Keith Russell Ablow (born November 23, 1961) is an American author, life coach, former television personality, and former psychiatry. He is a former contributor for Fox News Channel and TheBlaze.
Formerly an assistant clinical professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, Ablow resigned as a member of the American Psychiatric Association in 2011, in protest to the APA's tacit support of transgender surgeries, which he considered irresponsible. Ablow's medical license was suspended in May 2019 by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. The board concluded he posed an "immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety and welfare", stating that he had engaged in sexual and unethical misconduct towards patients.
According to the Associated Press, Ablow "freely mixes psychiatric assessments with political criticism, a unique twist in the realm of cable news commentary that some medical colleagues find unethical."
While a medical student, he worked as a reporter for Newsweek and a freelancer for The Washington Post and Baltimore Sun and USA Today. After his residency, Ablow served as medical director of the Tri-City Mental Health Centers and then became medical director of Heritage Health Systems and Associate Medical Director of Boston Regional Medical Center.
Ablow hosted The Dr. Keith Ablow Show, syndicated by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in the 2006–07 television season. Since his show's cancellation, Ablow has been a contributing editor for Good Housekeeping and a columnist for the New York Post. He contributed commentary and analysis for the Fox News Channel until 2017.
In 2013, Ablow said that marriage had "died" because of same-sex marriage. In 2014, he likened same-sex marriage to polygamous relationships or bestiality. He has linked gay parenting to sexual abuse of children.
In June 2014, Ablow accused the 2014 World Cup of having been a plot by President Barack Obama to distract America from what Ablow believed were Obama administration scandals.
In August 2014, as a guest co-host on the Fox News show, Outnumbered, Ablow criticized First Lady Michelle Obama's weight, stating "she needs to drop a few pounds." He told the women panelists on the show that they also needed to lose weight.
In October 2014, concerning the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Ablow, on Fox News, promoted a conspiracy theory that Obama wanted Ebola to spread to America because he wanted America to suffer as much as poor countries. He stated that President Obama was not protecting the United States from Ebola because his "affiliations" and "affinities" were more with Africa than with America. His Ebola comments drew criticism, including from Fox television host Greg Gutfeld.
In May 2015, on another segment of Outnumbered, Ablow stated that he believed that men should be able to "veto" women's .
Ablow was chief spokesperson and brand ambassador for Golo, a company that sells a weight loss supplement. Progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America raised questions about whether Ablow's endorsement of Golo violates Fox News' policy against product endorsements.
Ford Vox, a staff physiatrist at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, said that Ablow's attempts to connect his political views to medical analysis "is really just irresponsible and it's embarrassing for physicians in general." Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and past president of the American Psychiatric Association, remarked, "It is shameful and unfortunate that he is given a platform by Fox News or any other media organization. Basically he is a narcissistic self-promoter of limited and dubious expertise."
On May 15, 2019, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine indefinitely suspended Ablow's medical license, concluding he posed an "immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety and welfare." New York state has also suspended Ablow's medical license in that state.
It is alleged that Ablow prescribed medication to eight employees. When the Board of Registration in Medicine rescinded his license in 2019, they also stated Ablow asked the employees to share the medication with him.
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