Editing Quackery (section)

{{short description|Promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices}}
[[File:WPA quack poster.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] poster, 1936–38]]
{{Alternative medical systems|general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
'''Quackery''', often synonymous with '''health fraud''', is the promotion<ref name="Barrett2009" /> of [[fraud]]ulent or [[Ignorance|ignorant]] [[medicine|medical practices]]. A '''quack''' is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, qualification or credentials they do not possess; a [[charlatan]] or [[snake oil]] salesman".<ref>{{Dictionary.com|quack|access-date=7 February 2007}}</ref> The term ''quack'' is a [[Clipping (morphology)|clipped form]] of the archaic term ''{{linktext|quacksalver}}'', derived from {{langx|nl|kwakzalver}} a "hawker of salve"<ref>{{OEtymD|quack|accessdate=6 November 2015}}</ref> or rather somebody who boasted about their salves, more commonly known as ointments.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thackraymuseum.co.uk/from-potions-to-pills-a-short-history-of-the-apothecary/|title=From Potions to Pills: a short history of the apothecary - Thackray Museum of Medicine|website=thackraymuseum.co.uk}}</ref> In the [[Middle Ages]] the term ''quack'' meant "shouting". The quacksalvers sold their wares at markets by shouting to gain attention.<ref>{{cite web|title=German–English glossary of idioms|website=accurapid.com|location=Poughkeepsie, New York|publisher=Accurapid|url=http://accurapid.com/journal/german-glossary.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204150028/http://www.accurapid.com/journal/german-glossary.htm|archive-date=4 December 2010|url-status=dead|at=quacksalber}}</ref>

Common elements of general quackery include [[List of diagnoses characterized as pseudoscience|questionable diagnoses]] using [[List of questionable diagnostic tests|questionable diagnostic tests]], as well as untested or refuted treatments, especially for serious diseases such as [[alternative cancer treatments|cancer]]. Quackery is often described as "health fraud" with the salient characteristic of aggressive promotion.<ref name="Barrett2009" />