Is Your Doctor a Quack?

Can you trust your doctor? Or is he or she a quack?

Back in the days of the Old West, the snake oil salesman with his covered wagon of miracle cures was fairly easy to recognize. His showmanship, rather than his "science," helped sell his magic potions to the gullible.

But today things are different. Although the modem quack still mouths the same old promises, his manner and style have changed. He has become more sophisticated in his approach to fooling people. He quotes -- or misquotes - scientific references and he sprinkles his conversation with medical terms in dealing with prospective patients. Indeed, modern quackery has become so high-tech that many are deceived in the process. And I'm not only talking about the gullible here.

"Unlike stereotypical charlatans, many of today's practitioners of unorthodox medicine are scientifically trained and often seem to believe their treatment is a boon to society. Even so, their stock-in-trade often remains the same - food fads, potions and black boxes with fancy knobs. In the end, patients spend their money on products that often don't work and avoid conventional care, sometimes until it's too late to take advantage of proper treatments," according to Mark Fuerst in "Medical World News."

"Quackery has traveled far from the day of the pitchman and covered wagon to emerge as big business. Those who orchestrate and profit from the sale and promotion of these useless and often harmful 'health' products are no longer quaint and comical figures. They are well organized, sophisticated and persistent," added the late congressman Claude Pepper who chaired the U.S. House Select Committee on Aging's Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care which conducted a four-year investigation on the extent of quackery.

In recent years, a growing number of physicians have also turned to quackery either by intent or because like their patients, they, too, are misinformed and sincerely believe that certain unorthodox methods work.

"Whether from self-delusion, insanity, or simple ignorance, many quacks are sincerely dedicated to their nostrums. Some have actually killed themselves or their loved ones with their favorite remedies," revealed Dr. William T. Jarvis, professor of preventive medicine at Loma Linda University and president of the National Council Against Health Fraud Inc., a 1,500-member network of physicians, health educators, attorneys, government officials and other quackbusters. (Next: Why quackery thrives.)

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