ABSTRACT
American medical doctor, Stephen Barrett, spearheads a popular internet-based campaign to undermine the credibility of what he calls ‘quackery’.1 Many of the therapeutic products, practices and philosophies Barrett groups under the term quackery are often referred to as ‘alternative’, ‘holistic’, ‘unconventional’, ‘complementary’, ‘traditional’, ‘indigenous’, ‘non-Western’, ‘unorthodox’, ‘folk’ and ‘mind/ body’ medicine.2 According to his web-biography, Barrett is a retired psychiatrist from Allentown, Pennsylvania who has written forty-seven books, including a number of texts on what Barrett considers to be dubious medical therapies and practices.3 He is also a board member of the National Council Against Health Fraud, a scientific adviser to The American Council on Science and Health, and a fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP).4
