Quack!: Tales of Medical Fraud from the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (Paperback)

by Bob McCoy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"This is a bizarre and enthusiastic book, perfect for anyone who savors the intersection of human folly and weird science." -- Suzy Hansen Salon.com

A stunning testament to the myriad ways people have tried to make money off the eternal ills of humankind. -- New York Times

Bob McCoy's engaging assortment of quackery on parade is simutaneously entertaining and thought-provoking. -- Money Magazine

The country's largest assemblage of medical bunkum on display to the public...McCoy is a barker for common sense in a carnival of medical quackery. -- American Medical Association News

Product Description
The curator of the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices shares his collection of hilarious, horrifying, and preposterous medical devices that have been foisted upon the gullible in their quest for good health. These modern-day snake oil salesmen, with their dubious devices, have preyed on the medically ignorant with ridiculous and sobering results. From the Prostate Gland Warmer to the Recto Rotor, from the Nose Straightener to the Wonder Electro Marvel, these implements reveal the desperate measures sought for magic cures. With period advertisements, promotional literature, and gadget instructions, this book offers a wealth of past-and present-medical fraud.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: Santa Monica Press; 1 edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891661108
• ISBN-13: 978-1891661105
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #451,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quaint, preposterous, and horrifying medical devices, June 7, 2001

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Quack!: Tales Of Medical Fraud From The Museum Of Questionable Medical Devices is an informative and fascinating compendium of quaint, preposterous, and occasionally horrifying medical devices foisted upon the public by calculating charlatans and misguided medical practitioners. Some of these purveyors held the public's rapt attention for a time (Albert Abrams, who believed that all that was needed from a patient was a drop of blood, a single hair, or a handwriting sample which gave off a "vibration" that could be used for diagnosis and treatment, was promoted by Upton Sinclair in "Pearson's" magazine), while others were simple snake-oil vintage conmen whose tactics were to "hit and run". Profusely illustrated with photographs of odd medical mechanism, period advertisements, and newspaper clippings of the day, Bob McCoy (curator of the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices) offers a full-spectrum, very highly recommended survey of American medical quackery from the Prostate Gland Warmer to the Recto Rotor, the Nose Straightener to the Wonder Electric Generator.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cure for all that ails you!, December 18, 2000

By	Jeff Behary (Turn Of The Century Electrotherapy Museum, South Florida) - See all my reviews

The long wait ends for a modern book on quack medical devices! The quality is everything one might hope for and more. Excellent quality, and highly entertaining.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh and Learn, December 3, 2000

By	R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It might be a good thing if there were no placebo effect, because then people could quickly tell if a drug or gadget worked. But since we aren't really good judges of that (it takes complicated experiments to tell if a drug is effective or not, for instance), all sorts of weird remedies have been tried and have been lucrative for their makers. These are the rightful prey of Bob McCoy, who a decade or so ago established the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices in Minneapolis. In _Quack! Tales of Medical Fraud from the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices_ (Santa Monica Press), McCoy shows some of the contents of his museum, in book form. It's a treat.

All sorts of nostrums and gadgets are described and illustrated here: soaps that wash away weight, breast developers, and various stimulants to the sexual appetite. These are funny, but also covered is the tragedy of radium and those poisoned by it. The gadgets are hilarious. Nose adjusters, height developers, even glasses that would reduce your weight. The book has abundant quotations from the advertising and pamphlets that came with the quackery, and is profusely illustrated. Americans spend a hundred million dollars a year on quack pills and gadgets that do nothing and may be harmful. So _Quack!_ might not just deliver the fun of laughing at human greed and credulity, but it may help the serious education of readers as well.