October 2005

‘Quackwatcher’ suit tossed from court

Pennsylvania chiropractor Tedd Koren, backed by the Foundation for Health Choice and other interested parties, has emerged victorious from a libel lawsuit waged against him by Stephen Barrett, MD, a retired Pennsylvania psychiatrist, who runs Quackwatch.org.

Barrett originally filed a lawsuit against Koren and Koren Publications, Inc., in 2002, on charges of libel. Koren had reported in a newsletter that Barrett had been “delicensed,” was a “quackpot,” and was “in trouble” because Barrett had been sued for racketeering.

The lawsuit finally went to trial October 10, 2005, in Allentown, Pa.

Three days later, Judge Johnson ruled in favor of Koren’s request for a motion for a directed verdict, stating that Barrett had failed to present sufficient evidence that Koren had acted with “reckless disregard of the truth.”

According to Koren’s Washington-based attorney Jim Turner, Koren alleges that Barrett, through his Quackwatch and Chirobase Web sites, has been attacking the chiropractic profession and spreading misinformation about chiropractic. “We aim to stop their public campaign of disinformation, fear tactics, and hate against chiropractic and all forms of natural healthcare,” states Koren in a recent e-mail bulletin.

Tedd Koren, DC, publishes Koren Publications, a line of chiropractic patient education materials, Chiropractic: Bringing Out The Best In You!, and Chiropractic Wellness: Health from within.

Stephen Barrett, MD, runs Quackwatch.org and 18 other Web sites; is vice-president of the National Council Against Health Fraud, a private nonprofit, voluntary agency; and has written and edited numerous books on consumer health.

Sources: Tedd Koren, DC; Foundation for Health Choice, www.foundationforhealthchoice.com; Jim Turner, Esq.; Chirobase, www.chirobase.org

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