June 2007

Quackbuster loses appeal

A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled against Stephen Barrett, a longtime critic of chiropractic and alternative healthcare and operator of the Quackbuster Web site, in an action chiropractors see as victory.

On June 11, 2007, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania released a strongly worded argument, agreeing with the decision of the lower court that Barrett had no legal case against Tedd Koren.

In 2003, Barrett sued Koren for defamation. One of his attorneys was Carlos Negrete, who specializes in representing alternative healthcare providers who are targeted by advocates of the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

Negrete explained the lawsuit: “Dr. Koren [had] published the little-known fact that Barrett, even though boasting he was a ‘medical expert,’ did not have a medical license himself since the early 1990s. This is something that infuriated Barrett to the point that he filed this meritless libel lawsuit … to silence Koren and get money.”

Under Negrete’s cross-examination, Barrett admitted he was not board certified in psychiatry, his specialty, because he had repeatedly failed the neurology exam.

Barrett operates the Quackbusters Web site (www.quackbusters.com), which has attacked chiropractic and alternative healthcare for a number of years.

Koren and others have formed the Foundation for Health Choice (www.foundationforhealthchoice.com) to fight for healthcare freedom.

Source: Foundation for Health Choice, www.foundationforhealthchoice.com

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