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Consumer Health Digest #08-01
January 1, 2008
Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by
Stephen Barrett, M.D., and cosponsored by NCAHF and Quackwatch. It
summarizes scientific reports; legislative developments; enforcement
actions; news reports; Web site evaluations; recommended and
nonrecommended books; and other information relevant to consumer
protection and consumer decision-making.
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Quackwatch and Dr. Barrett need your help.
If you haven't already done so, please read
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support our work.
###
Seattle Times blasts device quackery.
The Seattle Times is conducting a major investigation of device
quackery and dubious credentials that so far has generated more than
a dozen articles by Michael J. Berens and Christine Willmsen. Most of
the articles can be accessed through a page titled Miracle machines:
The 21st century snake oil.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/medicaldevices/ Its findings
have included:
**One bogus device, the EPFX, has had more than 10,000 deployed in
the United States even though the FDA has banned its importation.
Many of its operators dupe the public by posing as highly trained
health-care professionals through the use of deceptive credentials
and nonaccredited degrees. [How one man's invention is part of a
growing worldwide scam that snares the desperately ill, Nov 19, 2007]
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004020583_miracle18m2.html**Former U.S. Representative Berkeley Bedell persuaded Senator Tom
Harkin to shepherd bills that earmarked about $7 million to the
Samueli Institute for Information Biology, of which $200,000 was paid
to Bedell's National Foundation of Alternative Medicine. Bedell
suggested that the institute study the PAP-IMI, a quack device, until
an FDA investigation linked injuries and death to the device.
[PAP-IMI fan sought military study, Nov 19, 2007]
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004022174_miraclenfam19.html The institute's president and chief executive officer is Wayne Jonas,
M.D., former head of the NIH Office of Alternative Medicine
(precursor of today's National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine).
**At least 104 nonaccredited schools dole out "alternative-medicine"
degrees or certifications that are not recognized by the U.S.
Department of Education. Most operate only through the Internet or by
mail order. [Teen's death hastened by practitioner who has bogus
diplomas, Nov 14, 2007]
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004024299_miracle20m0.html**Cycling champion Lance Armstrong has been falsely claimed to have
benefited from EPFX treatment. [Lance Armstrong's chiropractor paid
to endorse machine, Nov 19, 2007]
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004020610_miraclearmstrong18m.htmlU.S. Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) has asked for a Congressional
investigation of bogus institutional review boards (IRBs) that try to
protect "alternative practitioners" from regulatory action by
pretending they are doing legitimate research.
http://www.devicewatch.org/reg/inslee.pdf###
Court upholds licensing authorities in quack device case.
The Washington Court of Appeals has ruled that use of a bogus
electrodiagnostic device had created an "unreasonable risk of harm."
In 2004, the Washington Department of Health Medical Quality
Assurance Commission concluded that Geoffrey S. Ames, M.D., who
practices in Richland, Washington, had committed unprofessional
conduct by using a LISTEN device to (incorrectly) diagnose a patient
as having an "egg allergy." Such devices which provide readings based
on the patient's skin resistance to a tiny electric current, are not
FDA-approved for diagnosis and have no diagnostic value.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/electro.html The
Commission ordered a 5-year license suspension that would be stayed
provided that Ames (a) stops using the device, (b) undergoes
quarterly practice reviews, and (c) pays a $5,000 fine.
http://www.casewatch.org/board/med/ames/order.shtml Ames appealed,
but the courts have upheld the ruling.
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New anti-quackery blog launched.
Science-Based Medicine will explore issues and controversies in the
relationship between science and medicine. medicine and health care.
Its mission is to scientifically examine medical and health topics of
interest to the public.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org This
includes reviewing newly published studies, examining dubious
products and claims, providing much-needed scientific balance to the
often credulous health reporting, and exploring issues related to the
regulation of scientific quality in medicine. The five primary
authors will be Kimball Atwood, MD; David Gorski, MD, PhD; Harriet
Hall, MD; Steven Novella, MD; and Wallace Sampson, MD.
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Skeptical chiropractic discussion forum very active.
Chirotalk: The Skeptical Chiropractic Discussion Forum, with more
than 146,000 visitors during 2006 and 2007, has become one of the
Internet's most active chiropractic discussion sites.
http://chirotalk.proboards3.com/index.cgi Several medical doctors,
physical therapists and attorneys contribute regularly, and several
prominent chiropractors, including a chiropractic college president,
have participated. The three most popular threads have been
fundamental chiropractic beliefs, questionable chiropractic
practices, and chiropractic's future (or lack of one). Chirotalk was
founded by founded by Allen Botnick, whose article about why he quit
chiropractic should be required reading for anyone contemplating a
chiropractic career.
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Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Board Chairman, Quackwatch, Inc.
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