Dr. Oz Appears to Violate FTC Influencer Marketing Rules with iHerb Social Media Ads

December 3, 2024

Dr. Oz Appears to Violate FTC Influencer Marketing Rules with iHerb Social Media Ads

Washington, D.C. - Today, Public Citizen sent a letterto the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging the Bureau of Consumer Protection to investigate whether Dr. Mehmet Oz, President-elect Trump's nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), has violated FTC policy on undisclosed endorsements and influencer marketing.

The letter cites several examples of social media posts from Dr. Oz, a former talk show host with millions of social media followers, touting products from iHerb, a supplement company for which he is a global advisor. Although Dr. Oz discloses that he is an "@iHerb Global Advisor & Stakeholder" in his Instagram and Twitter/X bios, many of his individual posts do not disclose his financial connections to the company or use other disclosures such as #ad. As the letter explains, FTC guidelines are clear that endorsement disclosures must be made in every promotion, not just generically.

"The FTC's influencer rules are clear, straightforward and necessary to protect consumers from unfair ads that may appear to be unbiased advice when in fact they are paid endorsements," said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen and the author of the letter to the FTC."Dr. Oz's apparent violations of these standards must be immediately investigated - and, as a prospective nominee to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, he should be asked to explain why he failed to follow FTC rules and if he thinks it matters.

"Dr. Oz is poised to run the nation's Medicare and Medicaid system," said Weissman. That is a position of trust which, among other things, requires protecting taxpayers from fraudsters and scammers. If Dr. Oz is careless about fair advertising rules himself, can we expect him to crack down on those who would bilk Medicare?"

Read the full letter to the FTC here. To speak with an expert, contact [email protected].