Watchdog group asks the FTC to investigate Dr. Oz’s influencer marketing

A nonprofit consumer advocacy group asked the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday to investigate Mehmet Oz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, regarding accusations he failed to properly disclose his financial ties to a supplement company he markets on social media.

The liberal watchdog group Public Citizen sent a letter to the FTC following reporting by The Washington Post about Oz’s business ties to health and wellness companies whose fortunes he could have a hand in influencing if he is confirmed to run two of the government’s largest taxpayer funded programs.

Since Oz, a well-known television doctor and cardiothoracic surgeon, was named a “global advisor and stakeholder” for e-commerce supplement company iHerb in October 2023, he has heavily promoted the company across his social media accounts, including in at least 24 TikTok posts, 25 Instagram reels, 20 tweets and 20 Facebook posts, according to a Post review.

In most of Oz’s iHerb posts on Instagram, Facebook and X, he does not disclose any association with the company, as required by the FTC. Instead, Oz, who spent more than a dozen years headlining “The Dr. Oz Show,” describes himself as “@iHerb Global Advisor & Stakeholder” on his Instagram, X and TikTok bios. He also tags the company’s social media account in the posts.

Just two Instagram reels include “#ad” in the video description. On TikTok, many of his videos promoting iHerb products have included direct links to buy the items on TikTok Shop along with a “Creator earns commission” tag that typically accompanies the product links. Neither method is typically considered sufficient disclosure by the FTC.

Nick Clemens, a Trump-Vance transition spokesman for Oz, declined to comment on Public Citizen’s allegations, but said Oz plans to work with the Office of Government Ethics and comply with ethics laws.

According to the FTC, social media posts must make any formal relationships to a promoted brand or product immediately clear to viewers, especially in video-based platforms. The disclosures should be apparent within social media videos themselves as well as in the accompanying descriptions, according to warning letters unrelated to Oz that the FTC sent to dietitian influencers and trade groups last fall. Creators cannot rely solely on tagging companies or using hashtags like “#ad” in captions.

“Consumers should be able to notice the disclosure easily, and not have to look for it,” the agency wrote in its warning letters.

If influencers are not disclosing that their endorsements are influenced by monetary interests, consumers are being deceived and unfairly marketed to, said Robert Weissman, Public Citizen co-president.

[Potential conflicts of interest may haunt Oz’s confirmation to run Medicare, Medicaid]

Oz should follow the law, especially as someone who may soon be in charge of health care programs that confront fraud and unfair billing, Weissman argued.

“He’s not modeling the behavior of someone who is going to be attentive to those systemic concerns,” Weissman said.

Experts, however, said they doubt the FTC will investigate Oz because under FTC guidelines, disclosures are not required if the audience understands the relationship between the influencer and the company whose products are being recommended.

“I think it would be a tough case for the FTC to bring against him,” said Damon Wright, an advertising and e-commerce lawyer at GRSM50, because Oz’s social media profile includes his connection to iHerb. “It would still be smarter and safer for him to identify his connection to iHerb in each post.”

An FTC spokesman declined to comment Tuesday on the Public Citizen letter about Oz.

Oz, who has more than 11.3 million followers across his Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X accounts, has pushed iHerb products that he claims help with “cellular aging,” reduce stress and improve “brain power.” About 40 percent of his TikTok posts since October 2023 are promotions for iHerb, The Post found. Critics say he has a long history of promoting products whose health benefits medical experts have repeatedly questioned. iHerb did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oz has continued to promote iHerb following Trump’s announcement of Oz as his pick to lead CMS. Last week, Oz told his millions of TikTok, X and Instagram followers to take the company’s ashwagandha supplements to help them reduce Thanksgiving stress.

That he would do so after Trump’s announcement was especially egregious, Weissman said.

“Incessant marketing is part of who he is, part of what he does,” Weissman said. “It didn’t occur to him that he’s poised to take a really important public health position, that it was time to cease the marketing.”