A viral clip shows Dr. Mehmet Oz outlining what he describes as “shocking” levels of hospice fraud in California. According to the post, Oz says authorities have suspended or shut down 221 hospice providers in Los Angeles in about 10 weeks, after only a handful were closed statewide in recent years. He also claims investigators uncovered kickback schemes, false billing, and other alleged abuses, drawing intense online debate over California’s oversight of the industry.
The post was shared on X by an account @WallStreetApes. It featured a video of Dr. Mehmet Oz discussing hospice oversight in California. In the video, he details what he calls a wave of enforcement against hospice providers in Los Angeles.
Oz states in the video that while only four hospices were closed in the entire state of California over the span of four years, in just the last ten weeks, 221 hospices in Los Angeles have been either suspended or shut down.
He claims investigators have uncovered “massive hospice fraud” in California, with Los Angeles framed as a hotspot. He also said that investigators discovered widespread fraud within the hospice system, including kickbacks, bills for services not rendered, transportation to facilities that should have been in crisis, and “false rescues”.
The post also underscores Oz’s more sweeping critique of how California oversees the hospice business, with him claiming the state has more than 1,800 hospice providers, or roughly one-third of all hospices in the country.
It’s unknown from the video what cases or other probes he’s citing and how many of the providers he cites have had criminal prosecutions as opposed to administrative ones. Viewers are presented only with Dr. Oz’s take on the matter, and the segment doesn’t feature any commentary from California officials, hospice providers, or patients.
Online Reactions to Dr. Oz’s California Hospice Claims
The video prompted reactions online. One group of commenters argued that the numbers Oz cites point to deeper failures by regulators in Los Angeles and at the state level.
One user referencing earlier reporting and claiming that “only 130 of these hospices had no red flags indicating fraud,” while calling on the Trump administration to investigate the officials who approved the facilities.
Another commenter asked, “Is there any kind of fraud that Newsom isn’t involved in?”, echoing frustration with California’s leadership.
A second group of replies brought attention to Dr. Oz himself, since he was seen as a prominent fraud critic.
“This Dr. Oz has also testified in front of Congress for being a fraud,” one user shared, while another remarked, “He’s a fraud himself,” exposing doubt in what he had to say.
Other replies pushed back on the idea that California’s governor is to blame. One commenter defended the governor and argued that corporations, not the state government, should be blamed.
This incident has attracted a lot of public interest as it includes shocking and sensational numbers related to accusations of hospice fraud and has also triggered a heated debate between federal authorities and the California government regarding the supervision of the misuse of public healthcare budgets. The fact that Dr. Oz has been a central figure in this anti-fraud campaign, and that his reputation and the performance of Governor Newsom are under scrutiny, has intensified this situation and turned this video clip into a real sensitive subject for discussion.
The video has also sparked a wider online conversation about the level of oversight and the level of policing to apply to potential fraud within hospice and health‑care systems in California and across the country.
