Quackwatch

When people (Stephen Barrett) start writing articles about areas well outside their specialisation (psychology) they tend to defend the status quo and reject anything new.

The definition of madness is to:

Keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome

Quackwatch is like watching the argument for smoking all over again:

"The established paradigm is safe"
The new has not been proven and thus is bad.

It's hyper skepticism at it's worst... and gives true skeptics a bad name.

Quackwatch do use extensive referencing which is a good habit. If only the referencing was a bit more balanced?

Conflicting data often exists which Quackwatch fails to reference. Disagreements are typically resolved as the weight of data finally erodes an existing paradigm. Quackwatch shows no signs of recognising this duality and stifles valid debate rather than facilitating it.

Quackwatch censors debate, is not transparent, misrepresents dissenting points of view and dismisses anyone who disagrees with them as quacks.

The site would benefit from a comments section. Comment sections bring balance back to a discussion. Publishing reader comments forces websites to address weak points in their arguments. Reader comments give an alternative point of view which is otherwise lacking.:-)

Will the real quack please stand up?! Quack watch has no idea what it's talking about. Anytime I do research on natural cures this site comes up saying it doesn't work. Yet, why do I feel better after these treatments? Hmmmmm, something smells Fishy at quackwatch...
Especially when it comes to the Amen clinic, once again quack watch says no, best thing I ever did...

It appears that this site has ties to the pharmaceutical industry. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 20 years ago. I did the conventional therapy (drugs) only to feel worse than ever and to develop more and more negative symptoms. As soon as I began to use natural healing methods, my health began to improve. I no longer believe in drugs, which provide only a band aid effect as the disease rages on underneath. Quackwatch should be sending out information about all of the countless drugs that undermine health and kill millions of unsuspecting people. One only has to look at the side effects of drugs to wonder, "are people that take these drugs really that clueless?"

I have been a Cranio Sacral Therapist for many years now and have felt and SEEN amazing results. Clients that haven't had relief of pain for decades felt rejuvenated and alive again. When this site came to my attention it seemed as if there is only one side... and he is being a bully with no direct experience of the topics I have read. I refuse to read ignorance. He reminds me of a fat kid with acne that had no friends on the play ground because he $#*! himself.

Learn to think for yourselves people.
Being a pharmacist that works in the supplement industry I agree with many but not all things found in that site. A psychiatrist-and one not allowed to practice too- is not the best source of information. As for the big-pharma conspiracies I read here- big pharmas laugh laugh and then laugh some more at the tiny % of their profits the whole supplement industry is. If the guy writes an article and is backed with both logical arguments AND scientific studies, then doctor or not, he is probably right

It doesn't get much more close minded than quackwatch. As a MD, Dr. Barrett should at least be open to some of these medical treatments that he is trying to hard to debunk. Take acupuncture for instance, it has been around for 2000 plus years and he talks about the dubious claims of the technique. He loves the word dubious by the way. If anything is our world was a fraud then it won't last a month let alone 2000 years. Yes there are quacks out there on both the allopathic side and naturopathic side but to label either group as quacks you are doing more harm than good. I'm sure he is well paid by some gov't agency but isn't it time to start doing the right thing instead misinforming citizens about treatments that may very well help them and their families. After all, since when has the government ever cared about saving any of us from potentially wasting our money.

What a joke! Sooo basically everything and anything that isn't chemo or radiation is a scam? You're fraudulent site should be shut down! I truly hope that the people that stumble upon this pathetic website are not gullible enough to believe this crap! What a pathetic piece of trash... Anyone considering any of these alternative therapies should research how cancer cells are developed and how cancer cell growth is promoted. Once you do you will understand the immense benefits of such treatments like: wheatgrass, chlorophyll, oxygenation, gerson, etc.

This site has no credibility just research Truth of Stephan Barrett and you will see he and his site have no credibility... Quackwatch has been involved in a number of lawsuits and apparently Stephen Barrett had lost one or more lawsuits where the judge made him pay the opposing attorneys fees. Google... Court Orders Quackbusters Barrett and Polevoy to Post $433,715.93 Bond. Yet Quackbuster still maintains it is run from donations... More like donations from big pharma.

I read an accusatory letter from a government agency, t o an honorable and effective herbalist i had bought items from in the past, which letter was published on the QW site. But it seems to be a fundamentally flawed accusation, just that the federal agency did not seem to know their own business and what is permitted vs what is not. The site QW did not give any further info, as to the disposition of the case- just an accusatory preliminary letter. Which may have been overruled by a judge in favor of the existing laws that the Fed agent seemed unaware of. Or maybe the Feds and who knows, maybe also QW, just try to bully and harass alternative medical professionals, in order to serve thier apparent long term masters, Big Pharma. Since the major Federal agencies including this one, seem a bit compromised and a bit captured by industries who become government insiders and then wield the agencies as weapons against competitors.
Old medical remedies DO NOT have the same labeling or ad requirements as new ones. A lot of them are "grandfathered in" without the current requirements, based on thier past of successful use by doctors of the past.
It appears that these people on QW are a bit out of date and not very knowledgeable. As are some people in federal agencies. Or else they deliberately and knowingly harass good alt medicine professionals.