quackery
Fake medicine practice
Quackery is the promotion of fraudulent or unproven medical treatments, or the practice of medicine by someone without proper qualifications.
The term derives from quack, itself from an old word for someone who "quacks" loudly about the virtues of their remedies.
The internet has become a breeding ground for quackery.
Quackery often exploits desperate patients with false promises of cures.
Fraudulent cure-all
- elixirMythical healing draught
- nostrumUnproven pet remedy
- cure-allSupposed universal remedy
- panaceaUniversal cure
tonic · potion · miracle cure · patent medicine · wonder drug · magic bullet · secret formula · folk remedy
Fraudulent imitation
- fakeryDeliberate deception or pretense
- impostureDeception through false identity
- duperyCalculated misleading of another
- chicaneryDeception through clever manipulation
trickery · deceit · humbug · flimflam · bamboozlement · duplicity · pretense · misrepresentation
One feigning another's identity
- mountebankTraveling seller of fake remedies
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
- fakerOne who pretends
- phonyFraudulent person or thing
pretender · scammer · conman · deceiver · shyster · trickster · fraudster · grifter
Diluted-substance alternative medicine
- astrologyDivination by celestial positions
- phrenologySkull-bump personality assessment
- reflexologyFoot-point pressure therapy
- numerologyMystical significance of digits
dowsing · crystal healing · magnet therapy · ear candling · aura reading · biorhythms · colloidal silver · radionics
snake oil
Fraudulent cure-all
panacea · tonic · potion · miracle cure · patent medicine · wonder drug · magic bullet · secret formula · folk remedy · proprietary blend
sham
Fraudulent imitation
- fakeryDeliberate deception or pretense
- impostureDeception through false identity
- duperyCalculated misleading of another
chicanery · trickery · deceit · humbug · flimflam · bamboozlement · duplicity · pretense · misrepresentation · charlatanism
impostor
One feigning another's identity
- mountebankTraveling seller of fake remedies
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
- fakerOne who pretends
phony · pretender · scammer · conman · deceiver · shyster · trickster · fraudster · grifter · hustler
homeopathy
Diluted-substance alternative medicine
- astrologyDivination by celestial positions
- phrenologySkull-bump personality assessment
- reflexologyFoot-point pressure therapy
numerology · dowsing · crystal healing · magnet therapy · ear candling · aura reading · biorhythms · colloidal silver · radionics · reiki
bunk
Nonsense or stacked bed
- balderdashSenseless talk or writing
- hogwashFoolish or untrue talk
- malarkeyInsincere foolish talk
hokum · poppycock · claptrap · baloney · rubbish · drivel · twaddle · tommyrot · codswallop · hooey
- Victorianaseances, Dickens, spiritualism, Sherlock Holmes, phrenology
- hoaxesalien autopsy, moon landing hoax, War of the Worlds, fake photos, forgeries
- healthcare problemsmedical errors, misdiagnosis, high costs, long waits, staffing shortages
- old medicinebloodletting, leeches, leech therapy, leeching, cupping
- scamsscam, scams, fraud, frauds, swindle
- medical crimesMedicare fraud, Medicaid fraud, medical malpractice, medical negligence, nursing home abuse
quackeryevidence-based medicine
Clinical care guided by research
clinical medicine · medical science · standard of care · best practices · biomedicine
quackeryscientific rigor
Strict adherence to method
empiricism · intellectual honesty · science · evidence-based practice · professional integrity
- medical quackeryUnproven treatments sold deceptively