In another attempt to eliminate all non-medical health care disciplines, Stephen Barrett's group "Quackwatch" circulated information about a campaign to keep chiropractic out of the Veterans Affairs health system.

In a message posted on the Quackwatch e-mail discussion group, Ludmil A. Chotkowski, M.D., author of "Chiropractic: The Greatest Hoax of the Century?," announced that the senate has passed the bill making chiropractic care available through the VA clinics.

"This is a great victory for quackery and will be hailed by the chiro community to the hilt," he wrote. "I have just phoned the white house requesting the president veto this to spare veterans from chiropractic quackery and to save the government from wasting money on a hoax." He also posted the White House phone number, but added that "I have doubts this will be effective, but it is worth the chance if enough calls are made."

In recent months, the Quackwatch group and its founder Stephen Barrett have come under increased fire for their continued attacks on non-medical approaches to health care.

One high-visibility case concerns Hulda Regehr Clark, Ph. D., a graduate of the University of Minnesota who received her doctorate in 1958.

She later received a degree in naturopathy and began extensive research into possible causes and treatments for cancer, AIDS, and other diseases. It is her theory that these and many other ailments are caused by the entry of toxins and parasites into the bodies from our environment. If these toxins and parasites are removed, the body can cure itself. She has written several books on the topic, and disseminated her theories on the Internet.

In a case reminiscent of several pioneering chiropractors, the 71 year-old researcher was arrested in September 1999 on a charge of practicing medicine without a license. She was held for 16 days in a holding cell, then transported to Indiana, which issued the warrant. The charges were eventually dropped but the case became the symbol of the medical profession's continued attacks on competing disciplines.

So significant was the case that the American Libertarian Party and the American Reform Party, made the attack on Clark part of their "Election 2000" platforms, using it as an example of what's wrong with health care in America.

Her opponents, however, refused to stop their attacks and continued attempts to silence the researcher. Several lawsuits have been filed by Barrett, Quackwatch and the National Council Against Health care Fraud against Clark and her supporters.

"Clark, and her team have, since September of 1999, had to fight off in one legal battle after another -- the most EVIL onslaught ever foisted on Americans -- a blatant outright attempt to stop a cure for cancer, and other diseases from becoming mainstream," claims Tim Bolen, who maintains the www.savedrclark.org website.

The tide may be turning for the self-proclaimed quackbusters, including Barrett. Late in 2001, San Francisco Superior Court Judge David A. Garcia dismissed a lawsuit filed against Dr. Clark in 1999.

"The dismissal, which has been touted by Quackbuster and Stephen Barrett's Quackwatch website comes as a major setback and stunning defeat to anti-health freedom forces and marks the culmination of months of Dr. Clark's defense of false charges," stated attorney Carlos F. Negrete of the Health Freedom Legal Defense Council.

As chiropractors know all too well, Clark is not Barrett's only target. He and his allies have worked for years to destroy the reputation of nearly all alternative fields, including chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture and naturopathy.

Quackwatch's list of "nonrecommended periodicals" includes 65 health magazines and 42 health newsletters, virtually every North American publication concerning alternative medicine. Barrett's group says these magazines are "unreliable because they promote misinformation, espouse unscientific theories, and/or contain unsubstantiated advice."

As people becomes more aware of the benefits of complementary and alternative care -- and of the risks and dangers of medicine -- they are beginning to turn a skeptical eye toward Barrett.

In addition, the Internet -- which Barrett has used so adroitly -- is turning into a powerful weapon against him, as more people post exposes and criticisms of his obsessive anti-alternative stands.

Already the web is filled with articles such as one by Tim Bolen which states, "To me, Barrett is the epitome of a street corner bully, an Internet thug, who with his threats and intimidation techniques, has convinced the neighborhood that he's invincible -- or, at least, one very tough guy."

On his personal home page, John L. Matthews, Ph.D. D.Sc., of Oxford, England, blasts Barrett and his allies. "These men attempt to conquer those of us that are not informed. They do this by simply misleading us into believing they are the expert in the topic they are teaching. Don't believe everything you read!," he warns. "Medicine is BIG business and what I have discovered as a physician is there are those that will do anything they can to keep the world ignorant and BIG business will protect profits at all cost.

"I have also discovered," continues Dr. Matthews, "that if we are kept confused and blinded to the truth, we are predisposed to follow the so-called leaders and in this case some of us will go to an early grave... Mr. Barrett has published one of the best deceptive websites on the Internet and this website has hoodwinked many to believe he is actually trying to help and educate the world in truth."

High profile alternative care advocates, such as Burton Goldberg, publisher of "Alternative Medicine: the Definitive Guide," have joined the fray.

In an article called, "What's eating Stephen Barrett," (Alternative Medicine Digest, July 1998) Mr. Goldberg comments: "Barrett appears to be saying that the typical American patient is stupid, hysterical or paranoid, easily duped, and generally incapable of making a rational, correct medical decision on their own... Doctors who practice alternative medicine are unscientific, opportunistic frauds or quacks, peddling flawed or junk science. So who can you turn to -- who is not on Barrett's hit list? Conventional doctors. Barrett doesn't say this outright, but it's the only logical conclusion. His message is the old and familiar one from the l950s: the (conventional) doctor knows best."

Goldberg goes on to speculate about the reasons for Barrett's campaign against alternative health. "Why does Barrett...so dislike alternative medicine? What's eating him that he must disparage the field at every opportunity?," he asks. "The purpose has to be this: to corral this mass of suffering, 'confused' patients into the treatment pen of conventional medicine. But here Barrett's rationale collapses. The patients end up with nothing. ... In the paradox of 'quackbusting,' the quackbusters say they're protecting public health, but in fact," he observes, "they're abandoning the public to their own suffering to protect the financial interests of conventional medicine, which has no interest in or ability to produce benefits for these conditions.

"The 'quackbusters' say they're serving the public," Goldberg concludes, "but the truth is they're grossly disserving patients."

Goldberg's article is reprinted on numerous Internet sites.

"Defeating Barrett and silencing him and his Quackwatch allies will not be easy, but chiropractors must do everything possible to make sure the public doesn't get brainwashed by his propaganda," says Terry A. Rondberg, president of the World Chiropractic Alliance. "We need to join in the effort to expose his ignorance, bias and underlying malice."