A System For Scoring The Degree of Quackiness

DUTCH QUACKBUSTER CHOOSES BIGGEST QUACKS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Cornelis Moerman (1893-1988), who invented an anti-cancer diet based on experiments with carrier-pigeons, heads the list of the twenty biggest quacks of the twentieth century announced by C. N. M. Renckens, the chair of VtdK, the Dutch Union Against Quackery at an antiquackery symposium in Utrecht on October 14th, 2000. The names on Renckens's list are familiar to Dutch people, but are not well known in the United States. (The link given, is broken, but I think this is the new one )

Moerman received 30 out of a maximum 37 points in the scoring system Dr. Renckens used for rating quackiness. The scoring system illustrates the complexity of quackery as societal and public health problem.

Criteria and Scoring Used by Dr. Renckens (Slightly Modified)

1. Level of education of the perpetrator.
• uneducated: 1 point
• low or intermediate level of education: 2 points
• medically trained (= doctor or pharmacist): 3 points
2. Character of the therapy
• pseudo-medical (e.g. phytotherapy): 1 point
• paranormal: 2 points
• supernatural/absurd: 3 points
3. Inflicted damage
• only financial: 1 point
• physical harm: 2 points
• killed victims: 3 points
4. Aggression against regular medicine
• absent: 1 point
• moderate: 2 points
• strong: 3 points
5. Duration of career
• less than 5 years: 1 point
• 5-10 years: 2 points
• 10-20 years: 3 points
• more than 20 years: 4 points
6. Material gains
• could live from the practice: 1 point
• earned well: 2 points
• became rich: 3 points
7. Condemnations
• Doctors:
• no disciplinary measures: 1 point
• disciplinary measures taken: 2 points
• suspensions and/or punished by criminal law-authorities: 3 points
• Non-doctors
• some: 1 point
• frequent: 2 points
• imprisonment: 3 points
8. Indications for swindling
• none: 1 point
• perhaps: 2 points
• certainly: 3 points
9. Publications
• none: 1 point
• few: 2 points
• many: 3 points
10. Followers
• none: 1 point
• few (e.g. only relatives): 2 points
• many: 3 points
11. Support from politicians
• no: 1 point
• maybe: 2 points
• certainly: 3 points
12. Degree of impudence of the claims
• cure of innocent problems (e.g. baldness): 1 point
• cure of serious disease (e.g. atherosclerosis): 2 points
• cure of fatal diseases (e.g. cancer): 3 points

The Moerman diet consisted of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, non-refined cereals, leguminous plants and dairy-products. Moerman also recommended supplemental vitamins and minerals. Forbidden were meat, fish, fowl, coffee, tea and water. Moerman, a doctor who practiced nearly 50 years, was very aggressive against his colleagues. He organized support in the parliament. The late Linus Pauling praised him.