Medical Quackery is Pervasive - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

Monday, May 08, 2023

Dr. Ed Iannuccilli, Columnist

 

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Dr. Ed Iannuccilli, columnist

When patients asked me about alternative treatments for their medical care, I was cautious; cautious because I was aware of the quacks and charlatans who preyed on sick people, too often suggesting expensive treatments that had no basis in science.

I did not discourage any patient from seeking alternative medical care. Rather, I encouraged them to do their homework, find out as much as they could about the alternative and contact me with questions. It also pushed me to do my research and peruse medical literature. If I was certain the alternative treatment was not harmful or contraindicated, my advice was, “If it does not harm you and is not prohibitively expensive, give it a try.” Knowing that some complementary therapies might help, I continued, “If you feel better, keep going.”

But vulnerable, desperate patients, when frightened and having little to no alternative, seek out the quack, the fraudulent claimant to a medical skill or treatment, whom they did not believe was a pretender. The term quack originated in the 17th century and was short for quacksalver or “hawker of salve” from the Dutch word, ‘quacken’ to brag or boast, and ‘salven’ to rub with ointment. In addition, when hawking their wares, they sounded like ducks quacking.

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That faker is an ignorant, incompetent, self-confident pretender to medical knowledge who talks of the power to heal, employing questionable diagnoses and using dubious diagnostic tests and untested or refuted treatments, especially for serious diseases such as cancer.

They surfaced during the Great Plague of the 17th C when thousands died with no hope of treatment. Recognizing a lucrative business opportunity during pandemics, quacks are their busiest, recommending such treatments as smoking tobacco, lighting bonfires, using laxatives, liquor, and even onions. It doesn’t have to be a pandemic to bring them out.

However, we can see parallels in our recent pandemic. Our vulnerability brought a new crop of aspiring frauds to the foreground; those who recommended such things as drinking bleach or essential oils, rejecting vaccines, and not wearing face masks.

Even legitimate medicines were tainted. The antimalarial drug chloroquine (variant hydroxychloroquine) was touted as a game changer in fighting the coronavirus by high-profile proponents.

Every pandemic is sad in its own way. But it is an opportunity to realize that we should be mindful of the ways in which we remain vulnerable, both to quacks and the diseases that summon them forth.

Today, quackery is surfacing on the internet. How unfortunate that it has become more predominant in our fractured medical system. Gaps in care are being filled with bogus remedies. Now look at this troubling twist.

Even judges, having no or little medical or scientific background are rejecting solid scientific evidence.

If you were aware of someone using extreme rhetoric, like a judge who relied on noncredible sources and put forth questionable reasoning, would you not consider that quackery? I have a thought, a question, a concern. Would you have a judge rather than a physician decide which medication is right for you?

Dr. Ed Iannuccilli is the author of three popular memoirs, “Growing up Italian; Grandfather’s Fig Tree and Other Stories”, “What Ever Happened to Sunday Dinner” and “My Story Continues: From Neighborhood to Junior High.”  NOW, he has written his fourth book "A Whole Bunch of 500 Word Stories."

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