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| |accessdate=2007-08-16}}</ref> ], a journalist with '']'', says Barrett relies mostly on negative research to criticize alternative medicine, rejecting most positive case studies as unreliable. She further writes that Barrett insists that most alternative therapies simply should be disregarded without further research. "A lot of things don't need to be tested they simply don't make any sense," he says, with Ladd pointing specifically to "Chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, vitamins and herbs, relaxation techniques, and preventive nutrition plans, as well as specific practitioners...".<ref name="Ladd"> by Donna Ladd, ], June 23 - 29, 1999. Retrieved September 2, 2006.</ref> | |accessdate=2007-08-16}}</ref> ], a journalist with '']'', says Barrett relies mostly on negative research to criticize alternative medicine, rejecting most positive case studies as unreliable. She further writes that Barrett insists that most alternative therapies simply should be disregarded without further research. "A lot of things don't need to be tested they simply don't make any sense," he says, with Ladd pointing specifically to "Chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, vitamins and herbs, relaxation techniques, and preventive nutrition plans, as well as specific practitioners...".<ref name="Ladd"> by Donna Ladd, ], June 23 - 29, 1999. Retrieved September 2, 2006.</ref> | ||
| According to Quackwatch, nearly every week they get emails leveling accusations about being a front for the ], the pharmaceutical industry ant the medical establishment, and they respond that "the idea is preposterous", and that they have no commercial or financial ties with any organization. <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackwatch/funding.html|title=Who funds Quackwatch}}</ref> | |||
| ==References to Quackwatch== | ==References to Quackwatch== | ||
Revision as of 17:37, 29 October 2007
Quackwatch Inc. is an American non-profit organization that aims to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" with a primary focus on providing "quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere." Since 1996, it has operated a website, Quackwatch.org, which contains articles and other types of information criticizing many forms of alternative medicine.
History
Founded in 1969 by Stephen Barrett, M.D., the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud was later incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania in 1970. In 1996, the organization began the Quackwatch website, renaming the organization Quackwatch in 1997 as the website attracted attention.
Mission and scope
Quackwatch is overseen by Stephen Barrett with input from a board of advisors and help from volunteers, including a number of medical professionals. Quackwatch describes its mission as follows:
"...investigating questionable claims, answering inquiries about products and services, advising quackery victims, distributing reliable publications, debunking pseudoscientific claims, reporting illegal marketing, improving the quality of health information on the internet, assisting or generating consumer-protection lawsuits, and attacking misleading advertising on the internet."
According to Quackwatch, it engages the services of 150+ scientific and technical advisors. As of 2003, 67 medical advisors, 12 dental advisors, 13 mental health advisors, 16 nutrition and food science advisors, 3 podiatry advisors, 8 veterinary advisors, and 33 "other scientific and technical advisors" were listed.
Quackwatch states that the total cost of operating all of Quackwatch's sites is approximately $7,000 per year with no salaried employees at Quackwatch, Inc. It states that it is funded mainly by small individual donations, commissions from sales on other sites to which they refer, and profits from the sale of publications, and self funding by Stephen Barrett. Stated income also is derived from sponsored links for which they receive a commission on products ordered including Amazon books, ConsumerLab.com, Healthgrades, and Netflix.
About the site
The Quackwatch website contains many essays written for the non-specialist consumer by Barrett and a board of advisors, and they are therefore not subjected to scientific peer-review. They discuss health-related products, treatments, enterprises and providers which Quackwatch deems to be misleading, fraudulent or ineffective and include references and links to sources used, as well as to sources for further study. Quackwatch is especially critical of those therapies that it considers dangerous.
The site contains information about specific people who perform, market, and advocate therapies it considers dubious, in many cases providing details of convictions for past marketing fraud. It also presents lists of sources, individuals, and groups considered questionable and non-recommended by Quackwatch.
The site is part of a network of related sites, such as Homeowatch (on homeopathy), Credential Watch (devoted to exposing degree mills), Chirobase (specifically devoted to chiropractic, cosponsored by the National Council Against Health Fraud and Victims of Chiropractic,) and others, each devoted to specific topics.
Besides English, the site can be found in German, French, and Portuguese.
Barrett has been regularly criticised by the groups he opposes, such as herbalists, homeopaths and other alternative medicine practitioners, and has been accused by them as being dishonest, incompetent, and a bully. Donna Ladd, a journalist with The Village Voice, says Barrett relies mostly on negative research to criticize alternative medicine, rejecting most positive case studies as unreliable. She further writes that Barrett insists that most alternative therapies simply should be disregarded without further research. "A lot of things don't need to be tested they simply don't make any sense," he says, with Ladd pointing specifically to "Chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, vitamins and herbs, relaxation techniques, and preventive nutrition plans, as well as specific practitioners...".
References to Quackwatch
Quackwatch has been mentioned in the media, reviews and various journals, as well as receiving several awards and honors. In 1998, Quackwatch was recognized by the Journal of the American Medical Association as one of nine "select sites that provide reliable health information and resources." It was also listed as one of three medical sites of U.S. News & World Report's "Best of the Web" in 1999: A review of the website by Forbes magazine, states:
"Dr. Stephen Barrett, a psychiatrist, seeks to expose unproven medical treatments and possible unsafe practices through his homegrown but well-organized site. Mostly attacking alternative medicines, homeopathy and chiropractors, the tone here can be rather harsh. However, the lists of sources of health advice to avoid, including books, specific doctors and organizations, are great for the uninformed. Barrett received an FDA Commissioner's Special Citation Award for fighting nutrition quackery in 1984. BEST: Frequently updated, but also archives of relevant articles that date back at least four years. WORST: Lists some specific doctors and organizations without explaining the reason for their selection."
Quackwatch has also been cited or mentioned by journalists in reports on therapeutic touch, Vitamin O, Almon Glenn Braswell's baldness treatments, dietary supplements, Robert Barefoot's coral calcium claims, noni juice, shark cartilage, and infomercials. As well as in scholarly journals, such as the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, in a report on the foundation of the NCCAM.
Sources that mention or link to Quackwatch.com include the inactive Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health, the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, The Lancet, the Journal of Marketing Education, the Medical Journal of Australia, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' healthfinder.gov, The Diet Channel, and libraries across the Unites States of America.
See also
- Consumer protection
- Debunker
- Evidence-based medicine
- National Council Against Health Fraud
- Pseudoscience
- Quackery
- Scientific skepticism
- Stephen Barrett
References
- ^ Barrett SJ. "Quackwatch - Mission Statement". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12. Cite error: The named reference "mission" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- Barrett SJ. "Quackwatch.org main page". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- The Good Web Guide. Retrieved on September 14, 2007.
- Politzer, M. Eastern Medicine Goes West. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on September 14, 2007.
- Pennsylvania Department of State — Corporations
- Rosen, Marjorie (October 1998). "Interview with Stephen Barrett, M.D." Biography Magazine. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Barrett SJ. "Scientific and technical advisors". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- Barrett SJ. "Nonrecommended Sources of Health Advice". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- Barrett SJ. "Questionable Organizations: An Overview". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- Barrett SJ. "Homeowatch". Homeowatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- Credential Watch available online
- Chirobase available online
- Victims of Chiropractic available online
- There are 22 web sites affiliated with Quackwatch.
- Quackwatch auf Deutsch
- Quackwatch en Français
- Quackwatch em Português
- Jaroff, Leon (April 30, 2001). "The Man Who Loves To Bust Quacks". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ Dr. Who? Diagnosing Medical Fraud May Require a Second Opinion. by Donna Ladd, The Village Voice, June 23 - 29, 1999. Retrieved September 2, 2006.
- Han LF. Selected Web Site Reviews, Quackwatch.com The Consultant Pharmacist. accessed online, 25 Jan 2007.
- Quackwatch: Awards and honors
- JAMA Patient Page - Click here: How to find reliable online health information and resources, Journal of the American Medical Association 280:1380, 1998.
- U.S. News & World Report: The Best of The Web Gets Better
- Forbes.com, Best of the Web website reviews: Quackwatch.
- Kolata, Gina (April 1, 1998). A Child's Paper Poses a Medical Challenge. The New York Times
- Siwolop, Sana (January 7, 2001). Back Pain? Arthritis? Step Right Up to the Mouse. The New York Times
- Eichenwald, Kurt and Michael Moss (February 6, 2001), Pardon for Subject of Inquiry Worries Prosecutors. The New York Times
- Associated Press (September 13, 2004). Man Once Pardoned By Clinton Again Faces Prison.
- Another Dubious Pardon - U.S. News & World Report
- Fessenden, Ford with Christoper Drew (March 31, 2000). Bottom Line in Mind, Doctors Sell Ephedra. The New York Times
- Leon Jaroff, (March 14, 2003), Coral Calcium: A Barefoot Scam, Time magazine
- Noni Juice Might Lower Smokers' Cholesterol. Forbes article
- Leon Jaroff, (Sep. 29, 2004), Medical Sharks, Time magazine
- Damon Darlin, (April 8, 2006), Words to Live By in Infomercial World: Caveat Emptor, The New York Times
- Reynolds Tom, White House Report on Alternative Medicine Draws Criticism, JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2002 94(9):646-648 Error: Bad DOI specified!
- "Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). July 11, 2002. Retrieved 2007-09-12.The inactive SPIC appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has named Barrett's Quackwatch as a credible source for exposing fraudulent online health information.
- W Steven Pray. Ethical, Scientific, and Educational Concerns With Unproven Medications. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Alexandria: 2006. Vol. 70, Iss. 6; pg. O1, 14 pgs. Quackwatch is named as a reliable source together with Skeptical Enquirer, specifically for Pharmacy Course on Unproven Medications and Therapies.
- Marilynn Larkin. Medical quackery squashers on the web. The Lancet. London: May 16, 1998. Vol. 351, Iss. 9114; pg. 1520 - 2. Names Quackwatch as the premier site for exposing purveyors of health frauds, myths, and fads.
- Lawrence B Chonko. If It Walks like a Duck . . . : Concerns about Quackery in Marketing Education. Journal of Marketing Education. Boulder: Apr 2004. Vol. 26, Iss. 1; pg. 4, 13 pgs. Chonko states “Many of the thoughts on which this article is based are adapted from materials found on this site.” (referring to Quackwatch)
- Wallace Sampson, Kimball Atwood IV. Propagation of the Absurd: demarcation of the Absurd revisited. Medical Journal of Australia. Pyrmont: Dec 5-Dec 19, 2005. Vol. 183, Iss. 11/12; pg. 580 - 1. Sampson states that “CAM source information tends to exclude well known critical and objective web pages such as those found on Quackwatch (www.quackwatch.org).”
- Eleese Cunningham, Wendy Marcason. Internet hoaxes: How to spot them and how to debunk them. American Dietetic Association. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Chicago: Apr 2001. Vol. 101, Iss. 4; pg. 460 - 1. Cunningham and Marcason state that “Two Web sites that can be useful in determining hoaxes are www.quackwatch.com and www.urbanlegends.com.”
- "U.S. Department of Health & Human Services". healthfinder.gov. National Health Information Center. Retrieved 2007-09-12.Quackwatch is available from their database.
- "Diet Channel Award Review Of Quackwatch". Retrieved 2007-09-18.
Quackwatch is a very informative site which informs you about health fraud and gives you advice on many decisions.
- "Southwest Public Libraries". Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- "National Network of Libraries of Medicine". Evaluating Health Web Sites, Consumer Health Manual. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- "VCU Libraries". Complementary and Alternative Medicine Resource Guide — Fraud and Quackery Resources. Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- "Rutgers University Libraries". Finding What You Want on the Web: A Guide. Rutgers University Libraries. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- "USC Libraries — Electronic Resources — Quackwatch". University of Southern California. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- "Medical Center Library". University of Kentucky Libraries. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
External links
- Quackwatch.org - Official website