In a New York Times article on “Infomercials” published on April 8, 2006, the ubiquitous Stephen Barrett again had words to say about Dr. Lorraine Day.

The complete New York Times (NYT) article is given further below, but the portion regarding Dr. Day is given here. The New York Times text will be noted as NYT/SB. The SB stands for Stephen Barrett. (It does not stand for what you may be thinking, although that may be appropriate. You decide for yourself.)

Dr. Day’s response is in bold and is signified by the initials L.D.

NYT/SB “Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist in Allentown, Pa., who has been chronicling medical frauds since the 1960’s . . .

L.D. Stephen Barrett has NOT been chronicling medical “frauds.” Stephen Barrett, for decades, has been attempting to destroy every type of alternative medicine and alternative practitioner in America. The AMA and Organized Medicine make their own definitions of what the practice of medicine should be, then they declare anyone who does not agree with “them,” as a fraud or a quack.

When you work for the people who make the rules, as Stephen Barrett does, then you can declare anything or anyone whatever you wish to declare them.

NYT/SB “. . .has pretty explicit advice for consumers about infomercials making medical claims. ‘They should ignore all of them.’ But he isn’t too hopeful his advice at Quackwatch.org does much good.

L.D. Probably because a large percentage of people realize that Stephen Barrett is just a shill for Organized Medicine and the Pharmaceutical Companies, and the people are losing confidence in those methods of “treatment.” Statistics show that in the U.S. there are now MORE patient visits with Alternative Medical Practitioners than with Orthodox Medical doctors.

Americans are losing faith in Organized Medicine, Orthodox doctors, and their harmful drug “treatments.”

NYT/SB ‘People think that if it is not true it wouldn’t be allowed to be advertised,” said Dr. Barrett, who is 73. ‘There seems to be new things everyday,” he said.

L.D. A lot of people think that what they see on the NEWS is true, and what Orthodox Medicine says on TV is true. Yet most of the news and Orthodox Medical information on TV is either misleading, deliberate propaganda, or dangerous lies, but Stephen Barrett does not seem to have a mission to ban these things from the airways.

NYT/SB “He thinks the worst infomercials he’s seen are the ones by Lorraine Day, an orthopedic surgeon, who says she reversed her cancer using ‘natural therapies.’

L.D. The last phrase is correct.

NYT/SB “She sells two videos for $29.95, “Cancer Doesn’t Scare Me Anymore” and “More on Cancer . . .”

L.D. You don’t have that quite right, Stephen Barrett. “Cancer Doesn’t Scare Me Anymore” is a video or DVD, but “More on Cancer” is a CD or audiotape, not a video. However, you do have the price correct for the two combined.

Now, let me see, $29.95 is about 1/100th of the cost of ONE chemotherapy “treatment.” And when you watch my videos or listen to my CDs and follow the Health Plan, you don’t even lose your hair or vomit your insides out! Instead, you learn how to regain your health naturally. What a deal!

And thank you for the free advertising - - in the New York Times, no less!

NYT/SB “. . .promising to outline a diet that can cure cancer”

L.D. Stephen Barrett knows very well that the Health Plan I used to get well is NOT just a “diet.” He has read or viewed EVERYTHING I have ever produced and knows that the Plan I used to get well is a Ten-Step Plan. The proper diet is only ONE step of the Ten Steps. He KNOWS that, but he is deliberately trying to mislead the public!

But because Stephen Barrett has no ability to understand anything more than what his five senses will allow, he can’t understand the Health Plan. In other words, if he can’t “hold it in his hand” (like drug pills), he can’t imagine that it could contribute to the health of an individual. He is just unable to fathom how a healthy lifestyle including the proper Sleep, Exercise, Fresh Air, Sunlight, Freedom from Stress, and other methods to help build one’s immune system, could possibly work. He is in serious darkness!

NYT/SB “. . .as well as prevent mad cow disease. . .”

L.D. Well, indeed, the proper “diet” CAN prevent mad cow disease! If you don’t EAT cows (who are infected with “mad cow disease”) or EAT sheep (that are infected with “mad sheep disease” called “scrapie”), YOU WON’T GET MAD COW DISEASE! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out!

NYT/SB “. . .and attention deficit disorder (ADD).”

L.D. The plan to prevent and reverse ADD and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is on this website. All one has to do to avoid these problems is to STOP doing the things that cause them, and START doing the things that will properly nourish the brain and nervous system.

Stephen Barrett, along with his cronies in Organized Medicine and the Pharmaceutical Industry, would like you to believe that you have NO CONTROL over your health – NO CONTROL over whether or not you develop disease. He wants you to be totally helpless. He wants you to have to rely on the drug doctors who will give you dangerous pills that will only cover up the symptoms and NEVER cure the disease.

NYT/SB “Her web site lists many more books and videos, including the latest, a way to reverse vision problems without surgery, for $21.95.”

L.D. That is correct. The 2 CD series is entitled “Eye See.” It also discusses the ways to prevent and reverse all the major eye diseases, such as Cataracts, Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, and others.

Again, I appreciate the free advertisement.

Note to the Reader – and Stephen Barrett: Has Stephen Barrett not yet figured out that less people would know about me and the Health Message I teach, if he just ignored me? The more he attacks me in articles such as these, the more people learn about my information!

NYT/SB “She claims bird flu is a hoax. . .”

L.D. He’s certainly right on that one! Please see my article “Bird Flu Hoax.” The government wants to CREATE an epidemic by frightening you into getting vaccinated. But the vaccinations they have planned for you are deadly!

NYT/SB “. . .and warns her critics with Biblical injunctions.”

L.D. Right again. I freely admit that I will pray for my critics. I wish them no harm. I pray that they will have their eyes opened to Truth. (See "A Warning to My Critics.")

NYT/SB “It’s the most dangerous (infomercial) I have seen to date,” said Dr. Barrett.

L.D. How flattered I am to be the most “dangerous!” Of course Stephen Barrett thinks my infomercial on the Health Plan I used to get well is dangerous. I not only talk of the Ten Natural Steps that can prevent and reverse disease, but I talk of Jesus Christ as the Healer – NOT by miracles, signs and wonders, but by following a rigorous natural, healthful, diet and lifestyle, using what God has provided for us in food and nature in general, in its most natural form.

This kind of talk frightens Stephen Barrett.

You see, Stephen Barrett wants nothing to do with Jesus Christ or natural things that God has created. He is an atheist and so, naturally, would be very antagonistic to the Plan that I used to get well.

I happen to be a Bible-believing Christian, but I do not believe in the Organized Church, anymore than I believe in Organized Medicine. Once people start getting “Organized” they become tyrants and believe they can tell other people what to do and what to think - - and what to believe!

Certainly Barrett has a right to believe whatever he wishes.

But why doesn’t he think others have the same right to believe as THEY wish?

Why does he think he has the authority to censure ALL health information that reaches the public. By trying to stifle ALL views other than his own and that of Organized Medicine, he insults ALL Americans, suggesting that they are too stupid to think for themselves, or too dumb to be able to separate truth from lies.

When one man, or one organization, decides what the rest of the country must believe, we then have the worst form of tyranny.

This is the tyranny that Stephen Barrett symbolizes. This is the tyranny that Stephen Barrett wants!

Here is the Entire Article as it Appeared in the New York Times

Words to Live By in Infomercial World: Caveat Emptor

 New York Times, Business Section

By DAMON DARLIN

Published: April 8, 2006

Do you find infomercials hard to resist?

Are you one of the Americans who spent more than $8.5 billion last year on baldness cures, fitness equipment, options trading systems and other products after watching 28-minute commercials on late-night television?

Wait, there's more. If you read this article you'll discover the secrets of infomercials and how to resist the pitch for the Rotato Potato Peeler Express, the Eggstractor, the Velform Sauna Belt or John Beck's Free and Clear Real Estate System. You'll be on your way to a richer, fuller bank account.

Sound believable? Somehow the producers of infomercials make it work. Those trying to warn consumers about the possible pitfalls have a much harder time of it. The Federal Trade Commission issues a constant stream of warnings at www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm against belts that twitch your abdominal muscles and no-money-down real estate seminars that promise riches. Of course, hundreds of people have to be duped before a product is cited there.

An unusual group of people, including a bodybuilder, a retired psychiatrist and an author of books on real estate investing and football coaching, have created Web sites that try to educate the public.

Justin Leonard, who started one such site, Fitnessinfomercialreview.com six years ago, said, "I have more credibility because of my background as a bodybuilder."

He has since started 19 other Web sites, among them infomercialscams.com and infomercialratings.com, that give consumers a chance to vent or to praise the products they bought.

The Wind Storm vacuum cleaner has been under attack by customers, who post anonymously. For instance, "Cynthia," who said she paid $282 for four machines, recently wrote in: "It is now March 2006. After numerous weekly calls to the 800 number on my bank statement, I have still not received the vacuums or a refund that was requested in January 2006. I feel so used and abused."

A spokeswoman for Igia, which sells the Wind Storm, said that it had improved customer service in recent months and that it had resolved about 95 percent of disputes.

Reading the postings can be an eye-opener if only because they alert you to problems besides product quality. In many instances, the refusal to make refunds or the imposition of high shipping costs is as much a concern.

Mr. Leonard has bills to pay to keep the sites going, including programmers in India who process consumer comments and pictures of infomercial products. So, he does something that would make the staff at Consumer Reports cringe: Mr. Leonard links to merchants who sell the products, whether they are overwhelmingly panned by his readers or given glowing reviews. He is paid a commission, averaging about 15 percent, on every sale he generates.

Mr. Leonard, a 28-year-old Arizona State University graduate student, said he was sued once by a manufacturer because of negative comments about a product, so he removed the offending comments from the site. "That shows you how much money I don't have," he said. "I didn't want to risk it."

Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist in Allentown, Pa., who has been chronicling medical frauds since the 1960's, has pretty explicit advice for consumers about infomercials making medical claims. "They should ignore all of them."

But he isn't too hopeful his advice at Quackwatch.org does much good. "People think that if it is not true it wouldn't be allowed to be advertised," said Dr. Barrett, who is 73. "There seems to be new things everyday," he said.

He thinks the worst infomercials he's seen are the ones by Lorraine Day, an orthopedic surgeon who says she reversed her cancer using "natural therapies." She sells two videos for $29.95, "Cancer Doesn't Scare Me Anymore" and "More on Cancer," promising to outline a diet that can cure cancer, as well as prevent mad cow disease and attention deficit disorder. Her Web site lists many more books and videos, including the latest, a way to reverse vision problems without surgery, for $21.95.

She claims bird flu is a hoax and warns her critics with Biblical injunctions.

"It's the most dangerous one I have seen to date," said Dr. Barrett, who analyzes one of her infomercials at www.infomercialwatch.org/tranday.shtml. "It resonates with people who are scared."

John T. Reed also gets that Sisyphian feeling. He started tracking get-rich-quick gurus back in 1986, but today his Web site, www.johntreed.com/Reedgururating.html, lists 125 names, more than ever. He recommends only 25 of them. The most frequently seen gurus — John Beck, Carleton Sheets, Russ Whitney and Robert Kiyosaki — aren't among that select group. Mr. Reed sells his own books on real estate investing on the Web site, but he says he isn't competing with them in what is their real line of work, the seminar business.

Most of this segment of the industry uses infomercials to lure people to free seminars where they are pitched training courses that cost money, naturally. After all these years, he still marvels at the contradictory psychology used. "They tell you it's not your fault you are a failure; then they tell you it's within your power to fix it," said Mr. Reed, who is labeled a "dream stealer" by the seminar holders. "But then if you fail, it's because you didn't try hard enough." And you need to take another course to get it right.

His site also includes a list of 50 techniques that are a tip-off that a wealth-creation guru is thinking only about his own wealth creation. For instance, Mr. Reed says that testimonials that identify the speaker with only an initial for a last name is a bad sign. So is an emphasis in the infomercial on the guru's luxurious lifestyle, his religiousness or his use of the words sure-fire, foolproof or risk-free.

Why do infomercials work? "People do respond to the hard sell," said Timothy R. Hawthorne, chief executive of Hawthorne Direct, one of the largest producers of infomercials, with clients that include Nissan Motor and Apple Computer as well as Ronco and Ginsu. He said the classic boardwalk spiel was adaptable to all brands.

"Traditional direct response TV is like a carnie sideshow," Mr. Hawthorne tells his clients. The infomercial tries to sidetrack an audience and pull them into the pitch. "People like to be sold."

The first thing infomercials have going for them is a self-selected audience. If you didn't have a bald spot, a spare tire, or the desire to get rich with no work, you wouldn't be watching. Half of the infomercial audience has a college education and the average household income is almost $67,000. The best part for the marketers: there is a class of infomercial watchers. Two-thirds make multiple purchases and spend an average of about $260 a year.

If you feel silly because you bought that Tae Bo video, remember that Americans forked over $600 million during the 18 months its commercials ran on television. Carleton Sheets, who advertises a system for buying real estate, has garnered revenue of $2 billion over the last 18 years, according to figures from Hawthorne Direct.

We'll never be able to stop you from falling for an infomercial. But as you feel yourself about to get sucked in, try to remember what to watch out for.

Repetition isn't annoying, it is crucial. Repeating "set it and forget it," as Ron Popeil does for his Showtime Rotisserie Oven throughout the show gives the customer time to justify the buying decision. Infomercial fans, by the way, watch the average hard-sell infomercial for about 15 minutes, Mr. Hawthorne said, and they hang on to a "storymercial," a fictional tale set around a real product, for almost the entire length of the infomercial.

Mr. Hawthorne said the successful infomercial shows a "magical transformation." Whether it is the balding guy whose hair gets thicker after just one application of Procede or the guy with no college education standing next to a Jaguar, people want to know their lives will be changed.

Testimonials are important, but they don't necessarily have to come from celebrities. Mr. Hawthorne's research found that only about 1 percent of infomercial watchers are drawn in by a well-known face. Just as you probably suspected, infomercials don't use real people. They hire little-known actors who use the product and then record their reactions.

Most of all, audiences are drawn to product demonstration, so action is critical. People want to see the peeled egg erupting from the Eggstractor or the Nad's gel deforest the back of a hairy guy.

Setting the right price is critical. It has to look like a bargain, even though infomercial products have to have fat profit margins to cover the cost of telemarketing and fulfillment. The infomercial maker does a lot of testing to measure the impact of dropping the price, adding more things to the offer, or making it seem like the offer is good for only a limited time.

Mr. Hawthorne's research found that even slight changes in an offer create a disproportionate response. Evinrude, a Hawthorne's client, offered a $1,000-off coupon on its E-TEC outboard motors and retail sales jumped 175 percent.

Infomercial marketers are being pinched by higher media rates as well as a fragmenting audience. The "one-step" marketers, the companies that say "call now" are finding it tougher to create a hit. While rates in a minor market like Ottumwa, Iowa, are about $150 for a half-hour in late night, it can cost $50,000 to get a half- hour on CNBC on a Sunday morning.

But the two-step companies, those using infomercials to generate leads, are growing, mainly because larger companies like Bank of America and Sharp Electronics are discovering that the infomercial can cut through clutter. Mr. Hawthorne said he saw more financial services, insurance and car companies using infomercials, which can cost as much as $750,000 to produce, though most are less than half that. He tells these big companies that with an infomercial they "can take some quality time to explain product benefits and features instead of using sex, humor, and flash to brand a product."

The biggest problem remains that people are suspicious of infomercials. "Every time there is a bogus product out there, and it happens every year, a lot of us in the industry cringe," Mr. Hawthorne said. "Buyer beware every time you see an infomercial.