- Learn about the first official quack device in the United States.
The first medical patent in U.S. history turned out to be for a quack device. In 1796, Dr. Elisha Perkins received a U.S. patent for fastening together two short, metal rods (called tractors). Perkins said the metal tractors could remove disease-causing electricity when rubbed across an aching part of the body. Thousands of people tried using Perkins Tractors to improve their health. Even former president George Washington owned a pair. But despite all the hype, no scientific evidence supported claims that the metal rods could cure disease. As a result, the Connecticut Medical Society called Elisha Perkins a quack and threw him out of the organization. Today, inventors must prove their scientific findings before receiving medical patents.
- Learn about a quack invention designed to replace an effective treatment.
Pinhole eyeglasses allegedly could cure nearsightedness, farsightedness, and other vision problems, according to Natural Vision International. By spending $99.95 to order the novelty eye-wear, then looking through the pinholes for short periods of time, customers would soon be able to see clearly without needing any glasses or contact lens. At least that's what the ads claimed. In reality, the pinhole glasses did not gradually improve vision. And wearing them was less effective than wearing standard eyeglasses. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration ordered Natural Vision International to stop selling the fraudulent glasses in the early 1990s. The FDA began regulating medical devices in 1938.
- Learn about a medical device that hurt more than it helped.
Many ailing individuals visited health resorts around the year 1900, hoping to improve their condition. At these early health spas (called sanitariums) patients ate nutritious food, exercised, and tried out experimental treatments no longer used today. At John Harvey Kellogg's sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, patients sat in vibratory chairs as part of their regimen. Powered by electricity, the chairs rapidly vibrated up and down to treat constipation and keep the body regular. But the shaking chairs weren't as healthy as doctors thought. The rapid vibrations actually caused headaches and backaches, instead of helping with digestion. By the 1920s, physicians stopped endorsing vibratory chairs and other shaking devices that simply made patients feel worse.
- Learn about a quack device that relied on imaginary science.
Wilhelm Reich's groundbreaking work in the field of psychiatry earned him international acclaim in the first half of his career. So in the 1940s, when Reich began promoting the so-called healing power of Orgone Energy, many patients took him at his word. To rid themselves of minor or serious disease, Reich's supporters would try sitting in wooden boxes to soak up Orgone Energy. But there was no scientific evidence that Orgone Energy existed, or that Reich's newfound treatments worked. In the 1950s, Reich went to prison for disobeying a court order to stop selling the Orgone boxes. Reich argued that government officials were conspiring against him, and many of his followers continued to distrust conventional medicine.
