STEPHBEANR REMT.DT,. EDITBEYD WILLIATM.J A RVIS, PH.D. AND volume, written in an informative, highly readable, and easy-to-understand style, will astound you. Quackery often leads to hann because it turns ill people away from legit imate and trusted therapeutic procedures . However, its heaviest toll is in financial loss not only to those who pay directly, but to everyone who pays for bogus treatments through taxes, insurance premiums, and other ways that are less obvious . While medical science has never had more Chapter titles include: "The Food Fear to offer, many people are turning to "alter Epidemic" ("Beware of chemical con men"), natives" such as chiropractic, homeopathy, "The Overselling of Herbs" ("More hype "organic" foods, vitamin supplements, herbs, than help"), "Quackery and the Media" chelation therapy, and occult ''healers." Mil ("Should we believe what we see and hear?"), lions of Americans who are unenlightened, "The Holistic Hodgepodge," ''Dubious Den seriously ill, or desperate have fallen into tal Care," and "How Quackery Sells." the clutches of TV promoters, nutrition hus tlers, or other con artists ·whose offerings are Stephen Ba"ett, M.D., a retired psychi ineffective or dangerous-and sometimes atrist, is a nationally renowned author, edi lethal. But quackery is not confined to in tor, and consumer advocate. His thirty dividuals who fit the popular image of a four books include Health Schemes, Scams, quack. Significant numbers of well-trained and Frauds; Vitamins and "Health " physicians have strayed from science into Foods: The Great American Hustle; and "fad diagnoses" and unproven treatments the college textbook Consumer Health-A that lack a rational basis. Guide to Intelligent Decisions. In 1984 he The Health Robbers, featuring more won the FDA Commissioner's Special Ci than twenty highly respected authorities, tation Award for Public Service in fighting explains the dangers of quack medicine, nutrition quackery. "alternative" cancer remedies, health fads, and "miracle diets." It argues for stronger William T. Jarvis, Ph.D., Professor of laws and more vigorous policing of the mar Health Promotion and Education at Loma ketplace. And it answers such questions Linda University, is an expert on the psy as: "Are 'organic' foods worth their extra chology and epidemiology of quackery. He cost?" "Can acupuncture cure anything?" founded and is president of the National "Will vitamin B12 shots pep me up?" "Can Council Against Health Fraud. He is a sci diet cure arthritis?" ''Will spinal adjustments entific advisor to the American Council on help my health?" "Will amino acids 'pump Science and Health and a member of the up' my muscles?" "Where can reliable in American Cancer Society's committee on formation be obtained?" and "What's the questionable methods. best way to get good medical care?" Even if the answers to some of these questions seem obvious, the details in this (c ontinued on back flap) Jacket design by Kathleen Sarazin A CloseL ook at Quackeryi n America STEPHBEANR RMIT.TD,. m1TEBDY WILLI,A. JMAR VIS, PH.D. AND Foreworbdy A nn I.anders @ PrometheusB ooks 59 John Glenn Drive Buffalo, NewYork 14228-2197 Published 1993 by Prometheus Books The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America. Copyright© 1993 by Stephen Barrett, M.D., and William T. Jarvis, Ph.D. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be rep~oduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior writ ten permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Inquiries should be addressed to Prometheus Books,5 9 John Glenn Drive, Buffalo, New York 14228--2197, 716-691-0133. FAX: 716-691-0137. 97 96 5 4 3 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The health robbers : a close look at quackery in America / edited by Stephen Barrett, M.D., and William T. Jarvis, Ph.D.; foreword by Ann Landers. p. cm. - (Consumer health library) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87975-855-4 (cloth) 1. Quacks and quackery-United States. 2. Consumer protection-United States. I. Barrett, Stephen, 1933- . II. Jarvis, William T., 1935- . III. Series. R730.H397 1993 615.8'56'0973-dc20 93-25357 CIP Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Introduction Day after day, we hear about our health. Advertisementsb ombardu s. News is sensational.H ealth books abound. Unfortunately,m uch of this informationi s false. Healths cienceh asn everh ad moret o offert hani t doest oday.Yett rusti n doctors has fallen ... and quackeryi s at an all-timeh igh. Some exploitersm erely want our money.O thers,p erhapsm ore confusedt han crooked, seek converts to their misguidedi deas. • How can we tell experts from pretenders? • How can we get reliablei nformation? • How can we communicatet o get the besth ealthc are from our doctors? • How effectivelyi s our governmentp rotectingA mericansf rom being cheated? By exploringt hese questions,t his book shouldh elp both your health and your pocketbook. -Stephen Barrett,M .D. WilliamT . Jarvis, Ph.D. V Foreword P.T . Barnum was right. There's a sucker born every minute. And two to take him. How do I know? Because the victims write to me. And they have been writing to me every day for over thirty-fivey ears. Ann Landers receives approximatelyf ourteen thousand letters a week from readersw ho represente veryc onceivables ocioeconomicg roup.T hey live on suburbane statesa nd in the city slums.M y correspondentsa re from 6 to 110 years of age and include double-dome intellectuals as well as borderline morons. Almost half of the lettersc ome from men. Every bag of mail containss cores of inquiriest hat drive me up the wall. "How can they be so stupid?"I ask myself.A nd then I answert he question.I t's not merely stupidity.I t's desperationa nd wishful thinking that wipes out all reason and common sense. I become furious at the exploitationo f these good people whose only crime is ignorancea nd vulnerability. Here are some examplest hat have crossed my desk: Dear Ann: Is it true that musk oil will tum a man on? My husband is 46 years old and sexuallyd ead as a doornail.I 've seen this musk oil advertised,b ut $11 is a lot of moneyf or a littleb ottle.I f you say it will help, I'll buy it. Dear Ann: I'm a career girl, 28 years old, and haven't had more than three real dates in my life. The reason is because I am flat-chested.I mean I don't have any bust at all. All my life I've wanted to have nice round bosoms. Please tell me if this cream will help. (Advertisement enclosed.) As you can see, the "before" and "after" pictures are very convincing.W hat do you say? vii viii Foreword Dear Ann:I s it truet hatc ookingi n aluminumw illc ausec ancer?A man came to the door yesterdays ellingc ookware.H e scared the life out of me. His utensilsc ost $450 for the completes et. If what he says is true, about cancer,I mean, it sure wouldb e worthi t. But I hate to throw out these perfectlyg ood pots and pans I've used for 10 years. One aftera nothert he lettersc ome-from the "exoticd ancer" who wants to grow "georgeousn ails in 20 days"-from the overweighth ousewifew ho will do anythingt o get thin exceptq uit eating the things she loves.T hen there are the femalesw ithb agsu ndert heire yes and extrac hinsw ho are sure they will look ten yearsy oungeri f theyu se the enrichedc ream( secretf onnula) for thirty days. The trouble is-it's awfullye xpensive." But it would be well worth the money if it works," writesM rs. W. from Sheboygan." Cheapert han a face lift. And no pain." When men writea nd ask if the pomadea ndt reatmentsg uaranteedt o grow hair will help,I oftenr eply," Yes.I t willh elpt he manufacturera nd the man who sellsi t They will get rich.A s for you, it willh elpf latteny our wallet,b ut it won't do anythingf or your bald head." The lettersf romt eenagersa re especiallyp athetic:" My skin is such a mess of pimples and blackheadsn o girl would go out with me, so I don't even ask. Please don't suggest a doctor. I can't afford one. This soap and cream combinationp romisesr esults within ten days. What do you think, Ann? And whileI 'm at it, Ann, maybey ouc an tell me if this mail-orders peechc ourse will help my brother. He stutters.H is grades are awful. He's not dumb, he's just ashamed to speak up in class." "Dear Ann: Our sex life is blah after 15 years. My husband wants to try a sex clinic,b ut some friendso f ours went and you wouldn't believet he things they were asked to do. I don't go for that far-out stuff like changing partners. Frankly, I'm scared. What do you think?" The saddestl etterso f all come from relativeso f the desperatelyi ll, those who are dying of cancer,o r kidneyd isease." Our familyd octor said there was nothingm ore he couldd o, so we took mom to this wonderfulc hiropractor.S he seems a little strongert oday.D o you think, Ann, that we should have brought her to the chiropractorf rom the beginninga nd not wasted all that time and moneyo n a specialistw ith a fancyd iplomaf romH arvardh angingo n his office wall?" Every letter gets a personalr eply in the mail, if there's a name and an address.I urge my readerst o bewareo f quacksa nd phonies.I warnt hem against the charlatansa nd fakers. More often than I care to admit, I have received in return a seethingr eply: "How dare you take away our hope! I'll bet you are on the payrollo f the AmericanM edicalA ssociationT. he medicald octord idn't do The HealthR obbers ix anything but send us big bills. Jesus Christ is the greatest healer of them all. Now that we have put our child in His hands, we know everythingi s going to be all rigJtt." How can the publicb e protecteda gainstp honies,q uacks, and unscrupu lous money-grubbersw ho prey on the insecure,t he frightened,a nd the sick? The answer is education.A nd that is what this book is all about. Each chapteri s writtenb y a highlyr especteda uthorityi n his or her field. In the pagest hat follow,y ou willr eadt he trutha bouta wide varietyo f foodf ads, worthless gadgets, pill pushers, and organized "health plans" designed to separatef ools from their money.I gnorancei s NOT bliss-and it never will be. Only the truth can set you free. Contents Introduction .................................................... v Foreword P. T. Barnum was right Ann Landers .................................................... vii Acknowledgments ............................................... xiv Contributors .................................................... xv 1. How QuackeryS ells Clinicalt ricks of the supersalesman WilliamT . Jarvis, Ph.D.,a nd StephenB arrett,M .D. ................. 1 2. Vitamin Pushers and Food Quacks How to spot a nutritionh ustler Victor Herbert,M .D., J.D., F.A.C.P. . ............................ 23 3. The Make-BelieveD octors Medical imposters Robert C. Derbyshire,M .D. .................................... 45 4. Occult Health Practices Why the proof of the pudding is not in the eating Ray Hyman, Ph.D. . .......................................... 55 5. The Food-FearE pidemic Beware of chemicalc on men ElizabethM . Whelan,S c.D., M.P.H. ............................. 67 xi xii The Health Robbers 6. "Alternative"C ancerT reatment Doublespeakt hat can kill you StephenB arrett,M .D. ......................................... 83 7. The Misery Merchants Exploitinga rthritiss ufferers Diana Benzaiaa nd StephenB arrett,M .D. ......................... 101 8. Weight Control:F acts, Fads, and Frauds Beware of fat profiteers StephenB arrett,M .D. ......................................... 113 9. Avoidingt he "Marginal"M edic How to spot a fuu.y-thinkingp hysician Philip R. Alper,M .D. . ........................................ 125 10. Unproven" Allergies":A n Epidemico f Nonsense "Environmentali llness" and the "yeast connection" StephenB arrett,M .D. ......................................... 137 11. Immunoquackery Riding the crest of AIDS StephenB arrett,M .D. ......................................... 155 12. The Spine Salesmen Don't let chiropractorfso ol you StephenB arrett,M .D. ......................................... 161 13. Homeopathy:I s It Medicine? Much ado about nothing StephenB arrett,M .D. ......................................... 191 14. GenuineF akes The "organic" ripoff ThomasH . Jukes,P h.D.,a nd StephenB arrett,M .D. . ............... 203 15. The Oversellingo f Herbs More hype than help Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D.,S c.D. .................................... 213 16. VitalisticG urus and Their Legacies Natural health? Jack Raso, M.S., R.D. . ....................................... 225 17. The MultilevelM irage Person-to-personh ype StephenB arrett,M .D. ......................................... 253