I'm sorry for Frank Dietrl. Really, I am. Third-degree burns are no fun, particularly on one's feet, and apparently 76-year-old Dietril ended up with just such burns after using the "knapsack heated rice footsie" recommended by Dr. Oz on a segment of his show called "Dr. Oz's 24-Hour Energy Boost." What are knapsack heated rice footsies, you ask? According to Dr. Oz, they're easy to make: Just fill the toes of a pair of socks with uncooked rice, warm up the socks in the microwave and put them on for approximately 20 minutes. But no longer!
Deitrl either ignored or misheard the doctor's advice, because he kept his heated socks on all night. A bad, bad plan. So now Dietrl is suing Dr. Oz for third-degree burn-related damages, even though Dr. Oz was careful to warn viewers against allowing the socks to get TOO hot and/or wearing the socks for longer than 20 minutes.
But even if Oz hadn't gone out of his way to warn viewers what NOT to do, shouldn't all or most "home remedies" be taken with a grain of salt (and administered with caution)?
Apparently Dietrl suffers from neuropathy, a numbness of the feet caused by diabetes which, he says, prevented him from feeling the intensity of the heated socks until it was too late. Fair enough, but he could've followed the directions and/or listened more closely! And I guess that's the take home message for the rest of us -- while prescription drugs are supposedly regulated for our safety, the FDA isn't all up in Nana's grill whenever she makes you her famous chicken soup or calming chamomile tea or whatever else. Would this guy sue his Nana, too, if he burned his tonuge on the tea she made for him? Probably. But the point is, we all have to take a little responsibilty for our own health decisions -- and we all have to cultivate a better sense of self-preservation, I guess.
Would you sue the Dr. Oz show because you hurt yourself by NOT following his directions?
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Comments 18
I have feeling in my feet and I still wouldn't stick them in microwaved rice without stirring it around with my finger first to see how hot it was. I think the show does that standard "this shouldn't replace a doctors advice" or "consult your doctor before trying" disclaimer at the end; seems like they all do that. Even so it's just common sense, check the temperature. And even if you do check the temp like you should if you know you can't feel things in your feet maybe don't leave them on all night no matter how hot or cool they felt.
of course you sue, it's the american way right? no one is ever responsible for their own actions if it results in harm!...............What causes me the most angst is that licensed attornies are involved in these type of cases. If the law industry would just say "no we aren't going to help you" these type of suits would go away.
I agree with Roxamme Regan...there is just to much crap that he promotes on his show. Basically that is all it is now. I no longer watch it.