→Critics: peer review is known? how can their independance be verified given their topics of puplication (fringe science)? A bit unual to add where the Ph.D. is from, smells of appeal to authority |
→Critics: remove typical academic credentials why is theis needed. More appeal to authority. |
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{{Main|Stephen Barrett}} |
{{Main|Stephen Barrett}} |
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* An critical analysis of Quackwatch has been published in the [[Journal of Scientific Exploration]] by Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D. of the Department of [[Chemistry]] & [[Biochemistry]] at [[University of the Sciences in Philadelphia]], closely examines eight Quackwatch articles for factuality, fairness and scientific currency.<ref name=”Kauffman”>Kauffmann JM (2002). [http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/bookreviews/v16n2.php Watching the watchdogs at Quackwatch.],</ref> |
* An critical analysis of Quackwatch has been published in the [[Journal of Scientific Exploration]] by Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D. of the Department of [[Chemistry]] & [[Biochemistry]] at [[University of the Sciences in Philadelphia]], closely examines eight Quackwatch articles for factuality, fairness and scientific currency.<ref name=”Kauffman”>Kauffmann JM (2002). [http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/bookreviews/v16n2.php Watching the watchdogs at Quackwatch.],</ref> He has authored ''Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year and How to Protect Yourself.''<ref>ISBN 0-7414-2909-8 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: 0741429098</ref> He states that all eight articles were "contaminated with incomplete data, obsolete data, technical errors, unsupported opinions, and/or innuendo," and gives numerous examples with extensive, peer reviewed references. 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." |
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*The site and its founder have critics such as Timothy Patrick ( Tim ) Bolen, webmaster of Quackpot Watch <ref>[http://www.quackpotwatch.org/ Quackpot Watch]</ref>, 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."<ref>[http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/bolen.html A Response to Tim Bolen] by Stephen Barrett, M.D.</ref>. 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. <ref> [http://www.quackpotwatch.org/opinionpieces/tim%20bolen.htm] </ref> |
*The site and its founder have critics such as Timothy Patrick ( Tim ) Bolen, webmaster of Quackpot Watch <ref>[http://www.quackpotwatch.org/ Quackpot Watch]</ref>, 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."<ref>[http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/bolen.html A Response to Tim Bolen] by Stephen Barrett, M.D.</ref>. 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. <ref> [http://www.quackpotwatch.org/opinionpieces/tim%20bolen.htm] </ref> |
Revision as of 22:19, 27 September 2006
Quackwatch is a website operated by Quackwatch, Inc., an American non-profit organization whose stated purpose is to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies" and whose "primary focus is on quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere". Quackwatch is operated by Stephen Barrett, M.D., a retired psychiatrist and professional expert witness who founded the non-profit in 1969, with input from his board of advisors, and help from numerous volunteers. [1] The website itself was started in 1997 [2] and is also used to sell books [3] and ask for donations.[4]
Mission and scope
Quackwatch reports that its activities include:
- Investigating questionable health claims
- Answering inquiries about medical products and services
- Advising "quackery victims"
- Distributing publications on medical information
- Reporting illegal marketing of medical methods and products
- Assisting or generating consumer-protection lawsuits
- 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 peer reviewed scientific papers, but are mainly written by Barrett or his 70+ member board of advisors (free to join from the website), for the non-specialist reader in a style not unlike Consumer Reports and other general readership publications. [5] Quackwatch sets out to show therapies as "quackery" by presenting scientific evidence and arguments that support that conclusion. Barrett shows how some "quackery" therapies could be (and in some cases have been) dangerous. The site contains information about specific people who perform, market, and use "quackery" 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-recommendable, [6] [7] including two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling (for his claims about massive doses of Vitamin C [8]) and integrative medicine proponent Andrew Weil, MD. [9]
Reporting
Quackwatch has been involved in reporting on therapeutic touch, [10] Vitamin O, [11] Almon Glenn Braswell [12] [13] dietary supplements, especially when sold by doctors, [14], and the Mexican clinic where Coretta Scott King died. [15]
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), and others, each devoted to specific topics.
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." in 1999,[16] U.S. News & World Report listed it in their Best of the Web (one of three medical sites), and Forbes named it among the "Best of the Web" from 2000 to 2004.[17]
Critics
- An critical analysis of Quackwatch has been published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration by Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D. of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, closely examines eight Quackwatch articles for factuality, fairness and scientific currency.[18] He has authored Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year and How to Protect Yourself.[19] He states that all eight articles were "contaminated with incomplete data, obsolete data, technical errors, unsupported opinions, and/or innuendo," and gives numerous examples with extensive, peer reviewed references. 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."
- The site and its founder have critics such as Timothy Patrick ( Tim ) Bolen, webmaster of Quackpot Watch [20], 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."[21]. 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. [22]
- 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." [23]
- 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."[24] 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,Cite error: A
<ref>
tag is missing the closing</ref>
(see the help page). 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?" [25]
- 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." [26] 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, [27] in which Dr. Green attempts to discredit EDTA chelation using half-truths, speculation, and false statements." [26]
- Dr. Gerhard N. Schrauzer has responded to a Quackwatch article written by James Pontolillo [28] 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." [29]
References
- ^ Rosen, Marjorie (October 1998). Interview with Stephen Barrett, M.D. Biography Magazine
- ^ Internet Archives copy of original site.
- ^ , Publications for Sale.[1]
- ^ How to donate to Quackwatch. [2]
- ^ Jaroff, Leon (April 30, 2001). The Man Who Loves To Bust Quacks. Time Magazine
- ^ Barrett SJ. Nonrecommended Sources of Health Advice Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
- ^ Barrett SJ. Questionable Organizations: An Overview. Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
- ^ Barrett SJ (May 5, 2001). The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy. via Quackwatch. Retrieved July 29, 2006.
- ^ Relamn AS (December 14, 1998). A Trip to Stonesville: Some Notes on Andrew Weil. New Republic, via Quackwatch.
- ^ Kolata, Gina (April 1, 1998). A Child's Paper Poses a Medical Challenge. New York Times
- ^ Siwolop, Sana (January 7, 2001). Back Pain? Arthritis? Step Right Up to the Mouse. New York Times
- ^ Eichenwald, Kurt and Michael Moss (February 6, 2001). Pardon for Subject of Inquiry Worries Prosecutors. New York Times
- ^ Associated Press (September 13, 2004). Man Once Pardoned By Clinton Again Faces Prison.
- ^ Fessenden, Ford with Christoper Drew (March 31, 2000). Bottom Line in Mind, Doctors Sell Ephedra. New York Times
- ^ McKinley, James C Jr. (February 1, 2006). 'Eclectic' Hospital With a Founder Prone to Legal Problems. New York Times
- ^ Journal of the American Medical Association 280:1380, 1998.
- ^ Awards and honors
- ^ Kauffmann JM (2002). Watching the watchdogs at Quackwatch.,
- ^ ISBN 0-7414-2909-8 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: 0741429098
- ^ Quackpot Watch
- ^ A Response to Tim Bolen by Stephen Barrett, M.D.
- ^ [3]
- ^ Donna Ladd, Diagnosing Medical Fraud May Require a Second Opinion, The Village Voice, June 23 - 29, 1999 available online
- ^ Burton Goldberg, You Don't have to be Sick: What's Eating Stephen Barrett?, Alternative Medicine Digest, July 1998 available online
- ^ Quackwatch review. Accessed Sept. 3, 2006
- ^ a b Cranton EM.Rebuttal to "Quackwatch" Website Opposing Chelation Therapy
- ^ Saul Green. Chelation Therapy: Unproven Claims and Unsound Theories
- ^ James Pontolillo. Colloidal Mineral Supplements: Unnecessary and Potentially Hazardous
- ^ Schrauzer GN. QuackWatch Rebuttal
See also
- Alternative medicine
- National_Council_Against_Health_Fraud
- Pseudoscience
- Scientific_skepticism
- Skepticism
- Stephen Barrett
External links
- Quackwatch
- QuackpotWatch - critical
- QuackWatch Watch - critical