Quackwatch is a United States-based website focused on promoting consumer protection and providing information about health related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. It primarily targets alternative medicine, questionable health claims, and practices it considers pseudoscience. It was founded in 1996 by Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist and former co-chair of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Initially operated under the nonprofit Quackwatch, Inc., it became part of the Center for Inquiry (CFI) in 2020. Its content is now maintained by CFI's Office of Consumer Protection and Pseudoscience.
Quackwatch has been cited by, and received both praise and criticism from, mainstream media, academic journals, and professional organizations. Supporters describe it as a resource for evidence-based health information, while critics, particularly proponents of alternative medicine, have challenged its tone and objectivity. The site includes articles, position papers, and links to regulatory actions, and it has been involved in broader efforts to monitor and report health fraud through affiliated networks such as the National Council Against Health Fraud and The Skeptics Society.
History Barrett founded the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud (LVCAHF) in 1969, and it was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1970. In 1996, the corporation began the website quackwatch.org, and the organization itself was renamed Quackwatch, Inc. in 1997. The Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation was dissolved after Barrett moved to North Carolina in 2008, but the network's activities continue. Quackwatch co-founded, and was closely affiliated with, the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF). The NCAHF was formally dissolved in 2011.
In February 2020, Quackwatch became part of the Center for Inquiry. CFI planned to maintain its various websites and to receive Barrett's library later in the year.
Mission and scope Quackwatch is overseen by Barrett, its owner, with input from advisors and help from volunteers, including a number of medical professionals. Original published in Biography Magazine. In 2003, 150 scientific and technical advisors: 67 medical advisors, 12 dental advisors, 13 mental health advisors, 16 nutrition and food science advisors, three podiatry advisors, eight veterinary advisors, and 33 other "scientific and technical advisors" were listed by Quackwatch. Many more have since volunteered, but advisor names are no longer listed.
Quackwatch describes its mission as follows:
...investigating questionable claims, answering inquiries about products and services, advising quackery victims, distributing reliable publications, debunking pseudoscientific claims, reporting illegal marketing, improving the quality of health information on the internet, assisting or generating consumer-protection lawsuits, and attacking misleading advertising on the internet.
Quackwatch has no salaried employees, and the total cost of operating all Quackwatch's sites is approximately $7,000 per year. It is funded mainly by small individual donations, commissions from sales on other sites to which they refer, profits from the sale of publications, and self-funding by Barrett.
Site content The Quackwatch website contains essays and white papers, written by Barrett and other writers, intended for the non-specialist consumer. The articles discuss health-related products, treatments, enterprises, and providers that Quackwatch deems to be misleading, fraudulent, or ineffective. Also included are links to article sources and both internal and external resources for further study.
The site is developed with the assistance from volunteers and expert advisors. Many of its articles cite peer-reviewed research and are footnoted with several links to references. A review in Running & FitNews stated the site "also provides links to hundreds of trusted health sites."
Related and subsidiary sites Naturowatch is a subsidiary site of Quackwatch which aims to provide information about naturopathy that is "difficult or impossible to find elsewhere". The site is operated by Barrett and Kimball C. Atwood IV, an anesthesiologist by profession, who has become a vocal critic of alternative medicine.
The site is available in FrenchQuackwatch en Français and formerly in GermanQuackwatch auf Deutsch (archived) and Portuguese,Quackwatch em Português as well as via several mirrors.
Influence Sources that mention Stephen Barrett's Quackwatch as a useful source for consumer information include website reviews, government agencies, and various journals including The Lancet.
Mention in media, books, and journals Quackwatch has been mentioned in the media, books and various journals, as well as receiving several awards and honors. The Journal of the American Medical Association mentioned Quackwatch as one of nine "select sites that provide reliable health information and resources" in 1998. It was also listed as one of three medical sites in U.S. News & World Report's "Best of the Web" in 1999. Thomas R. Eng, director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health, stated in 1999 that while "the government doesn't endorse Web sites...[Quackwatch] is the only site I know of right now looking at issues of fraud and health on the Internet."
Sources that mention quackwatch.org as a resource for consumer information include the United States Department of Agriculture, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Skeptic's Dictionary, the Diet Channel, and articles published in The Lancet, the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, the Journal of Marketing Education, the Medical Journal of Australia, and the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.Sources that mention quackwatch.org as a resource for consumer information:
Quackwatch and Skeptical Inquirer are suggested resources for a pharmacy course on unproven medications and therapies. . Names Quackwatch as the premier site for exposing purveyors of health frauds, myths, and fads. Chonko states "Many of the thoughts on which this article is based are adapted from materials found on this site." (referring to Quackwatch) . Sampson says that "CAM source information tends to exclude well known critical and objective web pages such as those found on Quackwatch (www.quackwatch.org)."
U.S. National Institutes of Health: Health Quackery: Spotting Health Scams – U.S. National Institutes of Health
Diet Channel: In addition, several nutrition associations link to Quackwatch. • An article in PC World listed it as one of three websites for finding the truth about Internet rumors.Robert Luhn, "Best Free Stuff on the Web ," PC World June 30, 2003 A Washington Post review of alternative medicine websites noted that "skeptics may find Quackwatch offers better truth-squadding than the Food and Drug Administration or the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine."Leslie Walker. Alternative Medicine Sites. Washington Post, March 26, 1999
The books Low-Carb Dieting for Dummies (2003), The Arthritis Helpbook (2006), The Rough Guide to the Internet (2007), Navigating the Medical Maze: A Practical Guide (2008), Chronic Pain for Dummies (2008), and The 2009 Internet Directory (2008) mention or use content from Quackwatch.
Citations by journalists Quackwatch and Barrett have also been cited by journalists in reports on therapeutic touch, Vitamin O, Almon Glenn Braswell's baldness treatments, Robert Barefoot's coral calcium claims, William C. Rader's "stem cell" therapy, noni juice, shark cartilage and saturated fat.Journalist mentions of Quackwatch criticisms of: Almon Glenn Braswell: Associated Press (September 13, 2004). Man Once Pardoned By Clinton Again Faces Prison. Robert Barefoot's coral calcium claims: Leon Jaroff, (March 14, 2003), Coral Calcium: A Barefoot Scam , Time magazine William C. Rader's "stem cell" therapy: Brian Vastag (September 2, 2008), Injections of Hope: Doctors Promote Offshore Stem Cell Shots, but Some Patients Cry Foul Washington Post Noni juice: Shark cartilage: Leon Jaroff, (September 29, 2004), Medical Sharks, Time magazine Saturated fat:
Recommendations and endorsements The American Cancer Society lists Quackwatch as one of ten reputable sources of information about alternative and complementary therapies in their book Cancer Medicine. In a long series of articles on various alternative medicine methods, it uses Quackwatch as a reference and includes criticisms of the methods. A list of articles on many forms of alternative medicine on the American Cancer Society website that use Quackwatch as a source. Oxygen Therapy , Metabolic Therapy, Kirlian Photography , Crystals , Psychic Surgery , Folic Acid , Craniosacral Therapy , Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation , Neuro-Linguistic Programming , Questionable Practices In Tijuana , Breathwork , Moxibustion , Faith Healing , Cancer Salves , Qigong , Osteopathy , Imagery , Qigong , Magnetic Therapy .
The Health On the Net Foundation, which confers the HONcode "Code of Conduct" certification to reliable sources of health information in cyberspace, recommends Quackwatch.Can you give some examples of charlatans and fraud on the health Internet? Health On the Net Foundation It also advises Internet users to alert Quackwatch when they encounter "possibly or blatantly fraudulent" healthcare websites.How to be a vigilant user. Health On the Net Foundation
In a 2007 feasibility study on a method for identifying web pages that make unproven claims, the authors wrote:
Site reviews Writing in the trade-journal The Consultant Pharmacist in 1999, pharmacist Bao-Anh Nguyen-Khoa characterized Quackwatch as "relevant for both consumers and professionals" and containing articles that would be of interest to pharmacists, but that a peer review process would improve the site's legitimacy. Nguyen-Khoa said the presence of so many articles written by Barrett gave an impression of lack of balance but that the site was taking steps to correct this by recruiting expert contributors. He also noted thatBarrett often inserts his strong opinions directly into sections of an article already well supported by the literature. Although entertaining, this direct commentary may be viewed by some as less than professional medical writing and may be better reserved for its own section.Donna Ladd, a journalist with The Village Voice, in 1999 described Barrett as "a full-time journalist and book author", "never a medical researcher", and one who "depends heavily on negative research ... in which alternative therapies do not work" but "says that most case studies that show positive results of alternative therapies are unreliable". She quoted Barrett as saying that "a lot of things don't need to be tested [because] they simply don't make any sense".
Writing in The Lancet, Mona Okasha wrote that Quackwatch provides an "entertaining read", but described it as only appropriate for limited use as it fails to provide a balanced view of alternative cancer treatments. Jane Cuzzell viewed Quackwatch similarly, arguing that it was entertaining but that the "resource value of this site depends on what the visitor is seeking" and had concerns about the appearance of bias in the selection of the material.Cuzzell, Jane. (2000). "Quackwatch: Your Guide to Health Fraud, Quackery, and Intelligent Decisions", Dermatology Nursing, Apr. 2000, p. 134. Accessed 6 November 2019. However, while Lillian Brazin also found it to be biased, she described Quackwatch as credible, and noted both the credentials of the contributors and the thoroughness of the content.