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Stephen Barrett, M.D. (born 1933), is a retired American physician who resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He is known as an author and editor, who describes himself as a consumer advocate. He is the founder of several controversial websites dedicated to exposing what he considers "quackery and health fraud" (including Quackwatch). Barrett is a founder, vice-president and a board member of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF).
Barrett and the NCAHF have frequently litigated against advocates of alternative medicine but courts have dismissed two such lawsuits as "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" (SLAPP's) and have ordered Barrett and the NCAHF to pay attorneys' fees of the parties they have sued. In one of these lawsuit the judge ruled that Dr. Barrett's testimony should be accorded little, if any, credibility .
Biography
Barrett is a 1957 graduate of the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is known as an author and editor, who describes himself as a consumer advocate. He is the founder of eight controversial websites dedicated to exposing what he considers "quackery and health fraud" (including Quackwatch, Chirobase, Dental Watch, Homeowatch, Internet Health Pilot, MLM Watch, Naturowatch, and Nutriwatch).
In addition to his websites, Barrett is a founder, vice-president and a board member of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF), an advisor to the American Council on Science and Health, and a Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP).
Barrett edits the Consumer Health Digest (a weekly electronic newsletter) and is medical editor of Prometheus Books. His 47 books include The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America and five editions of the college textbook Consumer Health: A Guide to Intelligent Decisions.
Platform for activism
The Quackwatch website is his main platform, run by himself and individuals he has designated as scientific and technical advisors, and "numerous" volunteers, all at "minimal expense."
Barrett defines "quackery" as "anything involving overpromotion in the field of health," and he believes the word "fraud" should be "reserved only for situations in which deliberate deception is involved."
Using these definitions, he has written about alleged quackery and fraud within the fields of acupuncture, algae-based therapies, alternative and complementary medicine, applied kinesiology, ayurvedic medicine, yeast allergies, chelation therapy, Chinese herbal medicine, chiropractic, colloidal silver and minerals, amalgam removal within dentistry, craniosacral therapy, detoxification therapies, DHEA, dietary supplements, ear candling, ergogenic aids, faith healing, genetic diagnoses, glucosamine, growth hormones, hair analysis, herbal medicine, homeopathy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, iridology, juicing, magnet therapy, nutritional therapy for emotional problems, metabolic therapy, organic food, osteopathy, pneumatic trabeculoplasty, reflexology, and many others.
He also maintains lists of individuals, organizations, and websites which he considers to be questionable and therefore does not recommend.
Stephen Barrett was a peer reviewer with JAMA in 1999 when it published nine-year old Emily Rosa's study demonstrating the underlying claim of "Therapeutic Touch" to not be superior to chance. He was a co-author of the study, with close ties to the Rosa family.
Recognition and awards
Barrett's work has received numerous awards, including the Best physician-authored site, MD NetGuide, May 2003.
He has also been named as one of the outstanding skeptics of the 20th century by Skeptical Inquirer Magazine.
In 1984, he received an FDA Commissioner's Special Citation Award for Public Service in fighting nutrition quackery. In 1986, he was awarded honorary membership in the American Dietetic Association. From 1987 through 1989, he taught health education at Pennsylvania State University.
Many academic and medical websites link to Quackwatch.
Criticism
Barrett is often accused by alternative practitioners of biasing his information against all forms of "alternative medicine." Paul Hartal from the now-reorganizing Columbia Pacific University (CPU) says:
- The orchestrated assaults of mainstream medicine against holistic health care target CPU graduates as well. For example, a psychiatrist who lost his medical license, Stephen Barrett,M.D., operates on the Internet a "Quackwatch" that slanders CPU alumni with health related degrees. "Dr." Barrett suffers from a severe case of tunnel vision. His web site strives to brainwash the public and to install blind faith in the infallible authority of allopathic medicine. "Quackwatch" arrogantly pretends to hold a monopoly over the truth.
In responding to these criticisms Barrett says:
- ... quackery and fraud don't involve legitimate controversy and are not balanced subjects. I don't believe it is helpful to publish "balanced" articles about unbalanced subjects. Do you think that the press should enable rapists and murderers to argue that they provide valuable services?
On October 13, 2005 Barrett admitted in a Pennsylvania court that he had failed the optional certification exam for Medical Board Certification in psychiatry. His opponents viewed this as a major revelation since Barrett had claimed qualifications for "expert testimony" as psychiatrist and had testified in numerous court cases. Barrett also had said that he was a "legal expert" even though he has no formal legal training.
Barrett claims criticisms of his alleged bias against "alternative" treatments are "unanswerable" because they contain "an invalid assumption", since "'Alternative' is a slogan often used for promotional purposes, not a definable set of methods." . The World Chiropractic Alliance states, "Barrett has had a reputation for threatening lawsuits to silence his detractors". .
Barrett is the subject of much criticism for pursuing lawsuits against alternative medicine advocates, and has been sanctioned by courts for such litigiousness. A California Court found in 2001 that a lawsuit brought by Barrett was a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP), and ordered him and his co-plaintiffs to pay the defendants' legal fees. The judge ruled that Dr. Barrett can be described as zealous advocate and therefore not neutral or dispassionate witness or expert. The court ruled that "there is no sound basis on which to consider Dr. Barrett qualified as an expert on the issues he was offered to address" therefore his " testimony should be accorded little, if any, credibility ". . Similarly, a case brought by the NCAHF in which Barrett testified was thrown out as a SLAPP in 2003. .Under cross examination by attorney Carlos F. Negrete in a defamation trial initiated by Barrett in October 2005, it was revealed by Barrett that he had filed similar defamation lawsuits against almost 40 people across the country within the past few years and had not won one single one at trial .
Notes
- http://physics.csufresno.edu/wassign/phys4a/hall/ns4/EmilyRosa_paper.pdf A Close Look at Therapeutic Touch. Rosa, L; Rosa, E; Sarner, L; Barrett, S JAMA, April 1, 1998—Vol 279, No. 13
- "US study debunks claim that theraputic touch has health benefits". San Jose Times. 1981.
- Google search many academic and medical sites link to Quackwatch
- http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=quackwatch
External links
- Advocacy
- Quackwatch - Stephen Barrett
- Biography - Stephen Barrett
- The National Council Against Health Fraud - Stephen Barrett
- Critical
- Health Freedom Law - critical view of Stephen Barrett's court cases
- 'Quack Buster' busted - critical article from World Chiropractic Alliance
- 'quackpotwatch' - Web site critical of Quackwatch and Stephen Barrett.