'Quackwatch' defeat in Amsterdam

Other news: Barrett Loses Appeal,
Leaves Town read more

Recent rulings in Amsterdam, Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court of
California are heavy blows to the Quackwatch anti-chiropractic and
anti-alternative medicine organizations.

After years of being labeled a "quack," defamed and ridiculed
professionally, " Dr. Maria Sickesz won a great victory in Amsterdam ,
Holland early June 2007.

The Netherlands Appeals Court ordered the "Vereniging tegen de
Kwalzalverij" (Association Against Quackery, which is the Dutch
version of the so-called "Quackbusters" ) to cease and desist from
using the demeaning, subjective and pejorative term "quack." This
group is linked extensively on their website with the American
"quackwatch" headed by Stephen Barrett, who also has suffered several
legal defeats recently.

The Justices recognized that this group's affinity for giving
demeaning labels to doctors with whose practices they disagreed was a
way of shutting down emerging science. They were also ordered to
publish a public retraction in two widely circulated newspapers, which
is estimated to cost around thirty thousand euro dollars and has been
said will bankrupt this highly controversial association.

Dr. Sickesz developed a kind of healing called orthomanual therapy
which integrates chiropractic practices. For several decades the
"quackbuster" organizations around the world have waged legal and
public relations wars against chiropractors and other non traditional
practitioners, demonizing them with their biased campaigns.
In June, for the second time, Barrett lost a case in a Pennsylvania
Appeals Court against a local and respected chiropractor. Suing Dr.
Tedd Koren has definitely backfired on the longtime head of the
quackwatch empire. During this case, Barrett had to reveal that he had
failed his psychiatric medical board tests and was never board
certified for the decades he practiced. Board certification protects
patients.

Barrett Vs Rosenthal was decided in November, 2006 against Barrett and
his co-plaintiffs, Terry Polevoy and Christopher Grell. Though Barrett
had claimed he was "defamed" and "libeled," the Supreme Court
Justice's final words in the decision were, "As the lower courts
correctly concluded, however, none of the hostile comments against Dr.
Barrett alleged in the complaint are defamatory." In May, 2007,
Barrett and Polevoy were ordered to post bonds of over $433,000 in
this case.

In an earlier court loss, Barrett and fellow "National Council Against
Health Fraud" member, Wallace Sampson, were ruled to be "biased and
unworthy of credibility" in a case they lost against King Bio, a
homeopathic remedy company.

Sources:
1. de Volkskrant
2. Barrett vs. Rosenthal
3. NCAHF, Inc. vs. King Bio Pharmaceuticals
4. Court Victory for Chiropractors Against Quack Buster