utilities and municipalities. It is impossible to determine the net value of the pair, because the financial disclosure forms allow that estimates of assets values can be stated under a wide range.
Dr. OZ is preparing for his confirmation hearing for the Senate Finance Committee and met various legislators in Washington. The panel has not set a date for his testimony, but this is expected to do this in the coming weeks now his financial and ethical articles have been submitted to the committee.
His investments in Iherb and in other health care companies are probably a focus for some legislators. As the best Medicare officer in the country, he was able to draw up on private plans that offer insurance under the federal program to increase their coverage of vitamins and supplements that are sold by Iherb and others.
Dr. OZ mentioned dozens of investments, including in health care companies that do business with the US government, of which he said he would end his associations and repel. Among those companies are UnitedHealth Group, the conglomerate that sells private insurance plans for older adults on Medicare, pharmaceutical giants such as Abbvie and Eli Lilly, the HCA HealthCare hospital chain and the Supplement Company Pantheryx.
In the new files, Dr. OZ also his role as a consultant for three health care companies: EKO Health, the maker of digital stethoscopes; Housey Pharma; and Cardiology Partners, a cardiology practice in Florida. In the ethical agreement of the government, he said that if he confirmed that he would resign from his role in those companies and his participations in them.
He also said that he was planning to dispose of his shares in various major technology companies, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. He has Bitcoin with a value of no less than $ 1 million. It was not one of the assets mentioned in the archives he would sell.
