# "I didn't pay $18,000 for quackery!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042 "2006-03-27T04:59:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/21 "2006-03-27T20:10:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Quack “medical cures” fall under the purview of the FDA in the USA. If a device claims to have a medical effect and said effect is false, then that’s a violation of Federal law. My impression was that **Bosda** was suggesting that the **Giant\_Spongess** call the cops on the woman who bought the machine. From the information presented in the OP, it doesn’t appear to me that the woman who bought the machine and offered to let **G\_S** ’s mother and **G\_S** use it for free has broken any laws. Now if she charged for the use of the machine that would be a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/22 "2006-03-27T21:59:33Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Hey! If you know a better way to get rid of all the negative frequencies built up in my cells’ atoms, then I’d like to hear it!! Reverse the polarity. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/23 "2006-03-27T22:17:46Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > Ha! Only idiots buy into Q Ray. Everyone knows you should buy a [Q-Link](http://www.clarus.com/p_gallery.shtml)\* instead. I really thought you were going to claim that [this](http://www.qlinklives.org/) Q-Link came back and Rabbitjack’s casino is now a holistic healing center. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/24 "2006-03-27T22:38:32Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > My impression was that **Bosda** was suggesting that the **Giant\_Spongess** call the cops on the woman who bought the machine. From the information presented in the OP, it doesn’t appear to me that the woman who bought the machine and offered to let **G\_S** ’s mother and **G\_S** use it for free has broken any laws. Now if she charged for the use of the machine that would be a different story. I meant both, dammit! The “firm” that makes this device is a threat to Mankind, & the well-meaning-but-unfocused woman that offered to share with **Giant\_Spongess** ’s Mom will leave a trail of havoc in her wake. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/25 "2006-03-27T22:43:00Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I find vodka does an amazing job of dissolving my negative cells. Remind me not to try vodka, my cells are pretty negative and I’d rather not dissolve away… ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/26 "2006-03-27T22:44:04Z")
Tell her you can do the same thing for 25 cents. Then blow up a balloon and start rubbing it on your head. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/27 "2006-03-27T23:10:39Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > I meant both, dammit! Well, OK, then, again, what law do you think the woman has broken? > [@Bosda](#): > > The “firm” that makes this device is a threat to Mankind, & the well-meaning-but-unfocused woman that offered to share with **Giant\_Spongess** ’s Mom will leave a trail of havoc in her wake. Based on what others are saying (I haven’t looked at the VIBE site) I would tend to agree that they’re on the shady side of the street, but AFAIK buying a quack device isn’t illegal and letting someone else use it for free isn’t illegal either. I don’t like the idea of a cancer patient turning to quackery (not least because my dad is terminal and I don’t want him pissing away my inheritance) but if it’s not actively harming her, she’s seeking appropriate medical treatment and it’s not costing her any money, I have no problem with cutting the mom a little slack. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/28 "2006-03-28T00:16:30Z")
**Otto** –they don’t have to _arrest her_. If the gizmo is an unapproved medical device, it can be confiscated. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/29 "2006-03-28T00:52:49Z")
One could always get a set of [Perkins’ Tractors](http://www.jameslindlibrary.org/trial_records/19th_Century/haygarth/haygarth_tractors.html) Or a [Bracelet](http://www.qray.com/). :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/30 "2006-03-28T02:05:30Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I find vodka does an amazing job of dissolving my negative cells. Millions of Siberians can’t be wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042/31 "2006-03-28T02:23:23Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Reverse the polarity. But don’t cross the streams. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-pay-18-000-for-quackery/350042.md?page=1)