Quackwatch
(→Lawsuit: this doesn't appear to be from the Koren case at all) |
(→Weston Price and QuackWatch: the claims and the reality: this is way too long, and full of shit.) |
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In addition it can be shown that Quackwatch ''is'' very sloppy with its research at times. For example in "Stay Away from "Holistic" and "Biological" Dentists" Stephen Barrett states "Price made a whirlwind tour of primitive areas, examined the natives superficially, and jumped to simplistic conclusions. While extolling their health, he ignored their short life expectancy and high rates of infant mortality, endemic diseases, and malnutrition. While praising their diets for not producing cavities, he ignored the fact that malnourished people don't usually get many cavities."<ref>[http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/holisticdent.html Stay Away from "Holistic" and "Biological" Dentists]</ref> | In addition it can be shown that Quackwatch ''is'' very sloppy with its research at times. For example in "Stay Away from "Holistic" and "Biological" Dentists" Stephen Barrett states "Price made a whirlwind tour of primitive areas, examined the natives superficially, and jumped to simplistic conclusions. While extolling their health, he ignored their short life expectancy and high rates of infant mortality, endemic diseases, and malnutrition. While praising their diets for not producing cavities, he ignored the fact that malnourished people don't usually get many cavities."<ref>[http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/holisticdent.html Stay Away from "Holistic" and "Biological" Dentists]</ref> | ||
| − | The problem is that Price did '''NOT ''' ignore these factors | + | The problem is that Price did '''NOT ''' ignore these factors. This is no way validates Price's lunatic other points - [[Holistic Dentistry]] is psuedoscience. |
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* [http://www.21stcenturyhgh.com/quackwatch-hgh.htm Our Response to the Quackwatch Article] – from a supplier of "HGH Human Growth Hormone." Their response is summed up as, "Spend $60 on our product first and try it out!" | * [http://www.21stcenturyhgh.com/quackwatch-hgh.htm Our Response to the Quackwatch Article] – from a supplier of "HGH Human Growth Hormone." Their response is summed up as, "Spend $60 on our product first and try it out!" | ||
* [http://www.raysahelian.com/quackwatch.html Is Stephen Barrett a Quack?] – by Ray Sahelian, M.D., who has authored books on "natural supplements" and "herbal products." His opinion is that Dr. Barrett is reliable but terribly biased…and besides, he hasn't embarked on a crusade against "the worthless cold and cough medicines sold by pharmaceutical companies and drug stores" the way Dr. Sahelian has. So nyahhh nyahhh nyahhh. | * [http://www.raysahelian.com/quackwatch.html Is Stephen Barrett a Quack?] – by Ray Sahelian, M.D., who has authored books on "natural supplements" and "herbal products." His opinion is that Dr. Barrett is reliable but terribly biased…and besides, he hasn't embarked on a crusade against "the worthless cold and cough medicines sold by pharmaceutical companies and drug stores" the way Dr. Sahelian has. So nyahhh nyahhh nyahhh. | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 10:55, 17 May 2013
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Quackwatch is a nonprofit that combats and keeps tabs on all manner of quackery. They started with medical woo and have expanded to all manner of woo. It is largely the work of Stephen Barrett, a longtime critic of alternative medicine. The website has great content, but could use the work of an adept website designer to bring the aesthetics up to date.
Contents |
Sister sites
Quackwatch also runs a number of other sites, including:
- Chirobase.org, a skeptical look at chiropractic
- CredentialWatch.org, exposing diploma mills
- Dentalwatch.org, exposing dental woo.
- MLMWatch.org, exposing multilevel marketing and pyramid schemes
- Naturowatch.org, coverage of naturopathic quackery
Lawsuit
Interestingly, if you do a Web search for Quackwatch, you're likely to come across a large number of blaring announcements like this: "Quackwatch founder loses in court!" "Quackwatch exposed as quack!" "Quackwatch loses lawsuit!" Nearly all of these accusations are on pseudo-scientific and untrustworthy "medical" Web sites of dubious quality. This also means that if you attempt to use Quackwatch as a verifiable source to prove that a "medical" Web site is lying or worse, they will immediately point to this accusation in order to "prove" that Quackwatch is not a reliable source. (For example, here's a link to The Cure Zone's mirror of the announcement calling the Quackwatch site untrustworthy: [1]) This all springs from one lawsuit that has been dragged through the courts for years – not by Quackwatch, but by Koren Publications, a chiropractor supply company. Quackwatch explains this lawsuit at these pages:
- A Response to Tim Bolen
- Bogus "Anti-Quackbuster" Suit Withdrawn
- My Libel Suit against Tedd Koren, D.C.
The short answer seems to be that Stephen Barrett sued Koren for defamation, but his case was dismissed; he then appealed, but the appeal was denied. One side of the case (namely Koren) made a lot of noise about it, repeatedly trumpeting bulletins such as this on many different quack-medicine Web sites:
- 2005: Quackwatch Founder Stephen Barrett Loses Major Defamation Case in his own Hometown (Note how this very statement admits the defamation trial itself only lasted for three days, as opposed to being delayed and wasting time in litigation for four years.)
- 2007: Quackwatch Found Guilty (Actually, there was no "guilty" verdict, as the press release notes: "On June 11th, 2007, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a lower court dismissal of Barrett’s defamation suite against Dr. Koren.")
There's even a Web site out there especially dedicated to slamming QuackWatch, called Quackpotwatch. Take three guesses as to who's managing and contributing to this Web site.
Moreover, in the 2005 Defamation Case article above it was stated:
“”At trial, under a heated cross-examination by Negrete, Barrett conceded that he was not a Medical Board Certified psychiatrist because he had failed the certification exam. This was a major revelation since Barrett had provided supposed "expert testimony" as a psychiatrist and had testified in numerous court cases as such. Also, Barrett had said that he was a "legal expert" even though he had no formal legal training.
The most damning testimony before the jury, under the intense cross-examination by Negrete, was that Barrett had filed similar defamation lawsuits against almost 40 people across the country within the past few years and had not won one single one at trial. During the course of his examination, Barrett also had to concede his ties to the AMA, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
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In a 2002 lawsuit against King Bio Pharmaceuticals, a homeopathics company, it was ruled that Stephen Barrett could not be regarded by the court as an expert on the legality of homeopathic drugs and had too much personal interest in opposing alternative medicine to be regarded as an objective source on the subject.[1]
Weston Price and QuackWatch: the claims and the reality
In addition it can be shown that Quackwatch is very sloppy with its research at times. For example in "Stay Away from "Holistic" and "Biological" Dentists" Stephen Barrett states "Price made a whirlwind tour of primitive areas, examined the natives superficially, and jumped to simplistic conclusions. While extolling their health, he ignored their short life expectancy and high rates of infant mortality, endemic diseases, and malnutrition. While praising their diets for not producing cavities, he ignored the fact that malnourished people don't usually get many cavities."[2]
The problem is that Price did NOT ignore these factors. This is no way validates Price's lunatic other points - Holistic Dentistry is psuedoscience.
This sloppy research is used by medical fraudsters as ammunition to claim that you cannot trust anything Quackwatch says. Sadly many of these detractors are as sloppy with their facts as Quackwatch is:
- Our Response to the Quackwatch Article – from a supplier of "HGH Human Growth Hormone." Their response is summed up as, "Spend $60 on our product first and try it out!"
- Is Stephen Barrett a Quack? – by Ray Sahelian, M.D., who has authored books on "natural supplements" and "herbal products." His opinion is that Dr. Barrett is reliable but terribly biased…and besides, he hasn't embarked on a crusade against "the worthless cold and cough medicines sold by pharmaceutical companies and drug stores" the way Dr. Sahelian has. So nyahhh nyahhh nyahhh.
