Quackery and Hype: Mesmerized by Wizards

The notions of quackery, charlatans, hype, mesmerists, and wizards are not new. For thousands of years, since well before the concept of scientific theory existed, the fear of illness and death has spurred curiosity, hope, and the resultant medical “performance” to create interest, intrigue, and desire to try whatever one can to stave off or cure illness. But unlike in prior centuries when one desperate for wellness or cure was primarily duped by the traveling huckster going door to door peddling his snake oil, currently the touch of a button on a phone, sound bite on the radio, catchy product placement, or cursory Internet search are all one needs to be deceived. “Healers” now include celebrities, television personalities, former athletes, and those with political clout, drawing in not crowds in a town square but millions of followers on social media. While classic fictional con artists such as characters played by Robert Redford and Paul Newman in The Sting or real-life scammers such as Bernard Madoff may be who first come to mind when picturing a con or a scam, today there is more wizardry and trickery in the health sphere than almost anywhere else. As health information becomes more readily accessible, primarily in the form of Internetbased resources, tricks of the trade are similarly becoming more and more the norm.