Quackwatch
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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.
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[edit] 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
It also manages the site of the National Council Against Health Fraud, to which it is affiliated.
[edit] 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- Bogus "Anti-Quackbuster" Suit Withdrawn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.
[edit] Criticisms
[edit] A woo rodeo of detractors
- 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.
