LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s workplace is demanding a civil rights investigation of Dr. Mehmet Oz, saying he discriminated in opposition to Armenians in a video claiming hospice fraud in Los Angeles, the newest entrance within the state’s ongoing battle with the Trump administration.
The Democratic governor’s grievance, filed Thursday, got here after Oz posted a video on social media in entrance of an Armenian bakery in Los Angeles, alleging that roughly $3.5 billion in hospice and residential care fraud has taken place within the metropolis and “fairly a little bit of it” was run by “the Russian Armenian mafia.” Oz is the administrator for the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies, which certifies hospice suppliers to just accept sufferers on government-subsidized medical insurance.
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Newsom’s workplace argued within the grievance that Oz “spewed baseless and racially charged allegations” that risked chilling participation in hospice and residential care applications among the many group focused. His workplace stated the claims had “already prompted real-world hurt” by dampening enterprise at an Armenian bakery that’s proven within the video.
“Mafia? There is no such thing as a Armenian mafia occurring right here. We’re simply hardworking enterprise homeowners. I don’t perceive why he’s mentioning simply Armenians,” Movses Bislamyan, whose family-owned bakery seems in Oz’s video, instructed KABC-TV.
Oz in a submit on X accused Newsom of making an attempt to vary the topic and failing to speak about Medicare fraud, although Medicare is a federally administered program.
“The issue isn’t remoted to California, although so far as our workforce can inform, it’s the worst,” Oz stated. He hasn’t shared particulars concerning the fraud being alleged.
A part of effort to focus on fraud
Oz’s video additionally factors to a bigger Trump administration effort to highlight fraud across the nation. That effort comes after allegations of fraud involving day care facilities run by Somali residents in Minneapolis prompted an enormous immigration crackdown within the Midwestern metropolis, leading to widespread protests.
Earlier within the week, Newsom acknowledged fraud in hospice care in California however stated the state has been working for years to crack down on it. He famous he signed a legislation in 2021 to cease offering new hospice licenses over fraud considerations and stated the state has revoked greater than 280 hospice licenses lately. One other 300 hospices are being examined for potential fraud, Newsom’s workplace stated. The state didn’t instantly present a listing of all companies which have had their licenses revoked.
“We’ve recognized and cracked down on hospice fraud for years, taking actual motion to guard sufferers and taxpayers,” Newsom stated in an announcement.
Oz’s video exhibits him visiting the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles and pointing to a four-block radius that he says is dwelling to 42 hospices, suggesting potential fraud. He references a enterprise that he says was a part of a $16 million fraud scheme. Oz describes the Armenian script on the companies’ indicators whereas the digicam pans to the bakery.
“You discover the lettering and language behind me is of that dialect,” says Oz, whose mother and father emigrated to the U.S. from Turkey. He additionally claims there “has not been a whole lot of consideration on these issues” in California.
Armenian-American chief criticizes Oz
Aram Hamparian, govt director of the Armenian Nationwide Committee of America, stated Oz’s feedback invoke “straightforward stereotypes” concerning the Armenian group, which has deep roots in California.
Greater than 200,000 folks of Armenian descent are estimated to stay in Los Angeles County, the place April is well known as Armenian Historical past Month. A small part of Los Angeles is named Little Armenia, and the suburban metropolis of Glendale, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the place Oz recorded the video, is a middle of the group.
Hamparian stated Oz’s connections to Turkey are regarding. That nation’s authorities doesn’t acknowledge the killing and deportation of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces within the early 1900s, referred to as the Armenian genocide.
“Issues have been handled on the state stage, prosecutions have been made,” Hamparian stated. “However Dr. Oz is taking this in a completely harmful course by scapegoating, by fear-mongering, by staging the theatric collective indictment of all Armenians.”
Turkey and Armenia have lengthy been strained by historic grievances and Turkey’s alliance with Azerbaijan. The neighboring nations haven’t any formal diplomatic ties, and their joint border has remained closed for the reason that Nineteen Nineties, although late final yr they agreed to simplify visa procedures in an effort to normalize ties.
The feud is amongst many who have sprung up between Newsom, seen as a possible Democratic presidential candidate for 2028, and the Republican administration of President Donald Trump. Newsom and Trump have clashed over points starting from the federal administration’s Nationwide Guard deployment in Los Angeles to the president’s efforts to dam California’s 2035 ban on new gas-powered vehicles, a nationwide first.
— Jaimie Ding and Ali Swenson
