Trump Taps TV's Dr. Oz To Head Massive Medicare, Medicaid Agency

President-elect Donald Trump nominated TV's "Dr. Oz" on Tuesday to head the federal agency that spends nearly one-quarter of the federal budget to provide health care to about half the country.

In a statement posted on his social media website, Trump said Dr. Mehmet Oz was his choice to be the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS.

"Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing Disease Prevention, so we get the best results for every dollar on Healthcare in our Great County," Trump posted.

Trump also touted the nine Daytime Emmy Awards that Oz won for hosting "The Dr. Oz Show," on which Trump claimed "he taught millions of Americans to make healthier lifestyle choices."

A 2017 paper published by the American Medical Association's Journal of Ethics said Oz, who's marketed himself as "America's Doctor," was a "dangerous rogue" and "unfit" for that role.

It cited a study that found 39% of 80 medical recommendations he made on "The Dr. Oz Show" in early 2013 weren't supported by published evidence and 15% were contradicted by it, among other accusations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he regularly appeared on Fox News and promoted unproven treatments including hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug whose use was also backed by Trump, according to Reuters.

The Food and Drug Administration determined that hydroxychloroquine was neither safe nor effective in treating COVID-19 and warned that it could cause abnormal heart rhythms, especially when combined with other medicines.

Trump said that Oz, who lost a 2022 race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, would "work closely" with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, has been called a "purveyor of health misinformation," by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center.

The anti-Trump Lincoln Project mocked Oz's appointment with a social media post that compared him to a cartoon character from TV's "The Simpsons."

"Name a better qualified doctor than Dr. Oz, we'll go first," the post said above an image of quack surgeon Dr. Nick Riviera standing in front of a "nutrition pyramid" composed of sweets, snacks and a glass full of bacon grease.

The CMS serves more than 160 million Americans by overseeing Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Health Insurance Marketplace for so-called Obamacare coverage. Those programs cost a combined $1.6 trillion, which is about 25% of the federal budget, according to CNBC.