Dr. Oz Apologizes After Suggesting Deaths Of U.S. School Kids Would Be Acceptable, #FireDrOz Trends

TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz has apologized after coming under fire for a Tuesday interview on Fox News’ Hannity, where he suggested that schools should reopen even if that meant losing people’s lives.

“We need our mojo back,” he said to Sean Hannity. “Let’s start with things that are really critical to the nation where we think we might be able to open without getting into a lot of trouble. I tell you, schools are a very appetizing opportunity.

He continued, “I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing that the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3 percent in terms of total mortality. You know, that’s — any life is a life lost, but to get every child back into a school where they’re safely being educated, being fed, and making the most out of their lives, with the theoretical risk on the backside, it might be a trade-off some folks would consider.”

The clip began to circulate on the internet and viewers reacted strongly to the segment — #FireDrOz was one of the top trending hastags on Twitter on Thursday.

On Thursday Dr. Oz posted an apology video to Twitter saying, “I’ve realized my comments on risks around opening schools have confused and upset people, which was never my intention. I mispoke.”

He went on to say, “We know that for many kids school is a place of security, nutrition and learning that is missing right now. These are issues we are all wrestling with. And I will continue looking for solutions to beat this virus.”

Another famous TV doctor psychologist Phil McGraw, also known as Dr. Phil, has come under fire for his comments on Fox News’ The Ingrahm Angle.

“We have people dying, 45,000 people a year die from automobile accidents, 480,000 from cigarettes, 360,000 from swimming pools, but we don’t shut the country down for that,” Dr. Phil told Laura Ingrahm.

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