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Stephen J. Barrett, M.D. (born 1933), is a retired American psychiatrist and author best known for his consumer advocacy related work regarding health issues. He is a founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) and webmaster of several websites which describe what he considers to be "quackery and health fraud," most notably on Quackwatch.org, a non-profit consumer information website funded through donations and book sales. He bases his writings in consumer protection, medical ethics, and scientific skepticism.

Biography

Barrett is a 1957 graduate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and was a licensed physician until retiring from active practice in 1993. He resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

In addition to his websites, Barrett is a founder, vice-president and a board member of 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). From 1987 through 1989, he taught health education at The Pennsylvania State University.

Barrett is the medical editor of Prometheus Books and is a peer-review panelist for several top medical journals. He has written more than 2,000 articles and delivered more than 300 talks at colleges, universities, medical schools, and professional meetings. His media appearances include Dateline, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Primetime, Donahue, CNN, National Public Radio, and more than 200 other radio and television talk show interviews.

Barrett's work has received numerous awards, including the Best physician-authored site by MD NetGuide, May 2003. He has been named as one of the outstanding skeptics of the 20th century by Skeptical Inquirer. 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. Barrett has been profiled in Biography Magazine and in Time Magazine.

Selected publications

Barrett was the author and co-author, respectively, of two widely noticed reports in the Journal of the American Medical Association. One, in 1985, exposed commercial hair analysis as worthless. The other, in 1998, exposed therapeutic touch as baseless.

His 50 books include:

• Barrett SJ, Jarvis WT, eds. (1993). The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America. Prometheus Books, ISBN 0-87975-855-4
• Barrett SJ, Jarvis WT, Kroger M, London WM (2006). Consumer Health: A Guide to Intelligent Decisions. (textbook, 8th ed.) McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-248521-3
• Marshall CW (1983). Vitamins and Minerals: Help or Harm? Lippincott Williams & Wilkins ISBN 0-397-53060-9 (edited by Barrett, won the American Medical Writers Association award for best book of 1983 for the general public, republished by Consumer Reports Books).
• Barrett SJ (2001). Dubious Cancer Treatment. Florida Division of the American Cancer Society
• Barrett SJ (1991). Health Schemes, Scams, and Frauds. Consumer Reports Books, ISBN 0-89043-330-5
• Barrett SJ, Herbert V (1991). The Vitamin Pushers: How the "Health Food" Industry Is Selling America a Bill of Goods. Prometheus Books, ISBN 0-87975-909-7
• Hafner AW, Zwicky JF, eds. (1993). Reader's Guide to Alternative Health Methods. American Medical Association, ISBN 0-89970-525-1

Online activism

The Quackwatch website is Barrett's main platform for describing that which he considers to be quackery and health fraud. The website is part of Quackwatch, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that aims to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct." Barrett's writing is supplemented with contributions from scientific, technical, and lay volunteers. Barrett defines quackery as "anything involving overpromotion in the field of health," and reserves the word fraud "only for situations in which deliberate deception is involved."

Although he is frequently called a "quackbuster," he does not like the term because it can suggest militancy, and he never refers to himself as a quackbuster.

Barrett has written about numerous modalities that he (based on his analysis of the claims made for them) either considers to be quackery, or to include it in one way or another, for example:

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Algae-based therapies
Amalgam removal within dentistry
Applied kinesiology
Ayurvedic medicine
Candidiasis (yeast allergies)
Chelation therapy
Chinese herbal medicine
Chiropractic
Colloidal silver and minerals
Complementary and alternative medicine
Craniosacral therapy

Barrett also maintains public lists of sources, individuals, and groups which he considers questionable and non-recommendable, including two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling (for his claims about mega-doses of Vitamin C ) and integrative medicine proponent Andrew Weil, MD.

Controversy and litigation

Accusations of bias and conspiracy

• Barrett has been accused by Tim Bolen of bias, and being part of a conspiracy to suppress innovative forms of treatment. Bolen admitted under deposition that he is paid for his efforts, which includes being "hired by clients to deal with their public relations component of when they may be attacked by medical board or similar entity".
• Many practitioners criticized by Barrett held degrees from the now-defunct Columbia Pacific University. CPU was labeled a diploma mill by the California Attorney General and ordered by the State of California to close permanently in 2000. The artist and poet, alumnus Paul Hartal, has responded to Barrett's criticisms of CPU.
• Deepak Chopra has called Barrett "a self-appointed vigilante for the suppression of curiosity." Barrett has called Chopra a purveyor of "Ayurvedic mumbo jumbo."
• According to "health freedom" attorney Carlos Negrete, "Barrett acts like a shill for the medical and pharmaceutical cartels and his bully tactics and unjustified discrediting of leading innovators, scientists and health practitioners should not be tolerated." and "Barrett has filed defamation lawsuits against almost 40 people across the country within the past few years and has not won one single one at trial." Barrett responded that the "NCAHF sued about 40 defendants, and I have also been involved as a consultant or expert witness in similar cases filed by other parties. Overall, at least ten have been settled with agreements under which the defendants promised to stop making the false claims to which we objected. A few cases were dropped for technical reasons, such as our discovery that the defendant was not doing enough business in California to justify continuing the suit. In two other cases, involving about ten defendants, NCAHF received adverse rulings in which the courts rejected our legal theory that sellers should carry the burden of proving that what they claim is true. (The courts ruled that the state attorney general can enforce the law in this manner, but private citizens and public-interest group cannot.) These rulings don't prevent similar cases from being brought in the future, but they make them more complicated than they are worth."
• Donna Ladd of the Village Voice wrote that Barrett does not criticize conventional medicine because he says "that's way outside my scope" but he depends heavily on negative research and case studies in which alternative therapies do not work to criticize alternative medicine. He says that most case studies that show positive results of alternative therapies are unreliable and he believes most alternative therapies simply should be disregarded without further research. She quotes Peter Barry Chowka, a former adviser to the National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine as saying of Barrett that "He seems to be putting down trying to be objective".
• According to Ray Sahelian M.D., "Dr. Barrett does some good in pointing out scams in the alternative health field, but, in my opinion, he is not fair and balanced, and he is not a true objective scientist as he claims to be. Someone who has a website specifically tailored for criticism needs to have higher and more objective scientific standard, and Barrett fails in this regard." and "Why has Stephen Barrett, M.D. focused most of his attention on the nutritional industry and has hardly spent time pointing out the billions of dollars wasted each year by consumers on certain prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutical drugs?" Barrett admits to not giving equal time to some subjects, and has written on his web site "... 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? " . Sahelian admits that he is not "perfectly fair" either: "Am I, Ray Sahelian, M.D., perfectly fair in my review of supplement research? No, I am not, and I don't believe anyone can be. It is well known in psychology that people perceive things according to how they want to see them." Dr. Sahelian is primarily known as an author of health related books, his expertise on supplements and for selling dietary supplements and books on his website He recently received a warning letter from the FDA regarding three products sold on one of his website that did not comply with existing FDA regulation. He was also warned about the improper use of disease claims in the form of personal testimonials."

Licensure and credentials

• Prominent critic Tim Bolen stated that Barrett is a "de-licensed" physician, based on the fact that he does not have a license to practice. According to Barrett, the term means having one's license involuntarily revoked for misconduct. Bolen writes: "It looks to me that, in 1993 Barrett simply gave up his medical aspirations, turned in his MD license.... Barrett explains that "In 1993, I decided to devote my full energy to investigating and writing about quackery and inactivated my Pennsylvania license." and further explains that he was never disciplined by a medical board, and when he retired in good standing from the active practice of medicine in 1993 at age 60, he allowed his license to expire. Tim Bolen himself has no educational qualifications beyond High School.
• Critics argue that Barrett has testified as a "'medical expert' on 'quackery' in healthcare" in numerous court cases on alternative medicine, and has "provided supposed 'expert testimony' as a psychiatrist" but failed an optional psychiatric board certification exam in 1964, so has never been Board certified in psychiatry. Judge Haley J. Fromholz wrote in a court decision: "he has no formal training in homeopathic medicine or drugs, although he claims to have read and written extensively on homeopathy and other forms of alternative medicine." To the question "What qualifies you to write on so many topics?" Barrett answers "My medical education has provided the background to understand most aspects of health, disease, and health care. Many experts are available to review what I write and answer questions that come up. The most convenient is my wife, who happens to be a very scholarly family physician. Much of my writing is based on my own investigations of the health marketplace." Barrett, who qualified as an M.D. in 1957, and completed his psychiatry residency in 1961, took the board exam in 1964 and failed the neurology portion of the exam. According to Barrett, only about 1/3 of psychiatrists were board certified at the time. He decided not to re-take the Board exam and practiced as a psychiatrist for 30 years, but he says that "nowadays, lack of certification would make it difficult to repeat what I did." The number of board-certified medical specialists rose steeply in the 1970s and when Barrett retired in 1993, about 81% of eligible physicians (74% of total physicians) were board certified by the ABMS..
• Carlos Negrete stated that Barrett said he was a “legal expert” even though he had no formal legal training. In one court case the Judge said "Dr. Barrett's purported legal and regulatory knowledge is not apparent. He is not a lawyer." According to his CV he completed 1½ years of the correspondence course in American Law and Procedure, LaSalle University Extension Division, Chicago, from 1966 to 1968. The school was noted for its advertisements on matchbooks and the backs of comic books with disclaimers reading: "No state accepts any law home study course, including LaSalle's, as sufficient education to qualify for admission to practice law." In 1973, LaSalle Extension University was charged by the Federal Trade Commission for "misrepresentations about obtaining law degrees through a correspondence course." LaSalle Extension University was closed in 1980 following further FTC litigation.

Litigation

Libel suits

One of the stated missions of Quackwatch Inc. is "assisting or generating consumer-protection lawsuits." The NCAHF and Barrett have been involved in several libel cases, with mixed results. Courts dismissed two such lawsuits under Strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) statutes and ordered Barrett and the NCAHF to pay attorneys' fees of the parties they sued. Judges have noted that Barrett‘s numerous websites and publishing and speaking widely about issues of alternative medicine makes him a public figure. When public figures are concerned, “ actual malice may not be presumed. To the contrary, Plaintiffs bear the burden of proving actual malice, and it must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. This means that Plaintiffs must show not only that the statements they attribute to Defendants were false and defamatory, but also that they were published with actual knowledge of their falsity or otherwise circulated with reckless disregard of whether they were false or not. “ Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).(See also: New York Times v. Sullivan)

Barrett v. Clark suits

• In November 2000, Barrett and two associates sued Hulda Regehr Clark, Tim Bolen, Jan Bolen, David P. Amrein, Ilena Rosenthal, and their related companies.
• In 2003, his case against Carlos F. Negrete and Hulda Regehr Clark was dismissed under SLAPP.
• In 2005, an appeals court reversed the district court's decision, and the case against Carlos F. Negrete and Hulda Regehr Clark was remanded for further procedings. "The scurrilous nature of the defendants' allegations of wrongdoing and their efforts to publicize them widely on the Internet, when coupled with their utter failure to offer any proof of their charges" provided sufficient reason for the case to proceed.

Barrett v. Mercola suit

• In June 2001, Barrett withdrew his libel suit against osteopath Joseph Mercola days before the trial date on jurisdictional grounds and refiled it in Illinois, the residence of Mercola. The case was eventually settled out of court. According to what Barrett wrote on his web site, Mercola had republished one of Tim Bolen's derogatory messages and added some thoughts of his own. In March 2002, the Illinois judge ruled that these statements "imply the existence of objectively verifiable facts" and therefore provided grounds for a libel suit. In April 2003, the suit was settled with a retraction and payment of $50,000. , however Dr. Mercola has not confirmed the above and there has been no independant corroboration of Barrett's version.

Barrett v. Rosenthal suit

• In July 2001, an Alameda County (California) judge dismissed Barrett's libel suit against Ilena Rosenthal and awarded Rosenthal attorney's fees against Barrett.

Barrett v. Fonorow suit

• In July 2001, Barrett filed a libel suit against Owen R. Fonorow, and Intelisoft Multimedia, Inc. That case was dismissed, and Fonorow filed a motion for sanctions, which was also dismissed. Both lower court decisions were affirmed on appeal.

Barrett v. Sherrell suit

• In November 2002, a federal court judge in Eugene, Oregon ruled that Barrett is a "public figure and the defamatory statements involve a matter of public concern, and that plaintiff has failed to meet his burden to prove actual malice, and/or actual injury". The judge dismissed Barrett's $100,000 defamation lawsuit against anti-fluoridation advocate Darlene Sherrell.

Barrett v. Koren suit

• In October 2005, Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas overturned an earlier arbitration ruling that chiropractor Tedd Koren had committed libel after Koren published that Barrett was "de-licensed," "in trouble because of a $10 million lawsuit" and a "Quackpot." The judge found that Barrett had failed to prove "actual malice" ("knowledge of falsity" or "reckless disregard for the truth").

Other types of suits

King Bio suit

• In a 2001 suit NCAHF brought against King Bio Pharmaceuticals, a homeopathic pharmaceutical company, Judge Haley J. Fromholz noted Barrett had used the NCAHF to pay himself fees to appear as an expert witness, giving him a "direct, personal financial interest in the outcome." The judge declared Barrett and another Plaintiff's expert to be "zealous advocates" rather than "neutral or dispassionate witnesses or experts." The judge feared that a NCAHF victory would lead to more lawsuits where Barrett can pay himself more witness fees from NCAHF funds. The judge concluded Barrett's "testimony should be accorded little, if any, credibility". That decision was affirmed on appeal in 2003.

References

1. Staff report. Pass the Envelope, Please... MDNetGuide, May/June 2003.
2. Skeptical Inquirer Magazine Names the Ten Outstanding Skeptics of the Century.
3. Rosen, Marjorie (October 1998). Interview with Stephen Barrett, M.D. Biography Magazine
4. ^ Jaroff, Leon (April 30, 2001). The Man Who Loves To Bust Quacks. Time Magazine, via chiro.org, retrieved July 29, 2006.
5. Barrett SJ (August 23, 1985). Commercial hair analysis. Science or scam? JAMA Vol. 254 No. 8.
6. Rosa L, Rosa E, Sarner L, Barrett SJ (April 1, 1998). A Close Look at Therapeutic Touch. JAMA 1998;279:1005-1010.
7. http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackwatch/mission.html Quackwatch mission statement.
8. Barrett SJ. Scientific and Technical Advisors. Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
9. Barrett SJ. Quackery: How Should It Be Defined? Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
10. Barrett SJ, Jarvis WT (January 3, 2001). Quackery, Fraud and "Alternative" Methods: Important Definitions. Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
11. Barrett SJ. Nonrecommended Sources of Health Advice Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
12. Barrett SJ. Questionable Organizations: An Overview. Quackwatch. Retrieved July 19, 2006.
13. Barrett SJ (May 5, 2001). The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy. via Quackwatch. Retrieved July 29, 2006.
14. Relamn AS (December 14, 1998). A Trip to Stonesville: Some Notes on Andrew Weil. New Republic, via Quackwatch.
15. ^ Bolen, Tim (April 12, 2006). "It is my opinion that there is a conspiracy here to -- in North America to suppress cutting edge healthcare in favor of the status quo. And personally I think that's a criminal act." Deposition of Patrick Timothy Bolen (PDF) In re Cavitat Medical Technologies v. Aetna, No. 04-cv-01849-MSK-MEH
16. Barrett SJ (2000). Court Orders Columbia Pacific University to Cease Operating Illegally in California. Retrieved July 23, 2006.
17. California Department of Consumer Affairs. Columbia Pacific University ordered to close permanently. News Release, Jan 13, 2000.
18. Debunking "Quackwatch": Why the Medical Establishment Attacks Columbia Pacific University.
19. ^ Negrete CF (October 22, 2005). Breaking News!!! Quackwatch Founder Stephen Barrett Loses Major Defamation trial in Hometown
20. Dr. Who. Diagnosis medical fraud may required a second opinion.via http://www.villagevoice.com. Retrieved September 2, 2006
21. Quackwatch sends an email to Dr. Sahelian. via www.raysahelian.com. Retrieved August 27, 2006
22. How do you respond to accusations that your writing is unbalanced?. retrieved September 8, 2006
24. Dr.Sahelian, Index of Hundreds of Health Topics,
25. FDA warning letter
26. ^ Bolen T. De-licensed MD Stephen Barrett. via Quackpotwatch. Retrieved July 23, 2006.
27. Bolen, Tim (April 12, 2006). Mr. Shely: "Delicensed M.D. Stephen Barrett "". What is the basis for saying he doesn't have a license ?" Bolen: "It is." Deposition of Patrick Timothy Bolen, page 216- line 15-19 (PDF) In re Cavitat Medical Technologies v. Aetna, No. 04-cv-01849-MSK-MEH
28. ^ Barrett SJ. Frequently Asked Questions about My Activities. via Quackwatch. Retrieved July 23, 2006.
29. What is the status of your medical license?retrieved September 10,2006
30. Bolen deposition
31. ^ Negrete CF (October 13, 2005). Dr. Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch Exposed In Court Cases. Press release via chiro.org.
32. NCAHF presented its case, which began with the testimony of two proffered experts, Wallace I. Sampson, M.D. and Stephen Barrett, M.D.
33. What qualifies you to write on so many topics?
34. "Dr. Barrett responds: I took the certifying exam in 1964 when about 1/3 of psychiatrists were board-certified. The exam had two halves, psychiatry and neurology. I passed the psychiatric part but failed neurology because it included topics unrelated to either my training or my interests. Unlike most residencies, my psychiatric training program had no neurologic component. Since there was no reason to believe that certifcation was necessary, I decided not to re-take the exam."
35. Stephen Barrett, M.D. Curriculum Vitae
36. Moore FD, Priebe C. Board-certified physicians in the United States, 1971-1986. N Engl J Med. 1991 Feb 21;324(8):536-43.
37. American Board of Medical Specialties. Statistics on Physicians in Training and Practice 1989 to 1999. (PDF)
39. ^ National Council Against Health Fraud v. King Bio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Case No. BC 245271, affirmed on appeal by Grignon et. al. in 2003 Case B156585. (PDF)
40. Barrett's Curriculum Vitae Retrieved July 25, 2006
41. Nintzel, Jim (May 1, 1997). Look Who's Smiling Now! Tucson Weekly
42. Annual Report of the Federal Trade Commission For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1973. (PDF)
43. LaSalle Extension University v. Federal Trade Commission, 627 F.2d 481 (DC Cir. 1980)
44. Barrett SJ (July 6, 2006). Mission Statement. via Quackwatch. Retrieved July 23, 2006.
45. Stephen J. Barrett, M.D., Terry Polevoy, M.D., Christopher E. Grell, v. Hulda Clark, Tim Bolen, Jan Bolen, JuriMed, Dr. Clark Research Association, David P. Amrein, Ilena Rosenthal, and Does 1 to 100. Case No. SJBMVHC165479
46. Stephen J. Barrett v. Negrete et al. (PDF) Civil No 02-CV-2210-L(RBB)
47. Appeals Court Upholds Malicious Prosecution Suit against Hulda Clark and Attorney Carlos Negrete , (Mem,. No. 04-55193 D.C. No. CV -02-0221 O-JML; No. 03-56663 D.C. No. CY -02-0221 O-JML March 14, 2005).
48. Bergstein SA (June 20, 2001). Letter requesting discontinuation and motion for dismissal in No. 2000-C-2524,Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County. See Mercola suit archive and Bolen suit archive via Quackwatch.
49. Barrett SJ. A Response to Tim Bolen. via Quackwatch. Retrieved July 23, 2006.
50. Barrett, et al. v. Rosenthal. A096451 (Cal. App. Crt., 1st App. Dist., 2003). See also Barrett et al. v. Rosenthal (114 Cal.App.4th 1379, 9 Cal.Rptr.3d 142), opinion superseded by California Supreme Court review.
51. Barrett v. Fonorow, 18th Cir., DuPage County, Illinois, No. 01 L 820.
52. See Circuit Court of Du Page County, Barrett v. Fonorow, No. 2--02--0886.
53. Barrett v. Sherrell (PDF) 99-813-HO, 2002.
54. Barrett vs. Koren, In the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County Civil Division, No. 2002-C-1837
55. Fromholz wrote: "Furthermore, the Court finds that both Dr. Sampson and Dr. Barrett are biased heavily in favor of the Plaintiff and thus the weight to be accorded their testimony is slight in any event. Both are long-time board members of the Plaintiff; Dr. Barrett has served as its Chairman. Both participated in an application to the U.S. FDA during the early 1990s designed to restrict the sale of most homeopathic drugs. Dr. Sampson's university course presents what is effectively a one-sided, critical view of alternative medicine. Dr. Barrett’s heavy activities in lecturing and writing about alternative medicine similarly are focused on the eradication of the practices about which he opines. Both witnesses’ fees, as Dr. Barrett testified, are paid from a fund established by Plaintiff NCAHF from the proceeds of suits such as the case at bar. Based on this fact alone, the Court may infer that Dr. Barrett and Sampson are more likely to receive fees for testifying on behalf of NCAHF in future cases if the Plaintiff prevails in the instant action and thereby wins funds to enrich the litigation fund described by Dr. Barrett. It is apparent, therefore, that both men have a direct, personal financial interest in the outcome of this litigation. Based on all of these factors, Dr. Sampson and Dr. Barrett can be described as zealous advocates of the Plaintiff’s position, and therefore not neutral or dispassionate witnesses or experts. In light of these affiliations and their orientation, it can fairly be said that Drs. Barrett and Sampson are themselves the client, and therefore their testimony should be accorded little, if any, credibility on that basis as well." See California Superior Court Judge Rules on Quackbuster "Credibility" via Quackpotwatch.

External links

Sites run by Barrett

• Quackwatch
• The National Council Against Health Fraud
• Chirobase
• Consumer Health Sourcebook
• Credential Watch
• Dental Watch
• Homeowatch
• Internet Health Pilot
• MLM Watch
• Naturowatch
• Nutriwatch

Critics of Barrett

• Health Freedom Law - Carlos Negrete
• Quackpotwatch - Timothy Bolen
• "'Quack Buster' busted" - The Chiropractic Journal
• Quackwatchwatch - Ilena Rosenthal
• Quackwatchers - Chiro.org
• "Quackwatch and the Quackery of Conventional Medicine" - John Bryant

• 1933 births
• Living people
• American physicians
• American psychiatrists
• American science writers
• Quackery
• Skeptics