Health Fraud: A Hardy Perennial

Journal of Policy History

Volumn 9, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 117-140

  Young, James Harvey ^a  

^a EMORY UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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EID: 84937261832     PISSN: 08980306     EISSN: 15284190     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0898030600005856     Document Type: Article

References (152)

1. The historical section that launches this essay has been adapted from my publications: The Toadstool Millionaires: A Social History of Patent Medicines in America before Federal Regulation (Princeton, 1961)
2. The Medical Messiahs: A Social History of Health Quackery in Twentieth-Century America (updated edition: Princeton, 1992)
3. “From Hooper to Hohensee,” Journal of the American Medical Association 204 (April 1, 1968): 100–104
4. “American Health Quackery: An Historical View,” Georgia Journal of Science 38 (1980): 33–40
5. “The Foolmaster Who Fooled Them,” Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 53 (1980): 555–566.
6. Willis P. King, Quacks and Quackery in Missouri (St. Louis, 1882), 6.
7. Bella C. Landauer Collection, The New York Historical Society.
8. James Luther Slayden of Texas, Congressional Record, 59th Cong., 1st sess., June 22, 1906, 8987
9. James Harvey Young, “Pe-Ru-Na: A Catarrh Cure from Columbus,” Timeline 12 (November-December 1995): 2–17.
10. Toronto Star cited in Arthur J. Cramp, Nostrums and Quackery and Pseudo-Medicine (Chicago, 1936), 197.
11. Adams's series appeared in Collier's between October 7, 1905, and February 17, 1906. It was published in book form as The Great American Fraud (Chicago, 1906).
12. James Harvey Young, “Arthur Cramp: Quackery Foe,” Pharmacy in History 37 (1995): 176–182.
13. Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906, 34 Stat. 768
14. Sherley Amendment, August 23, 1912, 37 Stat. 416.
15. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England (Boston, 1853), I, 83.
16. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, June 25, 1938, 52 Stat. 1040.
17. The best study of the securing of this legislation is Charles O. Jackson, Food and Drug Legislation in the New Deal (Princeton, 1970).
18. The Kefauver-Harris Amendments, 76 Stat. 78.
19. Studies of the enactment of this law are Richard Harris, The Real Voice (New York, 1964)
20. Richard McFadyen, “Estes Kefauver and the Drug Industry,” Ph.D. diss., Emory University, 1973).
21. The FTC statute was the Wheeler-Lea Act, 52 Stat. 111.
22. Food and Drug Administration Annual Report, 1971, p. 26; 1972, 181–82
23. James Harvey Young, American Self-Dosage Medicines: An Historical Perspective (Lawrence, Kan., 1974), 51–52.
24. Jean S. Welch, “Legislation Affecting Manpower,” American Pharmacy 20 (September 1980): 22.
25. Doug Podolsky, “Questionable Medicine,” U.S. News & World Report, May 15, 1995, 101–105.
26. David Kessler, Remarks to the Food and Drug Law Institute, December 12, 1995.
27. Young, The Medical Messiahs, 137–42, 260–61.
28. The Medical Messiahs, 333–359
29. Stephen Barrett and Victor Herbert, The Vitamin Pushers (Amherst N.Y., 1994).
30. James Cook, New York Post series, May 20-June 2, 1957.
31. Young, The Medical Messiahs, 360–389.
32. The Medical Messiahs, 390–407.
33. The Medical Messiahs, 421–422.
34. Harry Levin, “The Great Good Place,” New York Review of Books, March 6, 1980, 47–49.
35. Barry Singer and Victor A. Benassi, “Occult Beliefs,” American Scientist 69 (January-February 1981): 49–55.
36. Bennett Kremen and Peter Collier, “Unrequired Reading: East and West,” New York Times Book Review, February 15, 1970, 5, 24, 26.
37. Brian Vachon, “Witches Are Rising,” Look, August 24, 1971, 40–44.
38. Cited in James Wolcott, “Mod Apostle,” New York Review of Books, November 22, 1979, 11–12.
39. Sagan on MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, PBS, February 9, 1983
40. William Celis 3d, “Science I.Q. of Americans Is Not O.K., Survey Shows,” New York Times, April 21, 1994.
41. John C. Burnham, How Superstition Won and Science Lost (New Brunswick, N.J., 1987).
42. “Self-Health Books: R for Disaster?” American Council on Science and Health News & Views 1 (1979), 1.
43. David Leff, “Four Wondrous Weeks of Science and Medicine in the Amazing, Incredible Supermarket Press,” National Association of Science Writers Newsletter 2 (1980), 3.
44. James E. Tierney testimony, Quackery: A $10 Billion Scandal, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care of the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives (98th Cong., 2d sess., 1984), 178
45. Anthony Ramirez, “A Crackdown on Phone Marketing,” New York Times, February 10, 1995
46. NBC Today Show, February 26, 1996.
47. Tony Cappasso, “Cyber Cures?” The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill., February 4, 1996
48. Edward Baig, “The Medical Hot Line in Your PC,” Business Week, February 20, 1995, 101–102.
49. Suzanne Hamlin, “Diverse and Pricey Newsletters Flooding Mailboxes,” New York Times, August 9, 1995
50. Marian Burros, “A New Goal Beyond Organic: Clean Food,” New York Times, February 7, 1996.
51. Barrie R. Cassileth et al., “Contemporary Unorthodox Treatments in Cancer Medicine,” Annals of Internal Medicine 101 (1984): 105–112
52. William Robins, “Doctors Urge Campaign Against AIDS Quackery,” New York Times, March 16, 1988.
53. Victor Herbert testimony, Quackery: A $10 Billion Scandal, 1984 House Hearings.
54. William Barnhill, “Panacea or Poison? Unproven Remedies under Surveillance,” Arthritis Today 6 (January-February): 30–31.
55. James C. Petersen and Gerald E. Markle, “Expansion of Conflict in Cancer Controversies,” Research in Social Movements: Conflicts and Change 4 (1981): 151–169
56. James Harvey Young, “Laetrile in Historical Perspective,” in Young, American Health Quackery: Collected Essays (Princeton, 1992), 205–265.
57. Barrie R. Cassileth, “After Laetrile, What?” New England Journal of Medicine 306 (1982): 1482–1484.
58. James Harvey Young, “AIDS and Deceptive Therapies,” in Young, American Health Quackery, 256–285.
59. Janny Scott and Lynn Simross, “AIDS: Underground Options–The Search for Hope,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1987.
60. Don Aird to John Swann, July 5, 1995, History Office, Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, Md.
61. Victor Herbert testimony, Quackery: A $10 Million Scandal, 1984 House Hearing
62. Barrett and Herbert, The Vitamin Pushers.
63. Young, The Medical Messiahs, 350–354.
64. The Medical Messiahs, 205–8, 338–59.
65. The Medical Messiahs, 446–449
66. James Harvey Young, “The Agile Role of Food: Some Historical Reflections,” in John A. Hathcock and Julius Coon, eds., Nutrition and Drug Interrelations (New York, 1978), 1–18.
67. Harold Hopkins, “Regulating Vitamins and Minerals,” FDA Consumer 10 (July-August 1976): 10–11
68. FDA Talk Paper, 1976
69. Stephen Barrett, “Assault on FDA Continues,” Nutrition Forum 16 (May/June 1993): 26.
70. Mark Blumenthal, “The FDA Rejection,” Herbal Gram, no. 26 (Winter 1992): 23, 41.
71. Food and Drug Administration, Dietary Supplements Task Force Final Report, May 1992.
72. Barrett and Herbert, The Vitamin Pushers, 430–435.
73. Stephen Barrett, “Supplement Bill Passes,” Nutrition Forum, 12 (January-February 1995): 9–11.
74. “The Snake Oil Protection Act,” New York Times, October 5, 1993.
75. Statement by David A. Kessler … before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, Committee on Energy and Commerce, United States House of Representatives, July 29, 1993.
76. Food and Drug Administration, Unsubstantiated Claims and Documented Health Hazards in the Dietary Marketplace, July 1993.
77. FDA News Release, December 29, 1993
78. Marian Burros, “Eating Well,” New York Times, December 15, 1993.
79. Barrett and Herbert, The Vitamin Pushers, 433.
80. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, An Act to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish standards with respect to dietary supplements, October 25, 1994 108 Stat. 4325
81. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, [FDA summary], December 1, 1995
82. “Herbal Roulette,” Consumer Reports 60 (1995): 698–705
83. “NIH Office of Dietary Supplements Research,” October 27, 1995
84. “FDA Published Dietary Supplement Rules,” January 2, 1996.
85. Alternative Medicine: Expanding Medical Horizons (Washington, D.C., [1995]), 185–186.
86. Alternative Medicine: Expanding Medical Horizons, vii.
87. Paul Trachtman, “NIH Looks at the Implausible and the Inexplicable,” Smithisonian 25 (September 1994): 110–123
88. Stephen Budiansky, “Cures or ‘Quackery’?” U.S. News & World Report, July 17, 1995, 48–51.
89. Alternative Medicine, Hearing before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate (103d Cong., 1st sess.), June 24, 1993 (Washington, D.C., 1993), 1–2; “Office of Science Policy and Legislation, Unconventional Medical Practices, FY 1992, Activities and Plans.”
90. Hearing before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, 95–107
91. Margaret Mason, “Health Quest,” Washington Post, June 26, 1992
92. Stephen Budiansky, “Cures or ‘quackery’?” U.S. News & World Report, July 17, 1995, 48–51.
93. U.S. News & World Report
94. Alternative Medicine (Hearing), 2–4.
95. Jim Bryant, “NIH Panel Reviews ‘Unconventional’ Medical Practices,” The NIH Record 44 (July 7, 1992): 1, 6
96. Stephen Barrett, “‘Alternative’ Therapy Buzzword for the '90s,” Nutrition Forum 10 (January-February 1993): 1–2
97. Barrett and Herbert, The Vitamin Pushers, 371.
98. Natalie Angier, “Where the Unorthodox Gets a Hearing at N.I.H.,” New York Times, March 16, 1993.
99. Jacobs's career is also sketched in Marilyn Achirov and Linda Kramer, “Medicine Man,” People 39 (April 12, 1993): 95–97
100. in Diana McLellan, “Medicine Man,” Washingtonian 23 (May 1993): 46–47, 124–25.
101. Trachtman, “NIH Looks at the Implausible and the Inexplicable,” 121.
102. McLellan, “Medicine Man,” 46–47, 124–25.
103. Trachtman, “NIH Looks at the Implausible and the Inexplicable,” 115.
104. Anastasia Toufexis, “Dr. Jacobs' Alternative Mission,” Time, March 1, 1993, 43–44.
105. Trachtman, “NIH Looks at the Implausible and the Inexplicable,” 117.
106. “NIH Looks at the Implausible and the Inexplicable,”, 117–119.
107. Bryant, “NIH Panel Reviews ‘Unconventional’ Medical Practices,” 8.
108. Alternative Medicine (Hearing), 105–106
109. Trachtman, “NIH Looks at the Implausible and the Inexplicable,” 117
110. Kenneth Silber, “Alternative Medicine Agency Can't Bridge Gap,” Washington Times, December 8, 1994.
111. Alternative Medicine (Hearing), 116–17, 134.
112. McLellan, “Medicine Man,” 125.
113. Silber, “Alternative Medicine Agency Can't Bridge Gap.”
114. David M. Eisenberg et al., “Unconventional Medicines in the United States–Prevalence, Cost, and Patterns of Use,” New England Journal of Medicine 328 (1993): 246–252.
115. Barrett, “‘Alternative’ Therapy Buzzword for the '90s,” 2.
116. “‘Alternative’ Therapy Buzzword for the '90s,”
117. Norman Gevitz, ed., Other Healers: Unorthodox Medicine in America (Baltimore, 1988)
118. Andrew Stanway, Alternative Medicine (London, 1980)
119. Jack Rasso, “Alternative” Health Care: A Comprehensive Guide (Amherst, N.Y., 1994)
120. Kurt Butler, A Consumer's Guide to Alternative Medicine (Amherst N.Y., 1992).
121. Trachtman, “NIH Looks at the Implausible and the Inexplicable,” 121.
122. “NIH Looks at the Implausible and the Inexplicable,” 117–118.
123. NIH OAM Grant Recipients, October 6, 1993.
124. Alternative Medicine (Hearing), 7–12
125. Eliot Marshall, “The Politics of Alternative Medicine,” Science 265 (September 30, 1994), 2000–2002
126. Silber, “Alternative Medicine Agency Can't Bridge Gap.”
127. Alternative Medicine (Hearing), 110
128. Mary Beth Regan, “Will a Cup of Cow's Whey Keep the Doctor Away?” Business Week, December 12, 1994, 96.
129. Editorial, “Offbeat Therapies Go to Washington,” Los Angeles Times, October 17, 1994
130. Regan, “Will a Cup of Cow's Whey Keep the Doctor Away?”
131. Jack Rasso, “The Three Faces of Medical Unreason,” Nurririon Forum 11 (September-October 1994): 43
132. Marshall, “The Politics of Alternative Medicine.”
133. “The Politics of Alternative Medicine.”
134. Natalie Angier, “U.S. Head of Alternative Medicine Quits,” New York Times, August 1, 1994
135. Budiansky, “Cures or ‘Quackery’?”
136. Silber, “Alternative Medicine Agency Can't Bridge Gap.”
137. Budiansky, “Cures or ‘Quackery’?”
138. Angier, “U.S. Head of Alternative Medicine Quits.”
139. Marshall, “The Politics of Alternative Medicine.”
140. “Offbeat Therapies Go to Washington.”
141. “OAM Director Outlines Office Mission and Accomplishments,” Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the NIH 2 (December 1995): 1, 4–5.
142. Office of Alternative Medicine, “Wayne B. Jonas, M.D., Biographical Sketch.”
143. Wayne B. Jonas, “Remarks to the D.C. Science Writer's Association,” November 2, 1995.
144. “AM Advisory Council Meets New OAM Staff and Reviews Progress,” Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the NIH 2 (December 1995): 1, 6–7.
145. Jonas, “Remarks to the D.C. Science Writer's Association”
146. Marshall, “The Politics of Alternative Medicine.”
147. “OAM Funds Eight Research Centers to Evaluate Alternative Treatments,” Complementory and Alternative Medicine at the NIH 2 (December 1995): 2, 8.
148. “NIH Panel Endorses Alternative Therapies for Chronic Pain and Insomnia,” Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the NIH 2 (December 1995): 3, 8.
149. Jonas, “Remarks to the D.C. Writer's Association.”
150. “Political Favoritism, Not Merit, Created the NIH Office of Alternative Medicine,” NCAF Newsletter 15 (September-October 1992): 2
151. Robert L. Park and Ursula Goodenough, “Buying Snake Oil with Tax Dollars,” New York Times, January 3, 1996.
152. Wayne B. Jonas, “U.S. Health Agency Isn't Pushing Alternative Medicine,” New York Times, January 9, 1996.