The National Council Against Health Fraud
Encyclopedia
The National Council Against Health Fraud is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, US-based organization registered in California, that describes itself as a "private nonprofit, voluntary health agency that focuses upon health misinformation, fraud, and quackery
as public health problems." The NCAHF has been criticized by the supporters of the treatments it opposes, including practitioners of alternative medicine
.
), Southern California Council Against Health Fraud (SCCAHF), and an unnamed group in northern California.
NCAHF's positions on consumer health issues are based on what they consider ethical and scientific principles that underlie consumer protection law. Required are:
NCAHF states that its funding is primarily derived from membership dues, newsletter subscriptions, and consumer information services. Membership is open to everyone, with members and consultants located all over the world. NCAHF's officers and board members serve without compensation. NCAHF states they unite consumers with health professionals, educators, researchers, attorneys, and others.
is scientifically unproven as a modality of treatment. The NCAHF says (as of 1990) that research during the past twenty years has failed to demonstrate that acupuncture is effective against any disease. Perceived effects of acupuncture are, argues the NCAHF, probably due to a combination of expectation, suggestion and other psychological mechanisms. The NCAHF points out that acupuncture was banned in China in 1929 but underwent a resurgence in the 1960s. The organization also advocates that insurance companies should not be required to cover acupuncture treatment, and that licensure of lay acupuncturists should be phased out.
and electrodermal testing.
. Their view is that chiropractors should restrict their scope of practice to neuromusculoskeletal problems such as muscle spasms, strains, sprains, fatigue, imbalance of strength and flexibility, stretched or irritated nerve tissue, and so forth. Chiropractors should refer cases involving pathology to qualified medical practitioners.
In contrast, what the NCAHF considers bad are those chiropractors who believe the spinal adjustment will cure or alleviate a variety of diseases, such as infection
, arthritis
, cancer
, diabetes, nutritional deficiencies or excesses, appendicitis
, blood disorders, or kidney disease. These practitioners may use unproven, disproven, or questionable methods, devices, and products such as adjusting machines, applied kinesiology
, chelation therapy
, colonic irrigation, computerized nutrition deficiency tests, cranial osteopathy, cytotoxic food allergy testing, DMSO, Gerovital
, glandular therapy, hair analysis
, herbal crystallization analyses, homeopathy
, internal managements, iridology
, laser beam acupuncture, laetrile, magnetic therapy,and so forth.
for assessment of nutritional status are criticized. NCAHF and some of its members have long opposed implementation of beliefs that they characterize as unfounded or unscientific.
NCAHF also questions the health claims, marketing, safety, efficacy and labeling of herbal supplements
. Herbal preparations are regulated as foods, rather than as drugs, in the United States. The NCAHF advocates regulations for a special OTC category called "Traditional Herbal Remedies" (THRs) with an adverse reaction surveillance program, product batches marked for identification and tracking, package label warnings about proposed dangers of self-treatment, oversight requirements from outside of the herbal industry, and strong penalties for unapproved changes in herbal product formulations.
s or "degree mills" to get "specious degrees". Diploma mills are not accredited, and frequently engage in "pseudoscience
and food faddism
". NCAHF also alleges that "at least some of the 'faculty' or 'academic' advisors at several of these schools have criminal convictions in the area of health fraud". NCAHF considers diploma mills harmful to the "students" and to the public.
the United States Department of Agriculture
, the American Cancer Society
in their book "Cancer Medicine", and many other organizations and libraries.
The journal Dynamic Chiropractic
, while highly critical of NCAHFs views on chiropractic, has written: "The National Council Against Health Fraud is considered a valuable information source for many agencies nationwide. They are well networked and, as demonstrated by their past history, are able to influence the efforts of various agencies and insurance carriers. The NCAHF's ability to publish its opinions and hold these types of conferences does make them a substantial "player" in the area of health fraud."
In 1998, the AMA's
Council on Scientific Affairs used NCAHF board member John Renner as a contributing source for some of the content in their "Report 12".
, homeopathy
, acupuncture
, herbalism
, and naturopathy.
U.S. Representative Dan Burton
, described by the New York Daily News as a "powerful friend" of the dietary supplement
industry, has stated that it is not in the public interest for a health fraud watch group such as NCAHF to operate unrestrained and unendorsed by the government.
The American Chiropractic Association
(ACA) criticised a 2002 PBS broadcast which included an episode about chiropractic in which the NCAHF was involved. ACA president, Daryl D. Wills, responded to PBS officials stating (in part): "I find it ironic that a program titled 'Scientific American Frontiers' would completely ignore the scientific foundation of the chiropractic profession. The chiropractic portion of the June 4 episode titled 'A Different Way to Heal?' irresponsibly characterized chiropractic care -- a legitimate, research-based form of health care -- as a fraudulent hoax." and that "[t]he producers of your program could not have expected objectivity" from the NCAHF. The producer of the program replied in detail and explicitly denied these allegations: "The segment did not claim that chiropractic is fraudulent and did not attempt to prove or disprove that chiropractic "works," but it does state that chiropractic has no basis in science. This conclusion is entirely justified by both current research and generally accepted views of human anatomy."
Quackery
Quackery is a derogatory term used to describe the promotion of unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or...
as public health problems." The NCAHF has been criticized by the supporters of the treatments it opposes, including practitioners of alternative medicine
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
.
History
According to its official website, the NCAHF evolved from three separate organizations, the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud, Inc. (LVCAHF, now called QuackwatchQuackwatch
Quackwatch is an American non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett with the stated aim being to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and with a primary focus on providing "quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere."...
), Southern California Council Against Health Fraud (SCCAHF), and an unnamed group in northern California.
Mission statement
According to NCAHF's mission statement, its activities and purposes include:- Investigating and evaluating claims made for health products and services.
- Educating consumers, professionals, business people, legislators, law enforcement personnel, organizations and agencies about health fraud, misinformation, and quackeryQuackeryQuackery is a derogatory term used to describe the promotion of unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or...
. - Providing a center for communication between individuals and organizations concerned about health misinformation, fraud, and quackery.
- Supporting sound consumer health laws
- Opposing legislation that undermines consumer rights.
- Encouraging and aiding legal actions against those who violate consumer protectionConsumer protectionConsumer protection laws designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional...
laws. - Sponsoring a free weekly e-mail newsletter.
NCAHF's positions on consumer health issues are based on what they consider ethical and scientific principles that underlie consumer protection law. Required are:
- Adequate disclosure in labeling and other warranties to enable consumers to make proper choices;
- Premarketing proof of safety and efficacy for products and services that claim to prevent, alleviate, or cure any disease or disorder; and
- Accountability for those who violate consumer laws.
NCAHF states that its funding is primarily derived from membership dues, newsletter subscriptions, and consumer information services. Membership is open to everyone, with members and consultants located all over the world. NCAHF's officers and board members serve without compensation. NCAHF states they unite consumers with health professionals, educators, researchers, attorneys, and others.
Acupuncture
The NCAHF asserts that acupunctureAcupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
is scientifically unproven as a modality of treatment. The NCAHF says (as of 1990) that research during the past twenty years has failed to demonstrate that acupuncture is effective against any disease. Perceived effects of acupuncture are, argues the NCAHF, probably due to a combination of expectation, suggestion and other psychological mechanisms. The NCAHF points out that acupuncture was banned in China in 1929 but underwent a resurgence in the 1960s. The organization also advocates that insurance companies should not be required to cover acupuncture treatment, and that licensure of lay acupuncturists should be phased out.
Amalgam fillings
There has long been controversy regarding the use of amalgam fillings by dentists, because the amalgam contains mercury. Some forms of mercury are toxic to humans, but the NCAHF cites the CDC in stating that there is no evidence that "the health of the vast majority of people with amalgam is compromised" or that "removing amalgam fillings has a beneficial effect on health". The NCAHF criticizes those who they believe exploit unfounded public fears for financial gain. NCAHF asserts that breath, urine and blood testing for mercury are inaccurate. Other tests for mercury exposure described by the NCAHF as invalid can include skin testing, stool testing, hair analysisHair analysis (alternative medicine)
In mainstream scientific usage, hair analysis is the chemical analysis of a hair sample. The use of hair analysis in alternative medicine as a method of investigation to assist alternative diagnosis is controversial and its use in this manner has been opposed repeatedly by the AMA because of its...
and electrodermal testing.
Chiropractic
The NCAHF contends that chiropractic can be dangerous and lead to injury or permanent disability. However, the NCAHF does not categorically oppose the practice. NCAHF differentiates between chiropractors who promote what it considers good and bad chiropractic practices. The former promote methods of diagnosis and treatment which have a scientific basis. For example, NCAHF claims there is no scientific support for vertebral subluxationVertebral subluxation
Vertebral subluxation is a term that is commonly used by some chiropractors to describe signs and symptoms of the spinal column. Those chiropractors who assert this concept also add a visceral component to the definition...
. Their view is that chiropractors should restrict their scope of practice to neuromusculoskeletal problems such as muscle spasms, strains, sprains, fatigue, imbalance of strength and flexibility, stretched or irritated nerve tissue, and so forth. Chiropractors should refer cases involving pathology to qualified medical practitioners.
In contrast, what the NCAHF considers bad are those chiropractors who believe the spinal adjustment will cure or alleviate a variety of diseases, such as infection
Infection
An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...
, arthritis
Arthritis
Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....
, cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, diabetes, nutritional deficiencies or excesses, appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
, blood disorders, or kidney disease. These practitioners may use unproven, disproven, or questionable methods, devices, and products such as adjusting machines, applied kinesiology
Applied kinesiology
Applied kinesiology is an alternative medicine method used for diagnosis and determination of therapy. According to practitioners using Applied Kinesiology techniques, it provides feedback on the functional status of the body. AK is a practice within the realm of alternative medicine and is...
, chelation therapy
Chelation therapy
Chelation therapy is the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. For the most common forms of heavy metal intoxication—those involving lead, arsenic or mercury—the standard of care in the United States dictates the use of dimercaptosuccinic acid...
, colonic irrigation, computerized nutrition deficiency tests, cranial osteopathy, cytotoxic food allergy testing, DMSO, Gerovital
Gerovital
Gerovital H3 is a controversial preparation developed during the 1950s and promoted by its advocates as an effective anti-aging treatment. During Gerovital's "jet-set" heyday, Gerovital treatments were reportedly administered to John F...
, glandular therapy, hair analysis
Hair analysis (alternative medicine)
In mainstream scientific usage, hair analysis is the chemical analysis of a hair sample. The use of hair analysis in alternative medicine as a method of investigation to assist alternative diagnosis is controversial and its use in this manner has been opposed repeatedly by the AMA because of its...
, herbal crystallization analyses, homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
, internal managements, iridology
Iridology
Iridology Iridology Iridology (also known as iridodiagnosis or iridiagnosis is an alternative medicine technique whose proponents claim that patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the iris can be examined to determine information about a patient's systemic health...
, laser beam acupuncture, laetrile, magnetic therapy,and so forth.
Diet advice
The NCAHF is opposed to dietary recommendations and practices not supported by scientific evidence, including behavior-related claims. Unverified assessment methods such as iridology, applied kinesiology, and routine hair analysisHair analysis (alternative medicine)
In mainstream scientific usage, hair analysis is the chemical analysis of a hair sample. The use of hair analysis in alternative medicine as a method of investigation to assist alternative diagnosis is controversial and its use in this manner has been opposed repeatedly by the AMA because of its...
for assessment of nutritional status are criticized. NCAHF and some of its members have long opposed implementation of beliefs that they characterize as unfounded or unscientific.
NCAHF also questions the health claims, marketing, safety, efficacy and labeling of herbal supplements
Dietary supplement
A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a person's diet...
. Herbal preparations are regulated as foods, rather than as drugs, in the United States. The NCAHF advocates regulations for a special OTC category called "Traditional Herbal Remedies" (THRs) with an adverse reaction surveillance program, product batches marked for identification and tracking, package label warnings about proposed dangers of self-treatment, oversight requirements from outside of the herbal industry, and strong penalties for unapproved changes in herbal product formulations.
Diploma mills
The NCAHF claims that many unqualified practitioners are able to mislead the public by using diploma millDiploma mill
A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit...
s or "degree mills" to get "specious degrees". Diploma mills are not accredited, and frequently engage in "pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
and food faddism
Food faddism
The phrases food faddism and fad diet originally referred to idiosyncratic diets and eating patterns that promote short-term weight loss, usually with no concern for long-term weight maintenance, and enjoy temporary popularity...
". NCAHF also alleges that "at least some of the 'faculty' or 'academic' advisors at several of these schools have criminal convictions in the area of health fraud". NCAHF considers diploma mills harmful to the "students" and to the public.
Usefulness as a source
The National Council Against Health Fraud is mentioned as a useful source for information bythe United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
, the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
in their book "Cancer Medicine", and many other organizations and libraries.
The journal Dynamic Chiropractic
Dynamic Chiropractic
Dynamic Chiropractic is a magazine for chiropractors that is indexed by CINAHL. A Canadian version exists with modified content. The Canadian version has a readership of 6000, while the American version has a circulation of over 60,000....
, while highly critical of NCAHFs views on chiropractic, has written: "The National Council Against Health Fraud is considered a valuable information source for many agencies nationwide. They are well networked and, as demonstrated by their past history, are able to influence the efforts of various agencies and insurance carriers. The NCAHF's ability to publish its opinions and hold these types of conferences does make them a substantial "player" in the area of health fraud."
In 1998, the AMA's
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
Council on Scientific Affairs used NCAHF board member John Renner as a contributing source for some of the content in their "Report 12".
Criticism from alternative medicine supporters
The NCAHF has been criticized by the supporters of the treatments it opposes, including practitioners of chiropracticChiropractic
Chiropractic is a health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. It is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine...
, homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
, acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
, herbalism
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
, and naturopathy.
U.S. Representative Dan Burton
Dan Burton
Danny "Dan" Lee Burton is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the , serving since 1983. He is a member of the Republican Party....
, described by the New York Daily News as a "powerful friend" of the dietary supplement
Dietary supplement
A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a person's diet...
industry, has stated that it is not in the public interest for a health fraud watch group such as NCAHF to operate unrestrained and unendorsed by the government.
The American Chiropractic Association
American Chiropractic Association
The American Chiropractic Association , based in Arlington, VA, representing doctors of chiropractic. Its stated mission is to preserve, protect, improve, and promote the chiropractic profession and the services of Doctors of Chiropractic for the benefit of the patients they serve.- Purpose and...
(ACA) criticised a 2002 PBS broadcast which included an episode about chiropractic in which the NCAHF was involved. ACA president, Daryl D. Wills, responded to PBS officials stating (in part): "I find it ironic that a program titled 'Scientific American Frontiers' would completely ignore the scientific foundation of the chiropractic profession. The chiropractic portion of the June 4 episode titled 'A Different Way to Heal?' irresponsibly characterized chiropractic care -- a legitimate, research-based form of health care -- as a fraudulent hoax." and that "[t]he producers of your program could not have expected objectivity" from the NCAHF. The producer of the program replied in detail and explicitly denied these allegations: "The segment did not claim that chiropractic is fraudulent and did not attempt to prove or disprove that chiropractic "works," but it does state that chiropractic has no basis in science. This conclusion is entirely justified by both current research and generally accepted views of human anatomy."