The ICI Experience:

This particular crusade is over, and with a fair ending. Paul Whitcomb, D.C. and the Fibromyalgia Relief Center in the U.S., South Lake Tahoe, California are no longer able to take advantage of unsuspecting people with Fibromyalgia. I'd like to thank everyone who helped make this happen by spreading the word and by sharing their experiences about Whitcomb and the Center. This is from the Consumer Health Digest (CHD) #09-32 August 6, 2009 (CHD is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by Stephen Barrett, M.D., and cosponsored by NCAHF (National Council Against Health Fraud) and Quackwatch. ) Fibromyalgia zealot loses chiropractic license. The California Board of Chiropractic Examiners has revoked the license of Paul Whitcomb, D.C., who claimed to have developed a unique method for curing fibromyalgia. In November 2008, the board accused Whitcomb of incompetence, gross negligence, and unprofessional conduct, based on his management of seven patients. The accusation states that he (...

This post was originally published on 4/5/08. I was just responding to recent a comment to it and decided to check its links. I saw that there is at least one important dead link, so I'm updating the post and re-publishing it. The Whitcomb series have been ever popular on my blog (check the sidebar for titles and links to all of them). I was just checking the stats for this particular post on statcounter.com, and I see that someone has visited it 212 times. That seems a little odd to me. Anyone have any ideas for me on that? Anyway, on with the update. Any changes I've made are in green italics. "Silence is fraud's best friend. Word of mouth is fraud's worst enemy. Pass the word!" Fraud Aid Let me say this first and foremost: There is no cure for Fibromyalgia. If there were a cure for Fibromyalgia I would know about it. There. Is. No. Cure. Why, you might ask, am I doing this? I'm really tired of Dr. Whitcomb's holdings (book, website) comin...

San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose ABC channel 7, KGO-TV/DT broke the story Friday 11/14 at 7:10 pm: Chiropractor claims to cure fibromyalgia - ABC news video Investigating Fibromyalgia "Cure" - ABC7 News blog post The actual complaint against Whitcomb from the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners and the Attorney General’s office I'm absolutely positive that this is the result of all of the courageous people who came forward to tell the truth about their experiences at Whitcomb's clinic. Congratulations to all of you, and I'm just sorry this couldn't have happened before you were enticed to try Whitcomb's "Method."

For a list of other blog posts on The ICIE about Paul Whitcomb, D.C., go here . The following is a great article by the author of the Fibro Friends website, who is also a former patient of Paul Whitcomb's. Got 'cher first hand experience right here: Anyone who has met Paul Whitcomb will attest to his charismatic personality. A big bear of a guy with a warm and friendly manner he comes across as very sincere. Fibromyalgia patients travel from all over the country and the world to be treated by Whitcomb at his chiropractic clinic in South Lake Tahoe, California attracted by the compelling stories of the success of his method described in his traveling seminar, the website stopfibro.com and in his book “Fibromyalgia; Finally Solving the Mystery”. At the clinic Dr. Whitcomb makes each of his patients feel special and cared for. He is an attentive listener, exudes compassion and has a good understanding of the symptoms and suffering of those with fibromyalgia. This coupled w...

Pic ture courtesy of the Oxford Illustrated Science Encyclopedia As specified in my About The ICIE page , in the Email republication policy section, the policy across The ICI Experience sites and blog is to reproduce any critical emails sent to any email address associated with me or this site, and also to reproduce any critical discussion of me or my activities which I see or become aware of on any outlets in any form of media. The following email doesn't come across directly as all that critical of me, but it does insinuate that I have not bothered to research Dr. Barrett's reputation before throwing my lot in with him. And it quite blatantly suggests that Dr. Barrett is himself a quack. The following is a copy of the email, and my answer. On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 10:38 PM, Janis & Fred janis_at cox dot net > wrote: Hello Sherrill, I was reading your blog. I wanted to know where the chiropractor Whitcomb is located as his name rings a bell from my support group a...

I posted this review to Amazon today, 5/15/08. I guess it's dated 4/5 because that was the estimated date I should have received the order. I've posted ratings before but they don't seem to get published. I'm going to start keeping track of this publicly, here on my blog. Why does my review keep disappearing? , April 5, 2008 By Sherril L. Johnson "SherrilLynn" (SW Georgia) - See all my reviews I bought this book (at the full and inflated price of $14.99) from Amazon and I deserve to have my review counted. What use is this whole review system if Amazon is going to let the authors pick and choose which reviews get printed and counted in the rating??? These days anybody can write a book and publish it themselves. That is how this book came to be. Dr. Whitcomb published it himself. The only review of this book included on or in the book is on the back cover, by "New York Times ...

I've put together a summary of blog posts that I've been doing on Whitcomb and on what to do about him. If you have any questions I'll be glad to try to answer them, but Dr. Barrett, of Quackwatch, is the expert. He seemed really nice when I talked to him on the phone about Whitcomb. If you just send him an email with your question I'm sure he will answer you asap. This is Dr. Barrett's excellent advice on how to file a complaint against a chiropractor: Prepare three copies. Send one to the agency that licenses chiropractors in the state the chiropractor practices in. California BOARD OF CHIROPRACTIC EXAMINERS 2525 Natomas Park Drive, Suite 260 Sacramento, CA 95833 Attn: Enforcement Unit Indicate that a copy has been sent to the state attorney general so that the board knows that an outside agency is aware of the complaint. Send the second copy to the state attorney general, but don't indicate that a copy has been sent to the licensing board. ...

I spoke to Dr. Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch.com on 5/1/08. He said it does look like there is something wrong going on with the Whitcomb website. He suggested that if people are not comfortable filing a complaint using these instructions , they can send their firsthand experiences with Paul Whitcomb and The Fibromyalgia Relief Centers to Quackwatch. When there are enough of the right kind of testimonials submitted, he can coordinate legal action. The instructions on how to report a fraud to Quackwatch are here . If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck and it swims like a duck... There's a nice background piece on Dr. Barrett at medhunters.com. Quoting them: "The internet," Barrett says, "permits the promoters of unsubstantiated ideas to reach a very wide audience inexpensively. However, it also enables people like me to put up information." This range of easily available information is making it possible for health care consumer...

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: April Alameda AAlameda@chiro.ca.gov > Date: Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 4:55 PM Subject: Dr. Paul E. Whitcomb, D.C., license number DC 11681 Dear Ms. Johnson, This is in response to your correspondence dated April 11, 2008, which was received by the Board of Chiropractic Examiners on April 15, 2008. You have requested copies of complaints and/or Decisions related to Dr. Paul E. Whitcomb, D.C. Please be advised that complaints are exempt from disclosure pursuant to Government Code section 6254, subdivision (f). Therefore, the Board is unable to respond to your request. With regards to Accusations, our records indicate that an Accusation has not been served at this time. If you have further questions or concerns regarding this matter, please contact me via email or at the telephone number listed below. Sincerely, April Alameda, Program Analyst Board of Chiropractic Examiners (916) 263-5329 ...

Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), "How to file a complaint against a chiropractor" ... Although chiropractic boards occasionally discipline practitioners, they almost never interfere with quack practices. Pro-Quackery Legislation by Stephen M. Barrett, M.D. California BOARD OF CHIROPRACTIC EXAMINERS 2525 Natomas Park Drive, Suite 260 Sacramento, CA 95833 Attn: Enforcement Unit Suggestions from Quackwatch.com: Prepare three copies. Send one to the agency that licenses chiropractors in your state (in the state where the chiropractor is licensed - see above). Indicate that a copy has been sent to the state attorney general (see below for CA) so that the board knows that an outside agency is aware of the complaint. Send the second copy to the state attorney general, but don't indicate that a copy has been sent to the licensing board. (If you do, the attorney general's office might ignore it.) Send the third copy to Quackwatch, P.O. Box 1747, Allentown, PA 18105 an...

"Fraud is deliberate misrepresentation. Quackery, as we define it , involves the promotion of unsubstantiated methods that lack a scientifically plausible rationale." Stephen Barrett, M.D. Board Chairman, Quackwatch , Inc. I am writing this series of blog posts on chiropractic and quackery because it is inconceivable to me that Paul Whitcomb continues to be allowed to be paid to practice chiropractic medicine on people with Fibromyalgia while his patients/victims are becoming bankrupt, their families are falling apart, and their health is no better, and in many cases it is worse than it was before they laid their life savings out for “the cure” to Fibromyalgia, a.k.a. "The Whitcomb Method." This can be stopped. We can stop it. All it takes is awareness. While it may be obvious to you and I that The Whitcomb Method is a scam, to others it sounds like the cure they’ve been hoping and praying for. I hope you will help me create the simple awareness it w...