Dr. Oz Sued, Insomnia 'Knapsack Heated Rice Footsie' Cure Burns Diabetic Frank Dietl's Feet: Results in 'Dr. Oz Show' Lawsuit, No Sleep

Reports confirm that popular television show personality Dr. Mehmet Oz is currently being sued by Frank Dietl, a diabetic viewer how got third-degree burns on his feet after following the doctor's "knapsack heated rice footsie" insomnia tip. But instead of getting a good night's sleep, 76-year-old Dietl wound up with grotesque burns and was ultimately bedridden for weeks after trying the "rehabilitating" nighttime technique. Dietl is currently suing Dr. Oz's hit syndicated television show, his production company, and NBC Studios for recommending the damaging insomnia cure.

During an episode of "The Dr. Oz Show" last spring, the popular cardiothoracic surgeon hosted a segment entitled "Dr. Oz's 24-Hour Energy Boost." Oz encouraged viewers to fill the toes of a pair of socks with uncooked rice, warm them up in a microwave oven, and then slip them on before bed. As Dr. Oz explained it:

"You do this and lie for about 20 minutes with those socks on in bed. The heat will divert blood to your feet... When your feet get hot, guess what happens to your body? It gets cold. Your body will automatically adjust its core temperature and as it gets cooler, you're going to be able to sleep better because your body has to be cold in order to get sleepy."

"If you do this the right way," Oz beamed, "you'll be thanking me for years to come."

But apparently the homemade insomnia cure actually debilitated Dietl instead of reenergizing him, like Oz had promised.

"He wound up with third-degree burns on his feet and was confined to his bed for weeks," Dietl's attorney Dominick Gullo told the New York Daily News on Monday (March 18).

In the lawsuit recently filed in a Manhattan Supreme Court, Dietl claims that he suffers from neuropathy, or numbness in his feet, due to diabetes - a condition which Oz did not address during the segment.

"There were no proper instructions or proper warnings," Gullo insists. "There were no warnings to anybody with neuropathy to not try it."

Dietl (originally from Southampton, N.J.) claims that he didn't realize how hot the socks were until he got up in the middle of the night and tried to walk. That's when he realized his skin was burned - with third-degree burns, to be exact. Gullo was unsure exactly how long Dietl heated up the rice-filled socks in the microwave for.

Tim Sullivan, a spokesman for Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions (which produces "The Dr. Oz Show") said the company could not comment until it had reviewed the lawsuit. He did say:

"However, we stand by the content in our program as safe and educational for our viewers."