Dr. Oz Sued over ‘Heated Rice Footsie’
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Desiree Navarro/WireImage(NEW YORK) — TV’s Dr. Oz is facing a lawsuit stemming from an insomnia cure he shared on his talk show last April.
Frank Dietl, a 76-year-old man from New Jersey, claims he suffered third-degree burns on his feet after following Dr. Mehmet Oz’s advice to wear a “knapsack heated rice footsie,” according to the New York Daily News.
The so-called footsie is a pair of socks with uncooked rice tucked into the toe section, heated in a microwave. Oz suggested that those battling insomnia could wear the heated footsie in bed for about 20 minutes, which would cause the rest of the body to cool down and thus allow it to more easily fall asleep.
The problem with that tip, Dietl claims, is that he suffers from neuropathy, or numbness in his feet, due to diabetes, and Oz did not issue proper warnings regarding the footsie. Dietl says he wore a footsie, but didn’t initially realize how hot it was.
Harpo Productions, the Oprah Winfrey company that produces The Dr. Oz Show, tells the Daily News it cannot comment on the lawsuit until it reviews the complaint, but adds, “[W]e stand by the content in our program as safe and educational for our viewers.”
Dietl is the brother of Bo Dietl, a former New York detective who’s appeared in Arby’s commercials.
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