Researchers behind a study of green coffee bean extract as a weight-loss supplement, which was endorsed by Dr Oz, have admitted the data was bogus.
The scientists, Joe Vinson and Bryan Burnham, have since withdrawn the research paper that they were paid to write from the medical community.
In a statement published last week, they said: 'The sponsors of the study cannot assure the validity of the data so we, Joe Vinson and Bryan Burnham, are retracting the paper.'
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Dr Mehmet Oz, surgeon and TV star, promoted green coffee bean extract on his show in 2012 (pictured) - researchers behind a study of the extract, used in diet pills, admitted last week they could not prove the data
Dr Mehmet Oz, host of the Dr Oz Show, testifies at a Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in June. He told the Senate hearing that he has never endorsed specific health supplements or received money from the sale of supplements
The study had extolled the benefits of green coffee bean extract in helping people lose weight without going on a diet or doing any exercise.
However, federal regulators discovered that data, including weight measurements, appeared to have been tampered with, CBS reported.
The study first appeared in the journal of Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, back in 2012.
Dr Mehmet Oz promoted the weight-loss product on his widely-syndicated TV show in May 2012 - which helped one manufacturer flog half a million bottles.
In June, Dr Oz appeared before the Senate's consumer protection panel and was scolded by Chairman Claire McCaskill for claims he made about weight-loss aids on The Dr Oz Show.
The cardiothoracic surgeon, acknowledged that his language about green coffee and other supplements has been 'flowery' and promised to publish a list of specific products he thinks can help America shed pounds and get healthy - beyond eating less and moving more.
On his show, he never endorsed specific companies or brands but more generally praised some health supplements as fat busters.
Senator McCaskill took Oz to task for a 2012 show in which he proclaimed that green coffee bean extract was a 'magic weight loss cure for every body type'.
'I get that you do a lot of good on your show,' McCaskill told Oz, but 'I don't get why you need to say this stuff because you know it's not true.'
Oz insisted he believes in the supplements he talks about on his show as short-term crutches and even has his family try them.
Following Dr Oz's comments about green coffee, some manufacturers jumped on the marketing bandwagon and created dietary supplements
The cardiothoracic surgeon, acknowledged that his language about green coffee and other supplements has been 'flowery' on The Dr Oz Show (pictured)
He said his job on the show is to be a 'cheerleader' for his audience, one who offers hope even if that means looking to alternative healing traditions and any evidence that might support them.
But Oz did agree that there's no long-term miracle pill out there without diet and exercise.
Within weeks of Oz's comments about green coffee - which refers to the unroasted seeds or beans of coffee - a Florida-based operation began marketing a dietary supplement called Pure Green Coffee, with claims that the chlorogenic acid found in the beans could help people lose 17 pounds and cut body fat by 16 per cent in 22 weeks.
The company, according to federal regulators, featured footage from The Dr Oz Show to sell its supplement. Oz has no association with the company and received no money from sales.
In May 2014, the Federal Trade Commission sued the sellers behind Pure Green Coffee and accused them of making bogus claims and deceiving consumers.
Oz stressed during the hearing that he has never endorsed specific health supplements or received money from the sale of supplements. Nor has he allowed his image to be used in ads for supplements, he said.
'If you see my name, face or show in any type of ad, email or other circumstance,' Oz testified, 'it's illegal' - and not anything he has endorsed.
He hasn't allowed his name to be associated with specific brands, he said, because of ethical concerns he has about doctors making endorsements of health products.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2801728/Dr-Oz-endorsed-weight-loss-supplement-study-fake-researchers-admit.html#ixzz3GneGJIux
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