The National Council Against Health Fraud - Criticism From Alternative Medicine Supporters

Criticism From Alternative Medicine Supporters

The NCAHF has been criticized by the supporters of the treatments it opposes, especially practitioners of modalities considered refuted by the scientific consensus, such as chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, herbalism, and naturopathy.

U.S. Representative Dan Burton, described by the New York Daily News as a "powerful friend" of the dietary supplement industry, has stated that it is not in the public interest for a health fraud watch group such as NCAHF to operate unrestrained and unendorsed by the government.

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) criticised a 2002 PBS broadcast which included an episode about chiropractic in which the NCAHF was involved. ACA president, Daryl D. Wills, responded to PBS officials stating (in part): "I find it ironic that a program titled 'Scientific American Frontiers' would completely ignore the scientific foundation of the chiropractic profession. The chiropractic portion of the June 4 episode titled 'A Different Way to Heal?' irresponsibly characterized chiropractic care -- a legitimate, research-based form of health care -- as a fraudulent hoax." and that "he producers of your program could not have expected objectivity" from the NCAHF. The producer of the program replied in detail and explicitly denied these allegations: "The segment did not claim that chiropractic is fraudulent and did not attempt to prove or disprove that chiropractic "works," but it does state that chiropractic has no basis in science. This conclusion is entirely justified by both current research and generally accepted views of human anatomy."

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