Former television presenter and author Mehmet Oz, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's choice to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spoke at a "fireside chat" for the "Action for Progress" initiative in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
During his remarks, Oz stated that rural communities would benefit from having AI avatars stand in for doctors. The Trump administration passed a law dramatically reducing funding for rural hospitals, which are already understaffed.
Oz said:
"There's no question about it, whether you want it or not ... the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars."
You can see his comments here:
The multimillionaire has also said healthcare is a privilege, not a right, and suggested more people go to work immediately out of high school and retire later to eliminate the national debt.
Oz's suggestions were met with outrage and ridicule.
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Oz was trained as a cardiothoracic surgeon and worked as a professor, but the majority of his wealth came from his wife's family fortune and his sales and endorsements of supplements that have been described as "snake oil" and "pseudoscience quackery."
