How to identify and see through deceptive and unethical health marketing practices Health scams come in all shapes and sizes-from the suppression of side-effects from prescription drugs to the unproven benefits of 'traditional' health practices-taking advantage of the human tendency to assume good intentions in others. So how do we avoid being deceived? Professor of Nursing, Bernie Garrett explores real-world examples of medical malpractice, pseudo and deceptive health science, dietary and celebrity health fads, deception in alternative medicine and problems with current healthcare regulation, ending with a simple health-scam detection kit. And he looks at how these practices and ineffective regulations affect our lives.

Dr Bernie Garrett is a Professor at the University of British Columbia, School of Nursing. He was a renal clinical nurse specialist for 15 years before becoming a nurse educator and holds a PhD in information Science. Dr Garrett currently works in the fields of health technologies and deceptive healthcare practices, and frequently writes on issues of science and technology. He is the author of Empirical Nursing: The Art of Evidence Based Care; Fluids & Electrolytes: Essentials for Healthcare Practice; and co-author of the popular Clinical Pocket Reference for Nurses series which has sold over 60,000 copies to date.