Court Victory for Chiropractors Against Quack Buster, First Amendment Rules

Stephen Barrett M.D., known in many circles as a professional quack buster, or "consumer medical advocate", is a hero to some and a long-time scourge to others in the health profession as well as patients.

According to a verdict in the Appeals Court of the State of Pennsylvania, Barrett is the loser in his defamation case against chiropractor Tedd Koren, D.C. Barrett charged Koren with defamation of character and lost, according to a June 14 press release by the World Chiropractic Alliance.

Koren's company, Koren Publications, who markets educational pamphlets for chiropractors, once referred to Barrett as a "Quackpot" and that his vocal nemesis was "de-licensed," and "in trouble."

As a result, Barrett sued Koren for defamation in 2002 and a three-lawyer arbitration panel awarded Barrett damages in the amount of $16,500 and ordered Koren to retract his statements. In October of 2005, Judge J. Brian Johnson of the Pennsylvania court dismissed the lawsuit and ruled in favor of Koren and his First Amendment rights. The Pennsylvania Appeals Court upheld the original court's decision on June 14, 2007.

Barrett's quackery claims, found on his ten-year running web site Quackwatch.com, extend well beyond chiropractic care to many fields in both alternative and allopathic medicine, and include what Barrett deems as " Fad Diagnoses," such as Lyme disease, Gulf War Syndrome, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Additionally, far-reaching criticisms in position papers and forum discussions involve a plethora of well-known individuals such as Andrew Weil, twice Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling, and Deepak Chopra, among hundreds of others both respected and controversial in their respective fields.