Quack
(Redirected from Quacks)
Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, qualification or credentials they do not possess; a charlatan or snake oil salesman". The term quack is a clipped form of the archaic term quacksalver, from Dutch: kwakzalver a "hawker of salve".
History[edit | edit source]
In the Middle Ages the term quack meant "shouting". The quacksalvers sold their wares on the market shouting in a loud voice. Common elements of general quackery include misleading marketing, health fraud, and malpractice.
Quackery in the 21st Century[edit | edit source]
In the 21st century, even though quackery is often characterized as an array of practices and practitioners, despite significant variation, a few themes are common: misleading marketing, health fraud, and malpractice.
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
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