Why Quackery Thrives

It isn’t surprising nowadays to find medical doctors who combine scientific treatments with quack nostrums like visualization, homeopathy, iridology, faith healing and other unproven healing methods.

A study made by Dr. Barrie R. Cassileth, director of psychosocial programs at the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center showed that 60 percent of unorthodox practitioners were actually physicians and 30 percent of doctors supported the use of alternative treatments.

"Physicians in general practice are susceptible to being taken in by quackery. They may be handed a packet of information, say about chelation therapy or live cell analysis based on articles that look like they are based on real science (but are, in fact, not)," said Dr. James A. Lowell, a professor of life sciences at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona who has written over a hundred newspaper articles on quackery and is the president of the Arizona Council Against Health Fraud.

Experts say one of the reasons why quackery thrives in the medical profession is because it is an easy way of making money.

In the 1960s, quackery cost the American public $1 billion annually. In 1984, Americans spent $10 billion on worthless and dangerous quack remedies. That figure has reached over $20 billion, according to the late Dr. Victor Herbert, former professor of medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

Quackery is also alive and well thanks largely to unregulated newspaper, radio and television ads which allow quacks to peddle their questionable wares. Occult practices labeled under the New Age, alternative or holistic brand, have also permitted quacks to promote unproven remedies and publicize these in respectable magazines and newspapers.

Because editors and publishers are often ignorant about these quack devices and are usually on the lookout for anything sensational or controversial, many will print these stories to boost circulation figures and increase advertising revenues - at the expense of the public.

To protect consumers from this growing health fraud, here is a list of guidelines which can help you determine whether your doctor is a quack or not. These guidelines are based in part on those made by Dr. Stephen Barrett, a psychiatrist, prizewinning author, consumer advocate and board member of the National Council Against Health Fraud Inc.

Don’t ever make the mistake of assuming that you don’t need this list because you are intelligent and won’t be fooled by quacks. Many intelligent people are victims of quackery without realizing it. Many others have been diverted from expert medical help and have not lived long enough to tell others of their misery at the hands of these charlatans. As Barrett wrote in “Health Schemes, Scams and Frauds”:

“Despite Voltaire’s dictum, quackery has never been limited to transactions between knaves and fools. Indeed, its victims come from all walks of life and educational backgrounds. The extent to which people can be fooled should not be underestimated.” (Next: How to spot quacks.)

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