Editing Quackery (section)

== Definition ==
[[File:Marriage A-la-Mode 3, The Inspection - William Hogarth.jpg|thumb|[[William Hogarth]]'s ''[[Marriage à-la-mode: 3. The Inspection|The Inspection]]'', the third canvas in his ''[[Marriage à-la-mode (Hogarth)|Marriage à-la-mode]]'' (''The Visit to the Quack Doctor'')]]
[[File:Bemberg Fondation Toulouse - Le Charlatan - Pietro Longhi - Inv 1029.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Pietro Longhi]]'s ''The Charlatan'' (1757)]]

Psychiatrist and author [[Stephen Barrett]] of [[Quackwatch]] defines quackery as "the promotion of unsubstantiated methods that lack a scientifically plausible rationale" and more broadly as:
{{Blockquote|"anything involving overpromotion in the field of health." This definition would include questionable ideas as well as questionable products and services, regardless of the sincerity of their promoters. In line with this definition, the word "fraud" would be reserved only for situations in which deliberate deception is involved.<ref name="Barrett2009">{{cite web|last=Barrett|first=Stephen|date=2009-01-17|title=Quackery: how should it be defined?|website=quackwatch.org|url=http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/quackdef.html|access-date=2013-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225154248/http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/quackdef.html|archive-date=2009-02-25|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

In addition to the ethical problems of promising benefits that are not likely to occur, quackery might cause people to forego treatments that are more likely to help them, in favor of ineffective treatments given by the "quack".<ref name=Tabish2008>{{cite journal|last=Tabish|first=Syed Amin|date=January 2008|title=Complementary and alternative healthcare: is it evidence-based?|journal=International Journal of Health Sciences|volume=2|issue=1|pages=v–ix|pmc=3068720|issn=1658-3639|pmid=21475465}}</ref><ref name=Angell1998>{{cite journal|last1=Angell|first1=Marcia|last2=Kassirer|first2=Jerome P.|title=Alternative Medicine – The Risks of Untested and Unregulated Remedies|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|date=17 September 1998|volume=339|issue=12|pages=839–841|doi=10.1056/NEJM199809173391210|pmid=9738094|citeseerx=10.1.1.694.9581}}</ref><ref name=Cassileth2012>{{cite journal|last1=Cassileth|first1=Barrie R.|last2=Yarett|first2=I.R.|title=Cancer quackery: the persistent popularity of useless, irrational 'alternative' treatments.|journal=Oncology|date=2012|volume=28|issue=8|pages=754–758|pmid=22957409}}</ref>

American pediatrician [[Paul Offit]] has proposed four ways in which [[alternative medicine]] "becomes quackery":<ref name=Offit2013>{{cite book|last=Offit|first=Paul A.|year=2013|title=Do you believe in magic? : the sense and nonsense of alternative medicine|location=New York|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-222296-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ll8PNoPB0poC}} Also titled {{cite book|year=2013|title=Killing us softly: the sense and nonsense of alternative medicine|location=London|publisher=Fourth Estate|isbn=978-0-00-749172-8}}</ref>

# "by recommending against conventional therapies that are helpful."
# "by promoting potentially harmful therapies without adequate warning."
# "by draining patients' bank accounts&nbsp;..."
# "by promoting [[magical thinking]]&nbsp;..."

Since it is difficult to distinguish between those who knowingly promote unproven medical therapies and those who are mistaken as to their effectiveness, United States courts have ruled in [[defamation]] cases that accusing someone of quackery or calling a practitioner a ''quack'' is not equivalent to accusing that person of committing medical fraud. However, the FDA makes little distinction between the two. To be considered a fraud, it is not strictly necessary for one to know they are misrepresenting the benefits or risks of the services offered.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Affairs |first=Office of Regulatory |date=2022-11-30 |title=Warning Letters - Health Fraud |url=https://www.fda.gov/consumers/health-fraud-scams/warning-letters-health-fraud |journal=FDA |language=en |quote=The FDA defines health fraud as the deceptive promotion, advertising, distribution, or sale of a product represented as being effective to prevent, diagnose, treat, cure or lessen an illness or condition, or provide another beneficial effect on health, but that has not been scientifically proven safe and effective for such purposes.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shrivastava |first1=Saurabh Ram BihariLal |last2=Shrivastava |first2=Prateek Saurabh |last3=Ramasamy |first3=Jegadeesh |date=2014 |title=Public health measures to fight counterfeit medicine market |journal=International Journal of Preventive Medicine |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=370–371 |issn=2008-7802 |pmc=4018649 |pmid=24829724}}</ref>