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A friend sent me the following comments and article link, and since Stephen Barrett and “Quackwatch” have bashed her organization and many other organizations that I firmly believe in (including the Weston Price Foundation itself, who are responsible for my food conversion and the return to good health for MANY people), I’m thankful she gave me her permission to post it:
“Why don’t more doctors embrace non-drug therapies? What is the source of some of the highly negative information about the use of things like vitamins, herbs, acupuncture, etc.? What is the group that calls itself “Quackbusters” who are so often quoted in the media? Even though it is long, the article below is just a brief overview of what has been going on in this country for a long time. It shows how a handful of very disturbed people can cause unnecessary suffering and death for millions.”
I would also add to her comments that many doctors and the public don’t recognize the power of REAL FOOD for healing and optimal health, and in part that is due to websites like Quackwatch and others. This article is a nice peek at the corruption that goes on behind the scenes at these websites where they claim to “inform us”.
- “Though they seem to have more lives than a cat, it seems likely that Quackbusters will be down for the count.”
- “Amidst the morass of fallacious attacks by mainstream medicine on honest alternative approaches to health, now and then there’s a glitter of good news. It’s a breath of fresh air to announce that the self-styled Quackbusters, headed by a self-styled psychiatrist who failed his exam and was never accepted into the profession, has fallen to one of its targeted victims.”
- “In other words, the California Supreme Court found that Barrett and Sampson were using the court system to operate a self-enrichment scam! Barrett and his partner in crime, Sampson, were attempting to enrich themselves by destroying the reputations and livelihoods of alternative healthcare practitioners.”
- “Where did Barrett get the money to pursue so many cases? Thus far, no one seems to have found the hard proof, but it’s obvious that the backing for his nefarious machinations has been Big Pharma and Big Medicine, which seek to drive any and all competition out of business and make them illegal.”
- “Quackbusters quickly set up a series of interlinked websites and mastered the art of getting first-page listings on Google. These sites include NCAHF, Quackwatch, Acupuncturewatch, Allergywatch, Autismwatch, Bioethicswatch, Cancer Treatment Watch, Casewatch, Chelationwatch, Chirobase, Credentialwatch, Dentalwatch, Device Watch, Diet Scam Watch, Homeowatch, Infomercialwatch, Internet Health Pilot, Mental Health Watch, MLMwatch, Naturowatch, NCCAMwatch, Nutriwatch, Pharmwatch, and Quackwatch.”
- “Each of these sites is set up on an identical layout with exactly the same image on the main page. They consist primarily of text lifted from other sources, mainly sites like government agencies. There is precious little original material. Most of the sites appear not to be updated or updated only rarely. They were created largely by reproducing articles published elsewhere. These sites have a life of their own. Once created, they simply sit there as their notoriety grows—and deluded people read them in the belief that they offer legitimate information.”
Read the whole article: Quackbusters Are Busted!
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
What a relief!
I remember once, shortly after I began studying iridology, that I decided to see what criticisms there were of the technique. After all, I had no evidence that it “worked.” Well, I found Quackwatch (of course). He quoted some study analyzing the “accuracy” of Bernard Jensen’s work with kidney patients. Interesting little thing though: accuracy was judged by Jensen’s ability to corroborate what standard medical tests had “proven.” So, for instance, if a test “proved” that a patient had kidney disease, and Jensen’s technique did not, Jensen was defined as “wrong” (regardless of whether or not he actually helped the patient). I talked to an osteopathic friend of mine about it. He said he couldn’t believe this guy was serious, for it is now well known that the standard medical tests at that time (before 1950, can’t recall the exact decade offhand) were less than 50% accurate.
It was then that I decided that Quackwatch wasn’t what it purported to be, and that I couldn’t take their criticism seriously.
Kel, this is an amazing article and I am gonna share it on my Thoughts on Friday because I find it so important that people REALLY understand that a lot of the scare tactics used by the media and “information” found on the internet is not only FALSE but backed by pretty sleezy alterior motives by folks who stand to gain a lot of money scaring the public! Thanks so much for posting this!
WHOHOO!! YAY! Doing a great big old happy dance that you exposed these guys. I’ve always had suspicions, but couldn’t prove anything on my own. They were just against everything it seemed. The internet seems to be proving the old adage to believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Thank you, thank you, thank you for busting these ducks!
http://www.quackpotwatch.org/
Tim Bolen is a chiro who has had run-in with Quackwatch many years ago. Quackwatch has tried to sue Dr. Mercola. The scary thing is that Jimmy Moore reported that there were people from Quackwatch speaking at the Metabolism conference. They are trying to gain access where possible.
Kel, I did share this article on my thoughts on friday. You can see it here: http://amoderatelife.com/?p=386 I think it is SO important for everyone to be aware of the insideous nature of Misinformation! Thanks again!
Yeah we have been busting Quackwatch for years on the Native Nutrition yahoo group and later the Weston Price Chapter Leaders yahoo group (to a lesser extent), so this news isn’t surprising, but I’m glad it is starting to spread.
I’ve heard these guys were fading away before (hence the nine lives comment, I guess). I hope it’s real this time. My realization about Stephen Barrett and Quackwatch (and the Baratz guy on the Canadian side of things) came over time. I started realizing that every time I wanted to research something ‘alternative’, Stephen Barrett and his ‘organization’ would pop up. I started wondering what kind of genius this guy was. How could he be an expert in so many areas? Then I started reading what he was saying. No matter WHAT this issue, he was against it! I was incredulous when I came to this realization and had to tell me husband — just to share my amazement with someone! He’s not into all this stuff, but even he recognizes ole Stephen Barrett’s name by now! It almost makes me want to take a second look at something — if SB doesn’t like it! ‘Talk about backfiring!
I’ve been disgusted with this website and these people for awhile so I’m glad it’s finally starting to spread. How backwards and insane that companies feel the need to do these kinds of things. If their treatments were honestly better, they wouldn’t need dirty tricks to get people to take them!
Kelly – I am so glad to hear about this! I have been on this site more than multiple times over the years reading their garbage, and I was always disheartened to hear that this organization was doing what it was – it always seemed so evil and insidious to make your life’s work out of going around and trying to undo other people’s attempts to help people heal…but I tried to ignore it because I figured the Internet is not regulated (which in many ways is a good thing!), and that you cannot sit around and worry about what some nutjob is doing. I am reposting this on my FB account. Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for publicizing this, I hadn’t heard of this ruling, though I was familiar with Quackbusters and long thought them to be the quacks.
This repost should be taken down. The claim that Barrett failed to meet a deadline for responding was refuted weeks ago: Even Tim Bolen, who originated said claim, now admits that Barrett has until August 30 to respond. Even apart from that, Barrett was not required to respond through an attorney, as American law allows a motion to dismiss in lieu of a response. I also established that the quote from the “King Bio” case was taken substantially out of context, and completely debunked the supposed “admissions” by Barrett, which in fact are allegations (at least one badly garbled) from a filing by individuals whom Barrett sued for reposting defamatory content by Tim Bolen. (Stevenson deleted comments outlining that the “admissions” were invented.)
Furthermore, Bolen is notoriously unreliable. By prevailing opinion, he is both dishonest and delusional. He has most recently attempted (pathetically) to intimidate me and others into silence by claiming that we can be added as defendants. Said claim is preposterous, and could easily be considered third-party legal misconduct. Ms. Stevenson was warned to remove any content for which this thug was a source, and her reputation will suffer accordingly.