Health Highlights: June 18, 2014

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Health Warning on Sugary Drinks Rejected by California Lawmakers

California lawmakers defeated a bill that would have made the state the first in the nation to require a health warning label on sodas and other sugary drinks.

The proposed label was developed by public health advocates, who used cigarette and alcohol warnings as a model, the Associated Press reported.

The label would have read: “STATE OF CALIFORNIA SAFETY WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.”

The beverage industry said the label was unfair because it did not apply to other foods and beverages. The bill was defeated because many lawmakers doubted it would change consumer behavior, the AP reported.

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Dr. Oz Rebuked at Senate Hearing Into Fake Diet Products

Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz was raked over the coals Tuesday at a U.S. Senate hearing into the marketing of fake diet products.

Senators said Oz — who often touts the virtues of weight-loss products on his syndicated television show — bears a large measure of responsibility for the problem. Oz countered by saying he himself was the victim of the scammers, NBC News reported.

However, Oz’s claim was dismissed by Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat who chairs a Senate subcommittee on consumer protection.

“I don’t get why you need to say this stuff because you know it’s not true,” McCaskill said at the hearing, NBC News reported. “So why, when you have this amazing megaphone, why would you cheapen your show by saying things like that?”

She accused Oz of playing a role in perpetuating diet scams.

“When you feature a product on your show it creates what has become known as the ‘Dr. Oz Effect’ — dramatically boosting sales and driving scam artists to pop up overnight using false and deceptive ads to sell questionable products,” McCaskill said.

“While I understand that your message is occasionally focused on basics like healthy eating and exercise, I am concerned that you are melding medical advice, news, and entertainment in a way that harms consumers,” she added.

Oz acknowledged that he uses “flowery” language on his shows and knows that when he recommends a diet product, scammers use his words to sell bogus products, NBC News reported. The diet products he recommends give hope to people trying to lose weight, according to Oz.

“I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about on the show,” he said. “I recognize that oftentimes they don’t have the scientific muster to pass as fact. I have given my family these products.”

The Senate hearing is a follow-up to January’s Federal Trade Commission crackdown on bogus diet products, NBC News reported. Oz has a huge impact on the marketing of such products, the FTC’s Mary Koelbel Engle told the hearing.

“For instance, within weeks of an April 2012 Dr. Oz Show touting green coffee bean extract as a miracle fat burning pill that works for everyone, the marketers of the Pure Green Coffee dietary supplement took to the Internet making overblown claims — like ‘lose 20 pounds in four weeks’ and ‘lose 20 pounds and two to four inches of belly fat in two to three months’ — for their dietary supplement,” she said.

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