TY - BOOK AU - Hongoltz-Hetling,Matthew TI - If it sounds like a quack ...: a journey to the fringes of American medicine SN - 9781541788879 PY - 2023/// CY - New York PB - PublicAffairs KW - Quacks and quackery KW - United States KW - History KW - 20th century KW - 21st century KW - Alternative medicine KW - Political aspects KW - Social aspects KW - Medical care KW - Social medicine N1 - Includes bibliographical references; Introduction -- Incubation -- Prodromal politics -- Acute pants -- Convalescence (or death) -- Epilogue N2 - "A bizarre, rollicking trip through the world of fringe medicine, filled with leeches, baking soda IVs, and, according to at least one person, zombies. It's no secret that American health care has become too costly and politicized to help everyone. So where do you turn if you can't afford doctors, or don't trust them? In this book, Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling examines the growing universe of non-traditional treatments -- including some that are really non-traditional. With costs skyrocketing and anti-science sentiment spreading, the so-called "medical freedom" movement has grown. Now it faces its greatest challenge: going mainstream. In these pages you'll meet medical freedom advocates including an international leech smuggler, a gold miner-turned health drink salesman who may or may not be from the Andromeda galaxy, and a man who says he can turn people into zombies with aerosol spray. One by one, these alternative healers find customers, then expand and influence, always seeking the one thing that would take their businesses to the next level--the support and approval of the government"-- ER -