Please Help Quackwatch and Dr. Barrett

Dr. Stephen Barrett, has been a leader the worldwide struggle against
health fraud for more than 35 years. In addition to publishing the
weekly Consumer Health Digest, he has written and/or edited 50 books
and manages 23 consumer protection Web sites, including Quackwatch,
which has more than 100,000 page views per month and has won many
awards for its accuracy and quality. Dr. Barrett also serves as a
trusted resource for the media, law-enforcement agencies, educators,
and thousands of individual consumers who contact him each year for
help.

Quackery promoters have tried to counter his influence by libeling
him and filing groundless lawsuits. He has filed several libel suits
that have been costly. This week, after a 6-year legal battle, a
California judge ordered him to pay the legal fees of one defendant
who, although she has posted many negative statements about him, was
not held accountable by the courts due to a technicality. In an
effort to protect Web hosting companies from what is posted on their
clients' Web sites, the US Congress unintentionally put into
legislation language that the courts have interpreted as protecting
individuals from suits if they don't originate the alleged libels.
While absurd, this is the law until Congress changes it.

Other legal battles in which Dr. Barrett is involved are described at
http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/bolen.html and
http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/negrete.html

Very few people have the courage and persistence to engage in the
struggle against quackery. Dr. Barrett intends to continue, but can
use help in defraying legal expenses. Quackwatch and its companion
Web sites are important consumer resources. They are free to the
public, but maintaining them requires the ability to deal with
frivolous assaults by well-financed quacks and the special interests
that profit from quackery. If you appreciate Dr. Barrett's work,
please make a contribution. Please give whatever you can.

For amounts under $50, or for contributions of any size from foreign
countries, please use the PayPal link at
http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackwatch/donations.html It is not
necessary to be a PayPal subscriber to do this. It can be done by
anyone with a credit card, regardless of where you reside.

If you can give $50 or more and live in the United States, it would
be best to mail a donation payable to the Barrett Defense Fund, at
Chatham Crossing, Suite 107/208, 11312 US 15-501 North, Chapel Hill,
NC 27517.

Robert S. Baratz, MD, PhD, DDS
National Council Against Health Fraud