Web Watch

Nutrition Forum, May, 1999

This month's ratings are by Stephen Barrett, M.D., board chairman of Quackwatch, Inc., who is working hard to improve the quality of health information on the Web. He now operates three Web sites: Quackwatch (http://www.quackwatch. com), Chirobase (http://www. chirobase.org), and MLM Watch, a site focusing on multilevel marketing tactics (http://www.mlmwatch.org)

BEST

Dairy Council Digest, which published its final print version in December 1998, is now available online at http://www. nationaldairycouncil.org/ medcent/mcbddcd.html. Each bimonthly issue covers a topic related to food and nutrition.

The National Guideline Clearinghouse (http://www.guideline.gov) contains information about 500 healthcare guidelines. The site is cosponsored by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, the American Medical Association, and the American Association of Health Plans.

Hoovers Online (http://www.hoovers. com) is a gateway to news and to Security and Exchange Commission filings on publicly held corporations, including many that market supplement products.

WORST

The Doctors' Medical Library at http:// www.medical-library, net is described on its Web site as "a network of over 225 integrated Web sites containing enough information to constitute a complete course of study in natural medicine." Questionable information on many topics is conveniently available through the site's main window. Its features include professional directories, an e-mail newsletter, bulletin board discussions, and the ability to search for articles related to symptoms.

The International Clinic of Biological Regeneration at http://www.icbr. com provides information on "cell therapy," an unsubstantiated treatment based on the idea that injecting animal cells into a human can rejuvenate the corresponding organs in the patient. The clinic claims that the therapy "acts like an organ transplant and actually makes the old cells `act younger.'"