Quackery is a negative term used in the medical world to signify someone who advises and practices medical treatments based on observations of false medical findings or ignorance of science. The term ‘quack’ is used for a person that is pretending to have medical skills and qualifications that he or she does not have. Another term used is health fraud whereby it is interchangeable with quackery, but this causes confusion as quackery can take place without fraud and vice versa

The word ‘quack’ comes from ‘quacksalver’, which is originally a Dutch word that signifies one who is a boaster who applies a salve. In German, it means a salesman who is fairly vague and questionable.

Quackery, even today, is still a debatable subject as it is not very clear as to what it exactly means. To find out whether a person is committing quackery or not one must look at the evidence of the treatments given and how effective they have been for the patient. No medication is full proof and some work better than others. It is therefore very common for medication to explicitly state the risks involved and the limitations of it.

Because of medicine today, it is hard to tell whether someone is committing medical fraud or simply is being mistaken in his or her judgment. Legal cases have been lengthy and complicated when it has come to the issue of quackery. There are certainly ethical dilemmas that come into play but there is also the added confusion of the patients’ choice whether he or she decides, voluntarily to opt for the treatment prescribed by the quack over other treatments.

Nowadays, there are several watchdog companies that have been set up to monitor quackery around the world. It is easy to find out on the Internet or through local listings of such companies that operate. Quackery is not a new concept, dating back centuries, sometimes even being used for entertainment purposes but it is important to realize who is there purposely giving wrong information and who has been mistaken. As peoples’ lives are at risk, they must b warned of such misguided doctors that simply do not want to follow the rules. The more people know about it, the better chance one has of finding a genuine doctor that can try to help them with trust and confidentiality. With so much medication out there and so many different practices, one must be careful.