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Quackwatch
Quackwatch, Inc., is an American non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett 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."[1][2] Since 1996 it has operated a website, quackwatch.org, which advises the public on unproven or ineffective alternative medicine remedies.[3] The site contains articles and other information criticizing many forms of alternative medicine.[4][5][6] Quackwatch has received several awards and has been recognized in the media.[7] Numerous sources cite quackwatch.org as a practical source for online consumer information. The site has been criticized by supporters and practitioners of various forms of alternative medicine such as herbalism and homeopathy, as well as other practices that are criticized on the website.[8][9][10]
HistoryFounded in 1969 by Stephen Barrett, M.D., the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud was incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania in 1970.[11] In 1996, the corporation began the website quackwatch.org, and the organization itself was renamed Quackwatch, Inc. in 1997 as its website attracted attention.[2] Quackwatch is closely affiliated with the National Council Against Health Fraud.[12] Mission and scopeQuackwatch is overseen by Barrett, its chairman, with input from a board of advisors and help from volunteers, including a number of medical professionals.[13] As of 2003, Quackwatch engaged the services of over 150 scientific and technical advisors: 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.[14] Quackwatch describes its mission as follows:
Quackwatch states that there are no salaried employees, and a total cost of operating all of Quackwatch's sites is approximately $7,000 per year. It is funded mainly by small individual donations, commissions from sales on other sites to which they refer, profits from the sale of publications, and self-funding by Barrett. Stated income is also derived from usage of sponsored links, including Amazon.com, ConsumerLab.com, HealthGrades, Inc, and Netflix.[2] Site contentThe Quackwatch website contains many essays and white papers, intended for the non-specialist consumer, written by Barrett, a board of advisors, and other writers. The articles discuss health-related products, treatments, enterprises, and providers which Quackwatch deems to be misleading, fraudulent or ineffective. Also included are links to article sources and both internal and external resources for further study. The site is especially critical of products, services, and theories that it considers questionable, dubious, and/or dangerous, including:[15]
The website provides information about specific people who perform, market, and advocate therapies it considers dubious, including in many cases details of convictions for past marketing fraud. It maintains lists of sources, individuals, and groups it considers questionable and non-recommendable.[28][29] Its lists 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, and integrative medicine proponent Andrew Weil.[30][31] The site is part of a network of related sites, including Homeowatch (on homeopathy), Credential Watch (devoted to exposing degree mills), Chirobase (specifically devoted to chiropractic), each devoted to specific topics.[32][33][34][35][36] Quackwatch.org's articles are reviewed by the medical advisory board upon request[2] and many of its articles cite peer-reviewed research.[18][21][23] According to a review in Running & FitNews, the site "also provides links to hundreds of trusted health sites."[37] The site is also available in German, French, and Portuguese, and also available via several mirrors, including www.quack-watch.org and www.quackwatch.com.[38][39][40][41][42] NotabilityQuackwatch has been mentioned in the media, reviews and various journals, as well as receiving several awards and honors.[7][43][44] 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."[45] It was also listed as one of three medical sites of U.S. News & World Report's "Best of the Web" in 1999:[46] A web site review by Forbes magazine stated:
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.[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57] The site's opinion on a US government report on complementary medicine was mentioned in a news report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.[58] Sources that mention Quackwatch.org as a resource for consumer information include the United States Department of Agriculture, 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, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Skeptic?s Dictionary,[59][60][61][62][63][64][65] and the Diet Channel.[66][67][68] Websites of libraries across the United States of America, include links to Quackwatch as a source for consumer information.[69] In addition, several nutrition associations link to Quackwatch.[70] An article in PC World listed it as one of three websites for finding the truth about Internet rumours,[71] and WebMD listed it as one of eight organizations to contact with questions about a product.[72] The American Cancer Society lists Quackwatch as one of ten reputable sources of information about Alternative and Complementary Therapies in their book "Cancer Medicine",[73] and lists it as one of four sources for information about Alternative & Complementary Therapies in an article about on-line cancer information and support.[74] It also uses Quackwatch as a reference in a long series of articles on many forms of alternative medicine.[75] Reviews and commentaryThe Good Web Guide of the United Kingdom described Quackwatch as "firmly anti-holistic" and "an important and useful information resource [which] injects a healthy dose of scepticism into reviewing popular health information."[5] Cunningham and Marcason in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association described Quackwatch as "useful"[64], while Wallace and Kimball, in the Medical Journal of Australia, described the site as "objective".[63] Waltraud Ernst, Professor in the History of Medicine at Oxford Brookes University,[76] points out Barrett's thoroughness and care in advocating against hucksterism, and how it ends up downplaying alternative forms of healthcare, as well as faith, persuasion, spirituality, and cognition, in the treatment of diseases.[77] A review paper in the Annals of Oncology identified Quackwatch as an outstanding complementary medicine information source for cancer patients.[78] Donna Ladd, a journalist, in an article in the Village Voice, suggested that Quackwatch's notability might be influenced by the economic competition between the medical industry and alternative sources.[9] Sociologist Joel Best wrote that critiques in Quackwatch and similar sites should be examined critically rather than being accepted at face value.[79] In a The Consultant Pharmacist review, pharmacist Bao-Anh Nguyen-Khoa characterized Quackwatch as "relevant for both consumers and professionals". Nguyen-Khoa remarked that the implementation of a peer review process would benefit the site and improve its balance, and since the review one has been implemented.[43][14] The former U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health[80] 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, "[Quackwatch] is the only site I know of right now looking at issues of fraud and health on the Internet."[9] See also
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