What is Fraud and Quackery?
Dr. Steven Barret, over at, Quackwatch offers the following definition: “Quackery” derives from the word quacksalver (someone who boasts about his salves). Dictionaries define quack as “a pretender to medical skill; a charlatan” and “one who talks pretentiously without sound knowledge of the subject discussed.” These definitions suggest that the promotion of quackery involves deliberate deception, but many promoters sincerely believe in what they are doing. The FDA defines health fraud as “the promotion, for profit, of a medical remedy known to be false or unproven.” This also can cause confusion because in ordinary usage — and in the courts — the word “fraud” connotes deliberate deception. Quackery’s paramount characteristic is promotion (“Quacks quack!”) rather than fraud, greed, or misinformation. Are homeopaths, and the big homeopathic remedy companies, quacks or medical frauds? This is sincerely a difficult question for me to answer. I believe that most persons who provide or pr
