Quackbusters lose against homeopathy
In the US, there are people who have made it their life's desire to "expose natural medicine" accusing anyone not in agreement with pharma-dominated medical business of "quackery". However this phenomenon seems to be definitely on its way out, with the principal "quackbuster", Stephen Barrett, a former psychiatrist, losing court case after court case.
Tim Bolen's "Millions of Health Freedom Fighters - Newsletter" of 25 June relates an episode in the steep decline of this particular effort to prop up pharma-based medicine at the expense of natural alternatives. Bolen uses strong words to describe the losing streak of the "quackbusters" and their "National Council Against Health Fraud".
In another newsletter on 9 July 2003, Bolen tells of a very recent loss of the quackbusters who had attempted - without providing proof of any kind - to declare homeopathy illegal and prohibit the advertising of homeopathic products. The quackbuster organization - Council Against Health Fraud - also lost a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion and are now facing court costs upwards of half a million dollars.
For Quackbusters' NCAHF - It's All Over But The Shouting...
Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim BolenJuly 9th, 2003
The Quackbuster Flagship sank today. A Three Judge California Appeals Court broad-sided it. Let's all go watch it slide under the waves. Bring a bottle of wine and some paper cups.
We already know that the quackbusters have ZERO credibility with the American court system. So it's not going to be a surprise to anyone that the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF), today, lost the decision they appealed over the case called "NCAHF v. Botanical laboratories, et al."
Here are the the Three Judge Panel's words...
"Conclusion - Appellant (NCAHF) believes that no one should be allowed to market homeopathic remedies. Congress has decided otherwise, and officially recognizes the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia. Appellant's broad-brush approach of sweeping all homeopathic remedies into a single bag marked "undesirable" simply does not work in the courts, where each claimed instance of unfair advertising and unfair business practice must be closely scrutinized. Appellant failed to present any admissible evidence in this case that respondents are guilty of false advertising and unfair business practices with respect to any of their products."
The NCAHF lost on a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) Motion. Which means they owe the Defendants Attorney Fees. Al Lohrman, chief counsel on this case, said to me, today, in an e-mail "By the way, the trial court also awarded us attorneys' fees on our anti-SLAPP motion, as provided by law."
And, there's the rub.The NCAHF is operating out of a cardboard box in the back room of Bobbie Baratz's Braintree, MA hair removal salon, and has so little money, that Baratz begged members for cash, offering a picture of me (Tim Bolen) as an incentive for contribution.
According to court documents, NCAHF Board members, it turns out, were COMPLETELY UNAWARE that Baratz and Barrett had made the NCAHF the Plaintiff in these cases. Court documents show that Baratz and Barrett had set up this case to generate "expert witness" fees for themselves. Baratz is the current President of the NCAHF. Barrett is a failed MD who operates the dubious website quackwatch.com out of his basement in Allentown. PA.
Legal fees, by my estimate, will run around $500,000 to $700,000. It looks to me, like the individual NCAHF BOARD MEMBERS, and the MEMBERS, may be legally liable for the attorney fees...
The court, in it's decision, quoted the earlier Health Freedom Appeals Court Victory in NCAHF v. King Bio like this:
"In the context of a lawsuit against homeopathic manufacturers of homeopathic remedies, 'there is nothing in the nature of a false advertising action that makes it difficult for a plaintiff to prove allegations of the complaint. The homeopathic remedies are marketed and readily available for testing by the plaintiff. The falsity of the advertising claims may be established by testing, scientific literature, or anecdotal evidence.' (NCAHF v King Bio). Appellant provided no admissible, prima facie evidence that the respondents' advertising is, in fact, false....In addition, appellant presented no evidence at all that respondents' advertising is likely to deceive consumers."
For the Quackbuster's NCAHF - it's all over but the shouting.
Tim Bolen - Consumer Advocate
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Quackpot Barrett Crushed in Federal Court - Again...Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen
June 25th, 2003
Some people never learn. Stephen Barrett (quackwatch.com) seems to be one of those.
Despite loss after loss, and humiliation on top of humiliation, self styled "quackbuster" Stephen Barrett trudges on to the next embarrassment.
Like a bug in the fast lane, Barrett is doomed to be wiped off the windshield of the North American Health Freedom Movement time after time, I guess.
This time, Barrett, apparently stung from defeats in other arenas, and perhaps trying to reclaim some dignity from a world becoming accustomed to laughing at his anti-health antics, sued the attorney, Carlos Negrete, he's come to associate with his steady downfall in the politics of health care.
I'm not sure what the subject of Barrett's suit against Negrete in Federal Court in San Diego was all about. Barrett submits volumes of whiney material in his court actions, none of which, to me, seems to be acquainted with reality. But what I do know, is that Barrett used as his own attorney, one Morse Mehrban, listed as the general counsel of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF). It was Mehrban who was quoted in the LA Law Journal as saying "I consider suicide daily."
"Suicide daily?"
Negrete flattened them both - without breaking a sweat. Another victory for GOOD, in the battle against EVIL.
Of course, Barrett also sued, in the same lawsuit, world renowned health-humanitarian Hulda Regehr Clark PhD, N.D. Barrett can't seem to talk, or write, these days, without bringing up Clark's name in some way. So, I'm not surprised he put Clark's name in the lawsuit. He describes her as "Unlicensed Naturopath Hulda Clark," in his writing. His hatred and resentment of her accomplishments, compared to his, are obvious. He lost to Clark, too...
Barrett had to allegedly "retire" from the medical profession, giving up his license in 1993, when he was in his mid-50's. He admits that he didn't have enough medical practice income in 1993 to even pay the required malpractice insurance premiums. Barrett, who claims to be a retired Psychiatrist, was forced to admit in court documents (forced by Negrete) that he only had nine patients all year, each year, for several years, before he supposedly "retired." Psychiatrists get their patients from referrals from other MDs. Doctors in the LeHigh Valley of Pennsylvania just weren't sending him any business. Anybody wonder why?
And now Barrett is failing as a "quackbuster."
By the way - Barrett lost in an anti-SLAPP motion, which means he gets to pay Negrete, and Clark's, attorney fees...
Tim Bolen - Consumer Advocate
This "Millions of Health Freedom Fighters - Newsletter" is about the battle between "Health and Medicine" on Planet Earth. Tim Bolen is an op/ed writer with extensive knowledge of the activities of a subversive organization calling itself the "quackbusters," and that organization's attempts to suppress, and discredit, any, and all health modalities that compete with the allopathic (MD) paradigm for consumer health dollars. The focus of the newsletter is on the ongoing activities, battles, politics, and the victories won by members of the "Health Freedom Movement" against the "quackbusters" It details "who the quackbusters are, what they are, where they are operating, when they appear, and how they operate - and how easy it is to beat them..."
For background information on the "Battle between Health and Medicine" go to: http://www.savedrclark.net/by_whom2.htm.
A copy of THIS newsletter, and older ones, are viewable at the website http://www.quackpotwatch.org/.For EVEN MORE interesting and related articles go to http://www.bolenreport.com.
Update 28 June:
Quackpot Baratz goes on trial in Wisconsin July 14th, 2003...Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen
June 28th, 2003
It won't be long now...
Soon we'll get to see the President of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) crying his eyes out in a courtroom again. Whimpering, and stuttering, his way through "expert testimony" (I have a video tape) last October 2002 in Wisconsin, Robert S.Baratz MD, DDS. PhD., broke into crocodile tears, snuffling out "I was a paper boy at eight and a half years old. Then I was a boy scout (sniff, sniff). Then I got the order of the arrow (snuffle, snort)," Baratz did everything but wet his pants when confronted about his expertise, and his credibility.
Baratz, who can't seem to hold a job, has been trying to make a living as an "expert witness." Most days he runs a hair removal salon. His testifying skills are pathetic, and he's been hammered in court. He rambled on so badly, and so pointlessly, for so many days, in the Wisconsin (Kadile) case that the Judge refused to let him continue oral testimony, and sent him home to WRITE DOWN his testimony.
Honest to God. Go ahead and laugh... No wonder he can't hold a job.
It Gets Funnier...
About a week ago, finally, Baratz submitted 187 pages of written testimony. He took SEVEN MONTHS to write 187 pages of double spaced "testimony." Last January, Wisconsin DORL prosecutor Arthur Thexton had to fly to Massachusetts to help Baratz construct his testimony. From 7:00 am until 7:00 pm, in Baratz's attic, Thexton "interviewed" Baratz, in the presence of a court reporter. Baratz was so bad at answering the questions that Thexton kept ordering the court reporter to "strike that" and would then tell Baratz the answer he wanted to hear. Can you imagine how many "revisions" the Baratz/Thexton dynamic duo did of that 187 pages between January and July? Testimony?
The court reporter was so appalled at this handling of "testimony" that she wouldn't certify the document. You can bet the court reporter is being subpoenaed...
The attorney for Kadile in the Wisconsin case, Frank Recker, is prepared. He's had the use of a Private Investigator, expert researchers, competent Doctors and Scientists, other attorneys who have defeated Baratz, other cases and depositions, mental health professionals, and MY files. On July 14th, 15th, and 16th, little Bobbie gets cross-examined ONLY on his credibility. Believe me, his mental health will be an issue.
Baratz is dead meat. Law enforcement will be in the audience, Fraud and Perjury will be in the air. And I, Tim Bolen, and our strategy team, will be sitting right next to Frank Recker, handing him notes.
If this were a screenplay, I'd be inserting the ratcheting sound of stainless-steel handcuffs, right about now. We'll be making a video tape - and the public is welcome. 1400 East Washington (DORL headquarters), Madison, WA. There will be a lot of people there to see this, including TV.
Bobbie Will Try Tricks...
A couple years back, in a Florida courthouse, little Bobbie, just before it was his turn to testify, went down to the sheriff's station and complained that he was "terrified for his life." He got a cordon of seven sheriff's deputies to accompany him to the courtroom, where they then questioned members of the audience. The audience was amused. Baratz was particularly interested in getting me, Tim Bolen, out of the building, since I was there to advise the attorney on Baratz and his games. It didn't work - I stayed. So did the audience.
Six minutes into Bobbie's cross-examination he began to twitch. Ten minutes into it, he was fidgeting. Thirteen minutes into it, and he changed colors rapidly. At fifteen minutes, his pores erupted. And, at eighteen minutes he fled the room.
I guess Bobbie was uncomfortable with the questions I provided the attorney.
Wisconsin is going to be fun. There's going to be three days of Bobbie on the stand, answering questions about his credibility on video tape.
I'd say there's a 50/50 chance Bobbie will run... That's the way quackbusters are. And, Bobbie is the best they have...
Tim Bolen - Consumer Advocate
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Thursday July 10 2003
updated on Tuesday December 11 2007URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/07/10/quackbusters_lose_against_homeopathy.htm
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