A Life Less Ordinary
Older Adults Proving that Life Isn't Just for the Young
Dr. Stephen Barrett M.D***
Stephen Barrett was the only child of a schoolteacher father who died when he was four and a mother who worked as a secretary at Bronx High School of Science in New York City. He graduated from high school near the top of his class and went on to college and medical school at Columbia. He decided to do a residency in psychiatry in Philadelphia where he met and married fellow medical student Judith Nevyas in 1960. The couple, who now have three grown children, settled in Allenstown, PA. Judith ran a family practice and Stephen saw psychiatric patients before retiring in 1993.
It was in 1969 when Stephen read a book about chiropractic medicine that he found his mission. Over the past thirty years, Stephen has campaigned against the alternative approach to medicine which he says lacks validity. Although his work is controversial, he firmly believes in it. "I'm interested in helping the victim" of what he believes is quackery. He has established a web site at www.quack-watch.com which has received a lot of interest. Barrett has described his challenges in 45 books and numerous journal articles. His top targets include homeopathy which he calls "a blatant affront to reality and science," and the vitamin industry which he believes is redundant. In other words, "If you are eating food, you are going to get vitamins." Dr. George Lundberg, editor of JAMA, calls Barrett "a brilliant critic - equally knowledgeable and fearless." He works out of his basement accumulating a library of products, medical journals, and other documents where he seeks to find the truth behind the claims.
In 1995 he debunked the claims made by laboratories that their tests on human hair could determine nutritional needs. He sent hair samples from two girls to 13 labs and received radically different results. Lately, his concerns have focused on chelation therapy whose practitioners say can clear clogged arteries. The therapy claims to introduce amino acids and vitamins into the blood through a slow IV drip. Dr. Barrett is afraid that people who need bypass surgery will go instead for chelation therapy and further risk their lives in the interim.
Americans' growing reliance on alternative medicine will keep Barrett busy during retirement as he is determined to detect and expose fraud therapies. He is a determined man and sees this as his hobby. He says, "I look forward to the thrill of the chase."
This was compiled by: Jill Mason - School of Medicine, 2nd year
Source: People Weekly, Jan 1999, p119-121
***Note: The Geriatrics Interest Group does not take sides on the issue of alternative medicine, rather the intent of this article is to showcase an interesting, active older adult.