How to Spot a Quack before Getting Quacked!

How to Spot a Quack before Getting Quacked!


Medical quackery can threaten both your health and pocket. Learn how to
spot a Quack!


Millions of dollars are lost each year to medical and health fraud – much of it to quack
cases. In some cases people are desperate and searching for a miracle when traditional
medicine has failed them. In other cases patients (often elderly or less educated people)
are taken advantage of intentionally by quack doctors and quack medical practitioners.
Regardless the reason the patients lose money. They also lose time – time that could
mean a difference between successfully managing the health problem and death.
Contrary to popular belief, almost anyone can be a victim of a quack. Regardless of
income, level of education, and experience, a person can be taken in. The best defense is
sound knowledge about the products and services you are seeking – and ability to spot
the common signs of medical quackery.


The most common abuses of quack practices include:
Promise a quick cure or guarantee
Diagnose a health problem by mail
Change office locations or mailing addresses often
Try to sell you one product to cure a wide variety of conditions
Say a product will cure a condition for which no known cure exists (such as aids
or certain kind of cancer).
Ping-ponging: referring patients from one practitioner to another within the
facility even though there is no medical need.
Upgrading: billing for more services than were actually rendered, such as treating
a patient for a minor cut but billing for suturing a deep laceration.
Steering: suggesting a particular pharmacy that the patient should do business
with. Some cases have included kickbacks to the recommending doctor.

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Quackery poses genuine threats to health and well being!
Loss of Valuable Time
If you rely on useless remedies referred by a Quack, the time you lose could seriously
harm your chance of recovery.
Loss of Hard Earned Money
According to National Council Against Health Fraud, the Americans spends billions of
dollars on bogus treatments and often those who purchase the quack products are least
able to afford them.
Dangerous treatments
Quack drugs or remedies are not produced or scientifically tested. They may contain
substances which are contraceptive with other drugs you take, or with what you eat and
drink.
Loss of Hope in Medicare Systems
People who realize they have been manipulated by quackery have reason to be bitter.
Many become angry toward the medical profession as a whole. This could lead them to
shun proper treatment. Money spent on quack cures for terminal conditions might be
better donated to a worthy cause.
Un-forgettable False fears
Some victims of quackery are not even ill. Quack promoters try to cause doubt or anxiety
in these people.
Guilt
Guilt is also a probable factor which affects a patient's loved ones: The parents who take
their diabetic child off insulin, the spouse who takes a mate out of the country for
worthless therapy.

How to spot a Quack before getting quacked:
Check Credentials of the doctor or medical practitioner for ensuring that the one
is not a quack.
Beware to the doctors or Advisors who sell their own Medicaid products. Medical
license verification is essential in these quack cases.

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Check the organization’s accreditation with medical boards of the experts you
consult.
Beware of promises of immediate or miraculous results of diseases because only
Quacks offer this.
Be suspicious of sales pitches that promise results that are too good to be true
Be cautious about mail-order or internet sales
Be wary of untested Products.
If you feel as if you have been violated by a quack, have made a purchase from a
fraudulent source, or have encountered a quack who claims to be a medical
professional, report the experience to your state's health department.


Conclusion:
Medical quackery is a subtle but very frequent crime involving both people and
products. It is not outright armed robbery, but it might as well be since both quackery
and robbery accomplish the same things – they endanger the lives of the victims and
separate them from their money. So every single human being has a responsibility to
condemn and fight the Quack medical forgery to prevent our society from a great
dilemma.

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