Pietro Longhi: The Charlatan, 1757

Quackery is a derogatory term used to describe unscientific medical practices. Pietro Longhi ( November 5, 1701 – May 8, 1785) was a Venetian painter of contemporary scenes of life Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she does not possess; a charlatan. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged was the original name of a large American Dictionary, first published in 1966, and recently A skill is the learned capacity or talent to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time energy or both. Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding Overview Certifications are earned from a Professional society and in general must be renewed periodically or may be valid for a specific period of time (e A charlatan (also called swindler) is a person practicing Quackery or some similar Confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage via some form "^[1]

The word "quack" derives from the archaic word "quacksalver," of Dutch origin (spelled kwakzalver in contemporary Dutch), meaning "boaster who applies a salve. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname A salve is a medical Ointment used to soothe the head or other body surface "^[2] The meaning of the German word "quacksalber" is "questionable salesperson (literal translation: quack salver). " In the Middle Ages the word quack meant "shouting". The quacksalvers sold their wares on the market shouting in a loud voice. ^[3]

"Health fraud" is often used as a synonym for quackery, but this use can be problematic, since quackery can exist without fraud, a word which implies deliberate deception. ^[4]

The quacksalver

William Hogarth: Marriage à-la-mode: The Visit to the Quack Doctor

Unproven, usually ineffective, and sometimes dangerous medicines and treatments have been peddled throughout human history. William Hogarth (10 November 1697 &ndash 26 October 1764 was a major English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic In 1743–1745 William Hogarth painted the six pictures of Marriage à-la-mode ( National Gallery London) a pointed skewering of upper class 18th century Theatrical performances were sometimes mixed with purported medicine to enhance credibility.

Quack medicines often had no effective ingredients, while others, such as morphine and the like, made the patient feel better without curative properties. Medical uses Morphine can be used as an analgesic in hospital settings to relieve pain in Myocardial infarction pain in Some did have medicinal effects; for example mercury, silver and arsenic compounds may have helped some infections, willow bark contained salicylic acid (aspirin), quinine from bark was an effective treatment for malaria. Mercury (ˈmɜrkjʊri also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum, is a Chemical element with the symbol Hg ( Latinized hydrargyrum Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Arsenic (ˈɑrsənɪk is a Chemical element that has the symbol As and Atomic number of 33 Willows, sallows and osiers form the Genus Salix, around 400 species of Deciduous Trees and Shrubs found primarily Bark, also known as periderm is the outermost layer of stems and Roots of Woody plants such as Trees It overlays the Wood and consists Salicylic acid (from the Latin word for the willow tree Salix, from whose bark it can be obtained is a Beta hydroxy acid (BHA with the formula Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid (ASA (əˌsɛtɨlsælɨˌsɪlɨk ˈæsɨd is a Salicylate drug, often used as an Analgesic to relieve Quinine (ˈkwaɪnaɪn kwɪˈniːn ˈkwiːniːn is a natural white Crystalline Alkaloid having Antipyretic (fever-reducing antimalarial, Malaria is a vector -borne Infectious disease caused by Protozoan Parasites It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions including Knowledge of appropriate use and dosage was poor.

History of quackery in the United States

With little understanding of the causes and mechanisms of illnesses, widely marketed "cures" (as opposed to locally produced and locally used remedies), often referred to as patent medicines, first came to prominence during the 17th and 18th centuries in Britain and the British colonies, including those in North America. Patent medicine is the somewhat misleading term given to various medical Compounds sold under a variety of names and labels though they were for the most part actually Daffy's Elixir and Turlington's Balsam were among the first products to make use of branding (for example, by the use of highly distinctive containers) and mass marketing, in order to create and maintain markets. ^[5] A similar process occurred in other countries of Europe around the same time, for example with the marketing of Eau de Cologne as a cure-all medicine by Johann Maria Farina and his imitators. Cologne or Eau de Cologne is a Toiletry, a Perfume in a style of that from Cologne, Germany.

Dalbys Carminative, Daffy's Elixir and Turlingtons Balsam of Life bottles dating to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These "typical" patent or quack medicines were marketed in very different, and highly distinctive, bottles. Each brand retained the same basic appearance for over 100 years.

The later years of the 18th century saw an increase in the number of internationally marketed quack medicines, the majority of which were British in origin,^[6] and which were exported throughout the British Empire as well as the (by then independent) United States. So popularly successful were these treatments that by 1830 British parliamentary records list over 1,300 different "proprietary medicines",^[7] the majority of which can be described as "quack" cures today.

British patent medicines started to lose their dominance in the United States when they were denied access to the American market during the American Revolution, and lost further ground for the same reason during the War of 1812. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire, particularly Great Britain and her North American colonies From the early 19th century "home-grown" American brands started to fill the gap, reaching their peak in the years after the American Civil War. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South ^[6][8] British medicines never regained their previous dominance in North America, and the subsequent era of mass marketing of American patent medicines is usually considered to have been a "golden age" of quackery in the United States. Patent medicine is the somewhat misleading term given to various medical Compounds sold under a variety of names and labels though they were for the most part actually This was mirrored by similar growth in marketing of quack medicines elsewhere in the world.

In the United States, false medicines in this era were often denoted by the slang term snake oil, a reference to sales pitches for the false medicines which used claims that their exotic ingredients were responsible for the supposed results or benefits. Snake oil is a Traditional Chinese medicine used to treat Joint pain Those who sold them were called "snake oil peddlers", and usually sold their medicines with a fervent pitch similar to a fire and brimstone religious sermon. They often accompanied other theatrical and entertainment productions that travelled as a road show from town to town, leaving quickly before the falseness of their medicine could be discovered. Not all quacks were restricted to such small-time businesses however, and a number, especially in the United States, became enormously wealthy through national and international sales of their products.

One among many examples is that of William Radam, a German immigrant to the USA who, in the 1880s, started to sell his "Microbe Killer" throughout the United States and, soon afterwards, in Britain and throughout the British colonies. His concoction was widely advertised as being able to "Cure All Diseases" (W. Radam, 1890) and this phrase was even embossed on the glass bottles the medicine was sold in. In fact, Radam's medicine was a therapeutically useless (and in large quantities actively poisonous) dilute solution of sulfuric acid, coloured with a little red wine. Sulfuric (or sulphuric acid, H 2 S[[oxygen O]]4 is a strong Mineral acid. Wine is an Alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of Grape juice ^[8] Radam's publicity material, particularly his books (see for example Radam, 1890), provide an insight into the role that pseudo-science played in the development and marketing of "quack" medicines towards the end of the 19th century. Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the

Similar advertising claims to those of Radam can be found throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. "Dr. " Sibley, an English patent medicine seller of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, even went so far as to claim that his Reanimating Solar Tincture would, as the name implies, "restore life in the event of sudden death". Another English quack, "Dr. Solomon" claimed that his Cordial Balm of Gilead cured almost anything, but was particularly effective against all venereal complaints, from gonorrhoea to onanism. Gonorrhea (also gonorrhoea) caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is a common Sexually transmitted disease. In the Biblical Book of Genesis, Onan ( was the second son of Judah. Although it was basically just brandy flavoured with herbs, it retailed widely at 33 shillings a bottle in the period of the Napoleonic wars, the equivalent of over $100 per bottle today. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions

Not all patent medicines were without merit. Turlingtons Balsam of Life, first marketed in the mid-18th century, did have genuinely beneficial properties. This medicine continued to be sold under the original name into the early 20th century, and can still be found in the British and American Pharmacopoeias as "Compound tincture of benzoin". Pharmacopoeia (literally the art of the drug compounder in its modern technical sense is a book containing directions for the identification of samples and the preparation of compound It can be argued that for some of these medicines this is an example of the infinite monkey theorem in action. The infinite monkey theorem states that a Monkey hitting keys at Random on a Typewriter keyboard for an Infinite amount of time will almost

The end of the road for the quack medicines now considered grossly fraudulent in the nations of North America and Europe came in the early 20th century. February 21, 1906 saw the passage into law of the Pure Food and Drug Act in the United States. Events 362 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria. 1245 - Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906 is a United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture This was the result of decades of campaigning by both government departments and the medical establishment, supported by a number of publishers and journalists (one of the most effective of whom was Samuel Hopkins Adams, whose series "The Great American Fraud" was published in Colliers Weekly starting in late 1905). Samuel Hopkins Adams ( January 26, 1871 &ndash November 15, 1958) was an American writer best known for his investigative journalism This American Act was followed three years later by similar legislation in Britain, and in other European nations. Between them, these laws began to remove the more outrageously dangerous contents from patent and proprietary medicines, and to force quack medicine proprietors to stop making some of their more blatantly dishonest claims.

"Medical quackery and the promotions of nostrums and worthless drugs were among the most prominent abuses which led to the establishment of formal self-regulation in business and, in turn, to the creation of the NBBB. The Better Business Bureau (BBB, founded in 1912 is an organization based in the United States and Canada. "^[9]

Quackery in contemporary culture

Considered by many an archaic term, quackery is most often used to denote the peddling of the "cure-alls" described above. Quackery continues even today; it can be found in any culture and in every medical tradition. Unlike other advertising mediums, rapid advancements in communication through the Internet have opened doors for an unregulated market of quack cures and marketing campaigns rivaling the early 1900s. Most people with an e-mail account have experienced the marketing tactics of spamming — touting the newest current trend for miraculous remedies for "weight-loss" and "sexual enhancement," as well as outlets for unprescribed medicines of unknown quality. Electronic mail, often abbreviated to e-mail, email, or originally eMail, is a Store-and-forward method of writing sending receiving Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages

For those in the practice of any medicine, to allege quackery is to level a serious objection to a particular form of practice. Most developed countries have a governmental agency, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, whose purpose is to monitor and regulate the safety of medications as well as the claims made by the manufacturers of new and existing products, including drugs and nutritional supplements or vitamins. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also participates in some of these efforts. The Federal Trade Commission ( FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act ^[10] To better address less regulated products, in 2000, US President Clinton signed Executive Order 13147 that created the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine. In 2002, the commission's final report made several suggestions regarding education, research, implementation, and reimbursement as ways to evaluate the risks and benefits of each. As a direct result, more public dollars have been allocated for research into some of these methods.

Individuals and non-governmental agencies are active in attempts to expose quackery. According to Norcross et al (2006) several authors have attempted to identify quack psychotherapies; (e. g. , Carroll, 2003; Della Sala, 1999; Eisner, 2000; Lilienfeld, Lynn, & Rohr 2003; Singer and Lalich 1996). The evidence based practice (EBP) movement in mental health emphasizes the consensus in psychology that psychological practice should rely on empirical research. There are also "anti-quackery" web sites, such as Quackwatch,^[11] which may help consumers evaluate particular claims. Quackwatch, Inc is an American Non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett that aims to "combat health-related frauds myths fads fallacies ^[12][13]

Notable historical persons accused of quackery

• Thomas Allinson (1858-1918), founder of naturopathy. Thomas Richard Allinson (1858 &ndash 1918 was a British doctor dietetic reformer business man and journalist Naturopathic medicine (also known as naturopathy, or natural medicine) is a Complementary and alternative medicine which emphasizes the body's intrinsic Amongst other things, he believed that drinking tea and smoking was bad for health while a diet of wholemeal bread and vegetarianism plus regular exercise, swimming and fresh air was good. His views and publication of them led to him being labeled a quack and being struck off by the General Medical Council for infamous conduct in a professional respect. The General Medical Council (the GMC) is the regulator of the medical profession in the United Kingdom. ^[14][15]

• Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843), founder of homeopathy. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann ( 10 April 1755 &ndash 2 July 1843) was a German Physician who created Homoeopathy This article has been the subject of edit wars and has been placed on probation Hahnemann believed that all diseases were caused by "miasms", which he defined as irregularities in the patient's vital force. Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from physicochemical ^[16] He also said that illnesses could be treated by substances that in a healthy person produced similar symptoms to the illness, in extremely low concentrations, with the therapeutic effect increasing with dilution and repeated shaking. ^[17][18]

• L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) was the founder of the Church of Scientology. Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13 1911 &ndash January 24 1986 was a fiction writer who devised a self-help technique called Dianetics and philosophy known as Scientology The Church of Scientology is the largest organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. He was an American science fiction writer, former United States Navy officer, and creator of Dianetics. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the relationship between the spirit mind and body that were developed by L ^[19][20][21]

• John Harvey Kellogg (1852–1943) was a medical doctor in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA who ran a sanitarium using holistic methods, with a particular focus on nutrition, enemas and exercise. John Harvey Kellogg ( February 26, 1852 &ndash December 14, 1943) was an American Medical doctor in Battle Creek A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health A sanatorium (also sanitorium, sanitarium) is a medical facility for long-term illness typically Tuberculosis. Holistic health is a Philosophy of medical care that views physical and mental aspects of life as closely interconnected and equally important approaches to treatment Nutrition (also called nourishment or aliment) is the provision to cells and Organisms of the materials necessary (in the form of food to support An enema (plural enemata or enemas) is the procedure of introducing liquids into the Rectum and colon via the Anus. Kellogg was an advocate of vegetarianism, and is best known for the invention of the corn flake breakfast cereal with his brother, Will Keith Kellogg. Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes Meat (including game and slaughter by-products Fish (including Shellfish and other sea Corn flakes are a popular Breakfast cereal originally manufactured by Kellogg's through the treatment of corn. A breakfast cereal (often simply called cereal is a packaged food product made from Cereal intended to be consumed as part of a Breakfast. Will Keith Kellogg, usually referred to as W K Kellogg ( April 7, 1860 &ndash October 6, 1951) was a U ^[22]

• Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) was a French chemist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in microbiology. Louis Pasteur (27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895 a French Chemist and Microbiologist, is best known for remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A chemist is a Scientist trained in the Science of Chemistry. Microbiology (from Greek grc μῑκρος mīkros, "small" grc βίος bios, " Life " and grc -λογία His experiments confirmed the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever (childbed), and he created the first vaccine for rabies. The germ theory, also called the pathogenic theory of medicine, is a Theory that proposes that Microorganisms are the cause of many Diseases. Puerperal fever (from the Latin puer, child) also called childbed fever, can develop into puerperal sepsis, which is a serious A vaccine is a biological preparation which is used to establish or improve immunity to a particular disease Rabies (from rabies “madness rage fury” Also known as “ hydrophobia ” is a viral Zoonotic neuroinvasive disease that He is best known to the general public for showing how to stop milk and wine from going sour - this process came to be called pasteurization. Pasteurization is the process of heating Liquids for the purpose of destroying bacteria, Protozoa, Molds and Yeasts The process was His hypotheses initially met with much hostility, and he was accused of quackery on multiple occasions. However, he is now regarded as one of the three main founders of microbiology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch. Microbiology (from Greek grc μῑκρος mīkros, "small" grc βίος bios, " Life " and grc -λογία Ferdinand Julius Cohn (24 January 1828 &ndash 25 June 1898 was a German Biologist. Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( December 11 1843 – May 27 1910) was a German Physician. ^[23]

See also

• Charlatan
• Consumer protection
• Dental amalgam controversy
• Conventional medicine, alternative medicine and evidence-based medicine
• False advertising in health care
• Fraud
• Mountebank
• Medical ethics
• Patent medicine
• Pseudoscience
• Radioactive quackery
• Snake oil
• Chelation therapy

Regulatory organizations

• Federal Trade Commission
• Food and Drug Administration
• Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

Anti-quackery organizations

• National Council Against Health Fraud
• Quackwatch

References

• Carroll, 2003. The Skeptics Dictionary. New York: Wiley. [1]
• Della Sala, 1999. Mind Myths: Exploring Popular Assumptions about the Mind and Brain. New York; Wiley
• Eisner, 2000. The Death of Psychotherapy; From Freud to Alien Abductions. Westport; CT; Praegner.
• Lilienfeld, SO. , Lynn, SJ. , Lohr, JM. 2003; Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology. New York. Guildford
• Norcross, JC, Garofalo. A, Koocher. G. (2006) Discredited Psychological Treatments and Tests; A Delphi Poll. Professional Psychology; Research and Practice. vol37. No 5. 515-522
• Radam, W. (1890) Microbes and the microbe killer. Privately published. New York. 369pp.

External links

• Checklist for identifying dubious technical processes and products - Rainer Bunge, PhD
• Cures and Quackery: The Rise of Patent Medicines - McCord Museum
• The Medical Messiahs: A Social History of Health Quackery in Twentieth-Century America - James Harvey Young, PhD. The McCord Museum (in French, Musée McCord) is a public research and teaching Museum dedicated to the preservation study diffusion and appreciation
• Museum of Questionable Medical Devices - Science Museum of Minnesota
• Dr. Renckens' Quackiness Scoring System
• Quackery - Skeptic's Dictionary
• DC's Improbable Science - Professor David Colquhoun, FRS. The Science Museum of Minnesota is an American institution focused on topics in Technology, Natural history, Physical science and Mathematics The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660
• Gallery of water-related pseudoscience - Extensive list and classification of water-related pseudoscience and quackery.