The classic definition of a “quack” — dating as far back as the 1500s — is a medical charlatan, a “fraudulent pretender to medical skills.” Derived from the old Dutch kwakzalver, or hawker of salves, quacks typically mislead patients into buying useless or even harmful therapies by falsely promising miraculous cures. Picture a snake oil salesman peddling a proprietary elixir or “tonic” from the back of a wagon, then moving on quickly to the next town before folks start asking for refunds.
But today’s COVID quacks force us to rethink this common stereotype, which is creating challenges for state medical boards and other organizations charged with self-regulation of the medical profession.
Today, many doctors acting like quacks see themselves not as purveyors of snake oil but as mere medical iconoclasts, willing to challenge the status quo.
They seem to start down the path to quackery by convincing themselves that the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic should lower the bar for what counts as practice-changing evidence — […]
Challenging the status quo does not make one a quack.
There is plenty of COVID disinformation on both sides!
The comments at the bottom of the article are worth reading.
Wondering how much Pfizer stock this guy owns?
Just hit the online news that one of the Fox News anchors openly, on tv that he was vaccinated for Covid. Britain has a new variant that’s emerging very fast.
It will be interesting to see, over time, how much truth will be sacrificed at the altar of ideology.