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Quackwatch

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Quackwatch is a website operated by Quackwatch, Inc., an American non-profit organization incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania [1] whose stated purpose is to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies" and whose claimed "primary focus is on quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere".[2] Quackwatch is operated by Stephen Barrett, M.D., who founded the non-profit in 1969, with input from his board of advisors, and help from numerous volunteers.[3] The Quackwatch website was started in 1997.[4]

Mission and scope

Quackwatch reports that its activities include the following:[5]

  • Investigating questionable claims
  • Answering inquiries about products and services
  • Advising "quackery victims"
  • Distributing reliable publications
  • Debuking pseudoscientific claims
  • Reporting illegal marketing
  • Assisting or generating consumer-protection lawsuits
  • Improving the quality of health information on the Internet
  • Attacking misleading advertising on the Internet


The website contains essays on a variety of health-related therapies, labeled "quackery" by Quackwatch. The essays are not, and do not claim to be, peer-reviewed scientific papers, but are mainly written by Barrett or his 150+ member board of advisors for the non-specialist reader in a style not unlike Consumer Reports and other general readership publications.[6] Quackwatch sets out to show therapies as quackery by presenting scientific evidence and arguments that support that conclusion. Barrett argues that such therapies could be (and in some cases have been) dangerous. The site contains information about specific people who perform, market, and use dubious therapies, including some cases where they have been convicted of crimes, either for the quackery in question or for other things. The website also presents lists of sources, individuals, and groups which Quackwatch considers questionable and non-recommended,[7][8] including two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling (for his claims about massive doses of Vitamin C)[9] and integrative medicine proponent Andrew Weil, MD.[10]

Scientific and technical advisors

Quackwatch engages the services of 150+ scientific and technical advisors who author articles and help to "evaluate web sites, answer health-related questions, review books, help prepare articles, and engage in other projects that foster the spread of accurate information on the Internet." [11]

  • Medical Advisors (67)
  • Dental Advisors (12)
  • Mental Health Advisors (13)
  • Nutrition and Food Science Advisors (16)
  • Podiatry Advisors (3)
  • Veterinary Advisors (8)
  • Other Scientific and Technical Advisors (33)

Source: Figures from January 28, 2003 [11]

Funding

Barrett writes that Quackwatch has no salaried employees and "operates with minimal expense, funded mainly by small individual donations, commissons from sales on other sites to which we refer, sponsored links, and profits from the sale of publications. If its income falls below what is needed for the research, the rest comes out of my pocket." "The total cost of operating Quackwatch's many [22 sites] Web sites is approximately $7,000 per year." [12]

Reporting

Quackwatch has been involved in reporting on therapeutic touch,[13] Vitamin O,[14] Almon Glenn Braswell,[15][16] dietary supplements, especially when sold by doctors,[17] and the Mexican clinic where Coretta Scott King died.[18]

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.[19]

Awards and honors

In 1998, the Journal of the American Medical Association named Quackwatch one of nine "select sites that provide reliable health information and resources."[20] In 1999, U.S. News & World Report listed Quackwatch in their Best of the Web (one of three medical sites), and Forbes magazine named it among the "Best of the Web" from 2000 to 2004.[21]

Critics

Main article: Stephen Barrett

Analytical review of website

A critical analysis of Quackwatch has been published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration. The article was written by Joel Kauffman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia;[22] with ackowledgment of assistance from other USP faculty members such as Gina Kaiser BA, MS , assistant Professor of Information Science, Robert C. Woodley BA, MS, MA, Sylvia Tarzanin MLS, assistant Professor of Information Science [23] and Leslie Ann Bowman BA, AMLS Coordinator of Instructional Services at the J.W. England Library, and Associate Professor of Information Science. [24] Dr. Kauffman has also authored Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year and How to Protect Yourself.[25] His review in JSE examines eight Quackwatch articles for factuality, fairness and scientific currency.[26] Kauffman criticizes all eight articles as "contaminated with incomplete data, obsolete data, technical errors, unsupported opinions, and/or innuendo," and cites numerous examples with extensive, peer reviewed references to support his conclusions. After stating that "Hostility to all alternatives was expected and observed from the website, but not repetition of groundless dogma from mainstream medicine" and that "it is very probable that many of the 2,300,000 visitors to the website have been misled by the trappings of scientific objectivity," Kauffman concludes, "Medical practitioners such as Robert Atkins, Elmer Cranton and Stanislaw Burzynski, whom I demonstrated are not quacks, were attacked with the energy one would hope to be focused on real quacks. The use of this website is not recommended. It could be deleterious to your health."

Commenting on the objectives of the website, professor Kauffman wrote: " At least 3 of the activities in the Mission Statement:

  • Distributing reliable publications.
  • Improving the quality of health information on the Internet.
  • Attack misleading advertising on the Internet.

.... have been shown to be flawed as actually executed, at least on the 8 webpages that were examined."

Other critics

  • The site and its founder have critics such as Timothy Patrick ( Tim ) Bolen, webmaster of Quackpot Watch [27], a website that challenges Barrett and some of the views presented on Quackwatch. Barrett has responded to Bolen, saying "Bolen and his wife Jan do business as JuriMed, an entity whose stated purpose is to assist "alternative" health practitioners faced with regulatory action, criminal prosecution, or other matters that threaten their financial well-being and/or license to practice."[28]. However Tim Bolen state on one of his websites: " JuriMed - Public Relations & Research Group's business card says "Strategies for Government Besieged Health Professionals." " Bolen describes himself as a consumer advocate and the nemesis of the now failing "quackbuster" operation. [29]
  • Peter Barry Chowka, journalist and a former adviser to the National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine, has said that Barrett "seems to be putting down trying to be objective." He went on to state that "Quackwatch.com is consistently provocative and entertaining and occasionally informative,.....But I personally think he's running against the tide of history. But that's his problem, not ours." [30]
  • Burton Goldberg, of Alternative Medicine Digest reported, "In the paradox of 'quackbusting,' the quackbusters say they're protecting public health, but in fact, they're abandoning the public to their own suffering to protect the financial interests of conventional medicine, which has no interest in or ability to produce benefits for these conditions. The 'quackbusters' say they're serving the public, but the truth is they're grossly disserving patients."[31] While Dr. Barrett call others whose practices he does not agree with, quacks, he does not like the term "quackbuster" because it can suggest militancy, so he never refers to himself as a quackbuster, describing himself instead as an author, editor, consumer advovate and expert in medical communications.
  • Ray Sahelian B.Sc (nutrition), M.D. and Board certified in Family Medicine, is the author of health related books, including Natural Sex Boosters, an expert in nutrition and a proponent of supplements,[32] asks: "Why has Stephen Barrett, M.D. focused most of his attention on the nutritional industry and has hardly spent time pointing out the billions of dollars wasted each year by consumers on certain prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutical drugs?" and " Another point I would like to make regarding quackwatch is that Dr. Barrett often, if not the majority of the time, seems to point out the negative outcome of studies with supplements (you can sense his glee and relish when he points out these negative outcomes), and rarely mentions the benefits they provide." [33]
  • Dr. Elmer M. Cranton, author of Textbook on EDTA Chelation Therapy, has responded to criticism of chelation therapy by Quackwatch, stating: " There exist a small number of self-styled medical thought-police who call themselves "quack busters". They even have their own website, QuackWatch. This organization has the mission of attacking alternative and emerging medical therapies in favor of the existing medical monopoly." [34] He further stated :"I will answer below, point by point, a critical article on the Quackwatch website by Dr. Saul Green entitled Chelation Therapy: Unproven Claims and Unsound Theories, [35] in which Dr. Green attempts to discredit EDTA chelation using half-truths, speculation, and false statements." [34]
  • Dr. Gerhard N. Schrauzer has responded to a Quackwatch article written by James Pontolillo [36] that criticizes Dr. Joel D. Wallach: "The present account shows that Dr. Wallach's academic record is unassailable, and that his opinions and views are generally well substantiated. If he startles some of his critics this may be because developments in his area of expertise are not generally know or ignored by the largely drug oriented conventional medicine." [37]

References

  1. ^ Pennsylvania Department of State - Corporations
  2. ^ Quackwatch - Mission Statement
  3. ^ Rosen, Marjorie (October 1998). Interview with Stephen Barrett, M.D. Biography Magazine
  4. ^ Internet Archives copy of original site.
  5. ^ Activities as per mission statement
  6. ^ Jaroff, Leon (April 30, 2001). "The Man Who Loves To Bust Quacks" Time Magazine, Apr. 22, 2001
  7. ^ Barrett SJ. Nonrecommended Sources of Health Advice Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
  8. ^ Barrett SJ. Questionable Organizations: An Overview. Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
  9. ^ Barrett SJ (May 5, 2001). The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy. via Quackwatch. Retrieved July 29, 2006.
  10. ^ Relamn AS (December 14, 1998). A Trip to Stonesville: Some Notes on Andrew Weil. New Republic, via Quackwatch.
  11. ^ a b Scientific and technical advisors
  12. ^ Who Funds Quackwatch?
  13. ^ Kolata, Gina (April 1, 1998). A Child's Paper Poses a Medical Challenge. New York Times
  14. ^ Siwolop, Sana (January 7, 2001). Back Pain? Arthritis? Step Right Up to the Mouse. New York Times
  15. ^ Eichenwald, Kurt and Michael Moss (February 6, 2001). Pardon for Subject of Inquiry Worries Prosecutors. New York Times
  16. ^ Associated Press (September 13, 2004). Man Once Pardoned By Clinton Again Faces Prison.
  17. ^ Fessenden, Ford with Christoper Drew (March 31, 2000). Bottom Line in Mind, Doctors Sell Ephedra. New York Times
  18. ^ McKinley, James C Jr. (February 1, 2006). 'Eclectic' Hospital With a Founder Prone to Legal Problems. New York Times
  19. ^ There are 19 web sites affiliated with Quackwatch.
  20. ^ Journal of the American Medical Association 280:1380, 1998.
  21. ^ Awards and honors
  22. ^ USP - Faculty
  23. ^ Alphabetical Faculty Listing
  24. ^ Learning Centered Faculty Biographies
  25. ^ Joel Kauffman, Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year and How to Protect Yourself. Infinity Publishing (January 30, 2006) ISBN 0-7414-2909-8
  26. ^ Kauffmann JM (2002). Website Review: Alternative Medicine: Watching the Watchdogs at Quackwatch., Journal of Scientific Exploration, 16, 2
  27. ^ Quackpot Watch
  28. ^ A Response to Tim Bolen by Stephen Barrett, M.D.
  29. ^ [1]
  30. ^ Donna Ladd, Diagnosing Medical Fraud May Require a Second Opinion, The Village Voice, June 23 - 29, 1999 available online
  31. ^ Burton Goldberg, You Don't have to be Sick: What's Eating Stephen Barrett?, Alternative Medicine Digest, July 1998 available online
  32. ^ Index of Hundreds of Health Topics
  33. ^ Quackwatch review. Accessed Sept. 3, 2006
  34. ^ a b Cranton EM.Rebuttal to "Quackwatch" Website Opposing Chelation Therapy
  35. ^ Saul Green. Chelation Therapy: Unproven Claims and Unsound Theories
  36. ^ James Pontolillo. Colloidal Mineral Supplements: Unnecessary and Potentially Hazardous
  37. ^ Schrauzer GN. QuackWatch Rebuttal

See also

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