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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. Numerous sources cite Quackwatch as a source for online consumer information. The site has been regularly criticized by the groups it investigates, such as herbalists, homeopaths and other alternative medicine practitioners.

History

Founded in 1969 by Stephen Barrett, M.D., the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud was incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania in 1970. In 1996, the corporation began the Quackwatch website, and the organization itself was renamed Quackwatch in 1997 as its website attracted attention. Quackwatch is closely affiliated with the National Council Against Health Fraud.

Mission and scope

Quackwatch is overseen by Barrett, who is described as its webmaster, 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.

Quackwatch 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.org's articles are reviewed by the medical advisory board upon request.

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 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 and researched opinion pieces written for the non-specialist consumer by Barrett, other writers, and a board of advisors. The articles 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 dubious or dangerous, including:

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The website provides 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 maintains lists of sources, individuals, and groups it considers questionable and non-recommendable. This includes two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling (for his claims about mega-doses of Vitamin C), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine, as well as integrative medicine proponent Andrew Weil.

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.

The site is also available in German, French, and Portuguese. The site is also available via several mirrors, including http://www.quack-watch.org and http://www.quackwatch.com.

Quackwatch as a source

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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 web site review 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 Quackwatch.org (formerly .com) as a source for consumer information include 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, and the Diet Channel. Websites of libraries across the Unites States of America, include links to Quackwatch as a source for consumer information.

A review of the Quackwatch website by The Good Web Guide states "Quackwatch is without doubt an important and useful information resource and injects a healthy dose of skepticism into reviewing popular health information. Its aim is to investigate questionable claims made in some sectors of what is now a multi-million pound healthcare industry." Cunningham and Marcason in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association states that “Two Web sites that can be useful in determining hoaxes are www.quackwatch.com and www.urbanlegends.com.” Wallace and Kimball, in the Medical Journal of Australia, states that “CAM source information tends to exclude well known critical and objective web pages such as those found on Quackwatch.”

Quackwatch has been regularly criticized by the groups it investigates, such as herbalists, homeopaths and other alternative medicine practitioners. A number of practitioners and supporters of alternative medicine criticize Quackwatch for its criticism of alternative medicine. 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, pointing to homeopathy, chiropractic, and acupuncture, among a myriad of other things.

Bao-Anh Nguyen-Khoa, PharmD, in a website review posted in the The Consultant Pharmacist, recommends that Quackwatch implement formal peer review processes for their own web site, in accordance with their advocacy of peer review for medical publications, writing, " giant step toward true legitimacy would involve active peer review of the articles to be published..."

David Hufford, Professor and Chair of Medical Humanities at the Penn State College of Medicine, wrote a paper in which he asserts that Quackwatch would be more effective if it relied more on research and less on personal beliefs. In regard to the debate over water fluoridation, an anti-fluoridation article in the National Review quotes a "generally informative and persuasive" Quackwatch article, but criticizes its reference to Hitler's "big lie" as "perhaps not the best way to win an argument, especially with serious-minded people."

The currently inactive Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health, appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, named Quackwatch as a credible source for exposing fraudulent online health information in 1999. Dr. Thomas R. Eng, the director of the panel's study, later stated, "The government doesn't endorse Web sites." Still, he said, " is the only site I know of right now looking at issues of fraud and health on the Internet." Barry Chowka, a former adviser to the National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine panel stated that "Quackwatch.com is consistently provocative and entertaining and occasionally informative."

See also

Alternative medicine
Systems
People
Treatments
Public-health issues
Key terms
Contrary viewpoints

References

  1. ^ 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).
  2. Barrett SJ. "Quackwatch.org main page". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  3. The Good Web Guide. Retrieved on September 14, 2007.
  4. Politzer, M. Eastern Medicine Goes West. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on September 14, 2007.
  5. ^ Jaroff, Leon (April 30, 2001). "The Man Who Loves To Bust Quacks". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
  6. Pennsylvania Department of State — Corporations
  7. "Quackwatch home page". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
  8. 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)
  9. Barrett SJ. "Scientific and technical advisors". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  10. ^ Barrett, Stephen. "Quackwatch — listing criticisms of several practices". Your Guide to Quackery, Health Fraud, and Intelligent Decisions. Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  11. Barrett, S. "Algae: False Claims and Hype" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  12. Barrett, S. "The "Mercury Toxicity" Scam: How Anti-Amalgamists Swindle People" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  13. Barrett, S. "Be Wary of "Alternative" Health Methods" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  14. Barrett, S. "Be Wary of Acupuncture, Qigong, and "Chinese Medicine"" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  15. Barrett, S. "Don't Let Chiropractors Fool You" Retrieved 27 November 2007
  16. Barrett, S. "Gastrointestinal Quackery: Colonics, Laxatives, and More" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  17. Barrett, S. ""Dietary Supplements," Herbs, and Hormones" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  18. ^ Barrett, S. "The Shady Side of Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  19. Barrett, S. "The Herbal Minefield" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  20. Barrett, S. "Homeopathy: The Ultimate Fake" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  21. Barrett, S. "A Close Look at Naturopathy" Retrieved 17 July 2007
  22. Barrett SJ. "Nonrecommended Sources of Health Advice". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  23. Barrett SJ. "Questionable Organizations: An Overview". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  24. Barrett SJ. "The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  25. Relamn AS. "A Trip to Stonesville: Some Notes on Andrew Weil". New Republic. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  26. Barrett SJ. "Homeowatch". Homeowatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  27. Credential Watch available online
  28. Chirobase available online
  29. Victims of Chiropractic available online
  30. There are 22 web sites affiliated with Quackwatch.
  31. Quackwatch auf Deutsch
  32. Quackwatch en Français
  33. Quackwatch em Português
  34. Han LF. Selected Web Site Reviews, Quackwatch.com The Consultant Pharmacist. accessed online, 25 Jan 2007.
  35. Quackwatch: Awards and honors
  36. JAMA Patient Page - Click here: How to find reliable online health information and resources, Journal of the American Medical Association 280:1380, 1998.
  37. U.S. News & World Report: The Best of The Web Gets Better
  38. Forbes.com, Best of the Web website reviews: Quackwatch.
  39. Kolata, Gina (April 1, 1998). A Child's Paper Poses a Medical Challenge. The New York Times
  40. Siwolop, Sana (January 7, 2001). Back Pain? Arthritis? Step Right Up to the Mouse. The New York Times
  41. Eichenwald, Kurt and Michael Moss (February 6, 2001), Pardon for Subject of Inquiry Worries Prosecutors. The New York Times
  42. Associated Press (September 13, 2004). Man Once Pardoned By Clinton Again Faces Prison.
  43. Another Dubious Pardon - U.S. News & World Report
  44. Fessenden, Ford with Christoper Drew (March 31, 2000). Bottom Line in Mind, Doctors Sell Ephedra. The New York Times
  45. Leon Jaroff, (March 14, 2003), Coral Calcium: A Barefoot Scam, Time magazine
  46. Noni Juice Might Lower Smokers' Cholesterol. Forbes article
  47. Leon Jaroff, (Sep. 29, 2004), Medical Sharks, Time magazine
  48. Damon Darlin, (April 8, 2006), Words to Live By in Infomercial World: Caveat Emptor, The New York Times
  49. 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!
  50. 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.
  51. 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.
  52. 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)
  53. 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).”
  54. 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.”
  55. "U.S. Department of Health & Human Services". healthfinder.gov. National Health Information Center. Retrieved 2007-09-12.Quackwatch is available from their database.
  56. "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.
  57. "Southwest Public Libraries". Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  58. "National Network of Libraries of Medicine". Evaluating Health Web Sites, Consumer Health Manual. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  59. "VCU Libraries". Complementary and Alternative Medicine Resource Guide — Fraud and Quackery Resources. Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  60. "Rutgers University Libraries". Finding What You Want on the Web: A Guide. Rutgers University Libraries. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  61. "USC Libraries — Electronic Resources — Quackwatch". University of Southern California. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  62. "Medical Center Library". University of Kentucky Libraries. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  63. "Review of Quackwatch website". Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  64. Cunningham, Eleese and Marcason, Wendy, 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.
  65. Sampson, Wallace and 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.
  66. ^ Dr. Who? Diagnosing Medical Fraud May Require a Second Opinion. by Donna Ladd, The Village Voice, June 23 - 29, 1999. Retrieved September 2, 2006
  67. Colgan, Michael (October 1992, p. 126). "The Vitamin Pushers". Townsend Letter for Doctors. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  68. Hufford DJ. David J Hufford, "Symposium article: Evaluating Complementary and Alternative Medicine: The Limits of Science and Scientists." J Law, Medicine & Ethics, 31 (2003): 198-212. Hufford's symposium presentation was the counterpoint for another doctor's presentation, which argued that "alternative medicine" is not medicine at all. See Lawrence J. Schneiderman, "Symposium article: The (Alternative) Medicalization of Life." J Law, Medicine & Ethics, 31 (2003): 191-198.
  69. Bao-Anh Nguyen-Khoa, PharmD, "Quackwatch.com", The Consultant Pharmacist, July 1999. available online
  70. Center Fellows, Center for Spirituality and the Mind, U. of Pennsylvania. accessed online 2 November 2007.
  71. Hufford DJ. David J Hufford, "Symposium article: Evaluating Complementary and Alternative Medicine: The Limits of Science and Scientists." J Law, Medicine & Ethics, 31 (2003): 198-212. Hufford's symposium presentation was the counterpoint for another doctor's presentation, which argued that "alternative medicine" is not medicine at all. See Lawrence J. Schneiderman, "Symposium article: The (Alternative) Medicalization of Life." J Law, Medicine & Ethics, 31 (2003): 191-198.
  72. "Fluoridation: Don't Let the Poisonmongers Scare You!" Article adapted from The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America, Bob Sprague, Mary Bernhardt, Stephen Barrett, M.D.
  73. Jay, Nordlinger (2003-06-30). "Water Fights: Believe It or Not, the Fluoridation War Still Rages -- with a Twist You May Like". National Review. Retrieved 2007-10-30. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
    Indeed, there are anti-anti-fluoridationist whacks at QuackWatch.org. This site contains an article -- generally informative and persuasive -- that says, "The anti-fluoridationists' basic technique is the big lie. Made infamous by Hitler, it is simple to use, yet surprisingly effective." This is perhaps not the best way to win an argument, especially with serious-minded people.
  74. "Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). July 11, 2002. Retrieved 2007-09-12.

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