Quackery: The National Council Against Health Fraud Perspective
The essence of “quackery” is intrinsic to the tradition of the marketplace as a setting wherein people may deceive each other, symbolized by the caduceus (i.e., wand of Hermes), a winged staff entwined by two facing serpents. Hermes was the god of the marketplace and the protector of merchants, messengers, thieves, and outlaws. In Homer’s Hymn to Hermes, Apollo says26: This among the Gods shall be your gift . . . To be considered as the Lord of those who swindle, housebreak, sheepsteal, and shoplift. A schemer beyond belief. . . The two facing serpents on the wand of Hermes depict duplicity. The true symbol of medicine is the single serpent entwined around the staff of Asclepias, the Greek god of medicine. Sir William Butts, physician …
Continue Reading >NCAHF’s History
The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) evolved from the constituents of three separate organizations that formed independently out of concerns about health misinformation, fraud, and quackery in their communities. These were the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud, Inc. (LVCAHF); the Southern California Council Against Health Fraud (SCCAHF); and a similar group without a formal name in northern California. Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud (LVCAHF). The idea of forming organizations to fight quackery was originated by Stephen Barrett, M.D. In the late 1960s, Dr. Barrett read two books that aroused his concern about the problem of quackery. One was James Harvey Young’s Medical Messiahs, which detailed how the government’s struggle against the patent medicine industry led to the formation of the U.S. Food …
Continue Reading >NCAHF Mission Statement
The National Council Against Health Fraud was a nonprofit, tax-exempt voluntary health agency focused upon health fraud, misinformation, and quackery as public health problems. This site, which belongs to long-time NCAHF board member Stephen Barrett, M.D., archives many NCAHF documents that can help people evaluate health claims. Basic Principles NCAHF’s founding principles were derived from consumer protection law and the scientific process. Included were the beliefs that: “Consumer” is not a special class but a role played by all; everyone in a free enterprise society has a stake in maintaining high standards for health products and services. Professionals in the health sciences, academia, law and business as well as government agencies share a responsibility to help consumers protect themselves from deception and exploitation in health-related …
Continue Reading >Contact Information
NCAHF.org Webmaster Stephen Barrett, MD Telephone (919) 533-6009 Send e-mail
Continue Reading >The Significance of the HONcode Principles
Stephen Barrett, M.D. The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) adheres to the HONcode principles of the Geneva-based Health On the Net Foundation. These principles have evolved from discussions with Webmasters and medical professionals in several countries. These principles are sound, but compliance is voluntary and some sites displaying the code contain unreliable information or link to other sites that contain unreliable information. To be certified by HON, a Web site must formally apply for registration. If accepted, it must subsequently comply with all the principles enumerated in the HONcode. When a noncompliant site is reported, HONcode officials ask that the logo be removed—and most sites comply. In July 2009, there were about 6,800 certified Web sites. You can confirm that a site is registered …
Continue Reading >Victor Herbert, MD, JD, M.A.C.P., F.R.S.M.
February 22, 1927 — November 19, 2002Victor Herbert, MD, JD, M.A.C.P. (Master American College of Physicians), F.R.S.M. (Fellow Royal Society of Medicine, London), 75, internationally recognized hematologist, nutrition scientist and one of the world’s leading authorities on questionable medical practices, died at his home in New York City on November 19th. He is survived by his wife, Marilynne and their daughters, Alissa and Laura Herbert. Dr. Herbert also has two sons Robert and Steven and a daughter, Kathy Rose, from a previous marriage and four grandchildren, Jessica, Nicole, Andrew, and Daniel. Until his death, Dr. Herbert was a Professor of Medicine and Chair, Committee to Strengthen Nutrition at The Mount Sinai-New York University Health System and Chief, Mount Sinai Nutrition Center and Hematology and Nutrition …
Continue Reading >John H. Renner, M.D., 1932-2000
We regret to announce that NCAHF president, Dr. John Renner passed away following emergency heart surgery on Saturday, September 2, 2000, at St. Joseph’s Health Center in Kansas City, Missouri. John is survived by his wife Diana; daughter Andrea Simon and husband Jody of Los Angeles, son Craig and wife Lynn of Madison, Wisconsin; and two grandsons. John was born in 1932, in Newtown, Indiana. He and Diana both grew up in Auburn, Indiana. He graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, and completed medical school at George Washington University. John practiced in rural Virginia for a decade before taking a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin where he helped found the Department of Family Medicine and served as a Professor and Chairman. In …
Continue Reading >NCAHF Manifesto
Freedom of Choice Mentally competent adults should be able to choose to follow any health practices they wish or refuse treatment, however, children have the right to grow up to an age where they may make free choices, therefore, children should have access to rational, responsible health care. NCAHF recognizes that a certain amount of the principle of Caveat Emptor (i.e., “let the buyer beware”) must always exist in the health marketplace; however, whenever possible the more socially responsible concept of Caveat Vendor (i.e., “let the seller beware”) should supersede it. Freedom of Expression Political, religious and other ideological concepts should be given full freedom of expression; but, claims which are capable of scientific verification (ie, demonstration before qualified people) should be tested before becoming …
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