The ICI Experience:

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...

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...

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...

I've been googling Whitcomb regularly since I decided to write about him. (P. Whitcomb the D.C., not to be confused with the Paul Whitcomb who writes about Catholicism.) I keep seeing this item on the first Google page: Amazon.com: dr paul whitcomb A community about dr paul whitcomb. Tag and discover new products. Share your images and discuss your questions with dr paul whitcomb experts. www.amazon.com/tag/dr%20paul%20whitcomb - 155k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this More results from www.amazon.com » So I would go there and there would be nothing but four books, three of which were on FM but not by Whitcomb. So today I started a discussion in this Whitcomb community/forum, put my whole Part A book review in as a discussion post, and voted to remove the other three books because they have nothing to do with Whitcomb. More smoke screen from his followers would be my guess. So we'll see what happens on that. At least it got an item with the truth in it into the first pag...