While of course there are lots of bad doctors out there, it's stories like this one that make my blood boil.
What's the story?
Well it's about an enterprising young physician named Dr. Alexander Hughes.
According to Dr. Hughes' publicist Kelly Striewski of B|W|R Public Relations (whose assistant Logan Hayes kindly emailed me the story and clearly didn't bother to spend even a moment reading my blog to see what I'm all about), Dr. Hughes is "attractive" and "young", and apparently he's also created a line of functional drinks (called unimaginatively "Function Drinks") that prominently report on their labels, "Created by Physicians" and purport to do all sorts off wondrous things.
So who's Dr. Alexander Hughes?
According to his employer the New York's Hospital for Special Surgery, Dr. Alexander Hughes is an assistant attending orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the surgical management of traumatic, degenerative, and deformity-related conditions of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbosacral spine. His website also provides a long list of conditions and disorders with which he's familiar.
Not shockingly for a spinal surgeon, but surprising given the drinks he's peddling, nutrition's not one of them.
Interestingly his profile reports that he has "special expertise" in, "enhancing patient experience and outcomes through innovation and clinical research.".
So does his publication list include any clinical research having to do with nutrition or functional ingredients?
Nope.
Yet his Function Drinks - Urban Detox, Light Weight, Shock Sports and Alternative Energy, all sold explicitly on the back of Dr. Hughes' medical degree, apparently contain functional ingredients that will cure hangovers, burn fat, block sweet food cravings, "scrub smog", "speed your natural recovery", release energy and, "support proper circulation".
How a physician who purports to care about research is comfortable selling sugar water with fancy sounding ingredients with clinically unsubstantiated promises is beyond me. So too is how he can look his colleagues in the eyes and why the Hospital for Special Surgery, regardless of his surgical skill, wants a physician like that on their roster.
I also wonder whether or not his enterprise is even kosher as I'm pretty sure that here in Canada, were I to pimp out my degree on products making non-evidence based health claims, I would be censured by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and forced to take my name and degree off of those products immediately lest I lose my license to practice medicine.
Remember folks, just because someone has a medical degree, it doesn't mean you should inherently trust them.
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Well done for picking up on this. This handsome young doctor belongs in the same quackery basket as other medicos who tout detoxs and so on.
ReplyDeleteBut he is obviously a fake. What about the surgeon on a program I watched last night? 'Britain's Fattest Man' about a grossly obese man who needed surgery. His surgeon had several to-camera pieces about the causes of obesity, not one of which was clinically accurate. Yeah, so the guy can do bariatric surgery - but why does that make him an expert on nutrition?
Also, according to his hospital's website, "As of February 09, 2010, Dr. Hughes reported no financial interest relationships with healthcare industry."
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, according to Function Drinks' Facebook page, the company was founded in 2004, and Dr. Hughes is a co-founder. Hmm... methinks he may not have declared his relationship with industry to his hospital!
When I see the word detox, I run for the hills and hold on tight to my wallet.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great way to make money, but a certain scam.
Wow, this is terrible. Unfortunately I know people will drink this based on the doctors recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThe word of an M.D. carries a LOT of weight with the general public, so this sort of thing is beyond despicable.
ReplyDeleteMedical moonlighting is nothing new however - recently Consumer Reports published an article discussing the many inconsistencies with "doctor recommended" products, which included a psychiatry resident pitching a fat loss supplement and
a OB-GYN endorsing Heavy Air shoes for weight loss.
Using your status for financial gain is nothing new under the sun, I am afraid.
He's basically using his title to sell his product and the sheeple out there will rarely question his creditability.
ReplyDeleteEasy to judge when one isnt in the know. I happen to know this young physician,infact for several years. I have never once heard him mention, let alone peddle this product. He happens to be an excellent surgeon as well. So why crucify him for a product he helped create years several years ago...?
ReplyDelete