TV celebrity Dr Mehmet Oz will take on his detractors in the medical community head-on during a special episode of his daytime talk show Thursday, sending a strong message that he will not be silenced. Oz, 54, found himself at the center of a firestorm last week when 10 prominent doctors sent a letter to Columbia University, where he serves as vice chairman and professor of surgery at College of Physicians, calling for his resignation because he is a 'charlatan who promotes ‘quack treatments.' In a special episode of The Dr Oz Show, which was pre-taped Tuesday and will air Thursday, the beleaguered physician directly addressed his attackers and accused them of trying to bully him into silence. Scroll down for video . Teaser: TV celebrity Dr Mehmet Oz released a videotaped message previewing a special episode of his show Thursday, which will be dedicated to the controversial swirling around him . Bold statement: Oz, 54, says in the video that he will not let the 10 doctors who launched a campaign last week to try and get him fired from Columbia University silence him . The show released a 25-second teaser clip to CNN Money featuring a part of Oz's rebuttal to promote the upcoming episode. ‘This month, we celebrate my 1000th show,’ Oz says in the preview. ‘I know I've irritated some potential allies in our quest to make America healthy. ‘No matter our disagreements, freedom of speech is the most fundamental right we have as Americans. And these 10 doctors are trying to silence that right. Looking directly into the camera, Oz concluded: ‘So I vow to you right here and right now: we will not be silenced, we will not give in.’ According to a spokesperson for The Dr Oz Show, about two-thirds of this week’s episode will be devoted to the controversy. On Friday, Dr Oz will sit down for an interview on NBC's Today show. The Harvard-educated doctor joined the faculty at Columbia in 1993. He has been hosting his health and wellness talk show since 2009. Ten top doctors sent a letter to Columbia University urging the school to remove TV celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz from his faculty position because he is a 'charlatan' who promotes 'quack treatments' ‘I bring the public information that will help them on their path to be their best selves,’ Oz said in a statement released through a representative of The Dr. Oz Show, according to USA Today. Columbia's Medical and Health Sciences Center . He continued: ‘We provide multiple points of view, including mine, which is offered without conflict of interest. That doesn't sit well with certain agendas which distort the facts.’ Dr Henry Miller, of California's Stanford University led the campaign against Dr Oz and was the first person to sign the letter, the New York Daily News reported. Miller said: 'He's a quack and a fake and a charlatan. 'I think I know the motivation at Columbia. 'They're star-struck, and like having on their faculty the best-known doctor in the country. 'But the fact is that his advice endangers patients, and this doesn't seem to faze them.' He told CBS News that ‘a person who endangers patients and is a menace to public health should not be on the faculty of a prestigious medical institution’. The nine other doctors from across the country included Dr Joel Tepper, a cancer researcher from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and Dr Gilbert Ross of the American Council on Science and Health in New York City. The doctors sent the letter to Lee Goldman, the dean of Columbia's Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine. The physicians accused Dr Oz of pushing 'miracle' weight-loss supplements with no scientific proof that they work. The doctors wrote that Oz, for years a world-class Columbia cardiothoracic surgeon, has 'misled and endangered' the public. From left to right, Dr Phil McGraw, financial advisor Suze Orman, host Oprah Winfrey, Dr Mehmet Oz and interior designer Nate Berkus participate in The Oprah Winfrey Show live from Radio City Music Hall in 2010 . For more, visit Extra online. The letter read: 'He has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain. 'Thus, Dr Oz is guilty of either outrageous conflicts of interest or flawed judgments about what constitutes appropriate medical treatments, or both. The authors of the scathing communique took a particular issue with what they described as Oz's ‘baseless and relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops.’ CNN Money and the New York Times reported that some of the doctors opposing Oz have strong ties to the GMO food industry, namely the advocacy group American Council on Science and Health. Dr Miller, a researcher with a conservative think tank, has been a vocal proponent of genetically modified foods and has spoken out against mandatory labeling. Dr Oz insists that he is not opposed to GMOs on principle but wants them to be properly labelled so that educated consumers would know exactly what is in their food. 'I do not claim that GMO foods are dangerous, but believe that they should be labeled like they are in most countries around the world,' he said in his statement Friday. The New York Ivy League school responded Thursday, issuing a statement to The Associated Press saying only that the school 'is committed to the principle of academic freedom and to upholding faculty members' freedom of expression for statements they make in public discussion.' Special interests: The authors of the letter took an issue with what they described as Oz's 'baseless and relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops.' The surgeon has been a vocal proponent of mandatory labeling of GMOs, while some of his critics have been advocating for the GMO industry . Dr Oz first came to public attention as a frequent television guest of Oprah Winfrey. For the past five years, he's been the host of The Dr Oz Show. Last year, he appeared before a US Senate panel that accused him of endorsing products that were medically unsound. At the time, the doctor acknowledged some of the products he advised his viewers to use 'don't have the scientific muster to present as fact.' A show representative did not immediately return a call Thursday from the AP seeking comment. As vice chairman of Columbia's surgery department, Dr Oz still occasionally teaches, said Douglas Levy, spokesman for the Columbia University Medical Center. The controversy did not die down after his testimony. The company behind the"miracle" diet supplement in question later agreed to pay a $3.5 million settlement over false advertising. A study that purported to prove the product's weight-loss benefits turned out to be based on fraudulent data and was retracted.
Dr Mehmet Oz is vice chairman at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons and is a professor of surgery . He said in a statement that his show provides 'multiple points of view', including his, 'which is offered without conflict of interest' Comes after ten top doctors sent letter to school urging for Oz's dismissal . Said there's no scientific proof his 'miracle' weight-loss supplements work . The Dr Oz Show will air a special episode Thursday, most of which will be dedicated to his rebuttal .