In Francis Poons's post "You can't fool all the people all the time",
he wrote the following 2 paragraphs.  I'd like to address this
separately from his post because if we had an answer to his basic
question, "how on earth could we tell the quacks from the non-quacks,
the true from the false?", I feel we'd all be better off.

Francis wrote:
"Given the millions of kinds of treatments/medicines around the globe
since time memorial, how on earth could we tell the quacks from the
non-quacks, the true from the false?  We could form associations,
professional bodies, etc.  But in doing so we could also create
monopolies to the detriments of the patients.
Thus the only way by which we could filter out the quacks is to apply
the concept of market demand.  That is to say, if a method, or a
medicine, were in continuously high demand over time, it would show
that the consumers(patients) have found value in these treatment
methods a/o medicines.  The rest is less reliable as a yardstick to
judge."

Like Francis, I also, have been pondering this problem for some time.
I'd like to propose an implementation of Francis's idea.

"T-Gone", "Arches Tinnitus Formulas", "Serenitol", "Tinnitus Tamer",
"THE DETINNITISER", "Yong Sheng"

The quoted words above will most likely cause this post to be returned
in huge numbers to google searches in the very near future.  I'm pretty
sure that the searchers are going to be thousands of Tinnitus sufferers
looking for help.  For instance, they found "T-Gone" somewhere on the
net.  What wisdom will they get from this post?  Nada. Nothing.  Why?
Because this post can not provide data on the effectiveness of these
products and services.  Sorry searcher, but I dont think there *is* an
independant body of information about the effectiveness of the above
products and services.  All the searcher can hope to find are web pages
from product sponsers and an occasional parting reference by a news
group writer, like this one.  Sorry searchers, this will not help you.

So here's the point.
Why not use the internet to collect real, independant information from
people who have used these kinds of treatment/services for 'incurable'
medical problems?  For instance there are hundreds of Tinnitus
remedies/treatments for sale out there and you have to wonder if any of
them work, and to what extent?  Wouldnt you like to know?  The answer
*is* known by the individuals who have actually bought and used them...
But they do not provide feedback anywhere! I've yet to find independant
testimonials on the internet for any of these remedies/treatments.
"T-Gone", "Arches Tinnitus Formulas", "Serenitol", "Tinnitus Tamer",
"THE DETINNITISER", "Yong Sheng", to name a few. (This second reference
to these products will probably increase the search rankings!)  You
*know* there are people buying and using these products/services.  It
may be 'unscientific', but why not provide a web site where peeps can
be rewarded for posting journals about their experiences?  No
politicizing, just the facts.  What treatment/product? Your age,
gender, weight (other pertinant physical info), description of
symptoms, when Tinnitus started, when Tinnitus ended, dates of
treatment/service, final evaluation of effectiveness (1-10)....  Maybe
provide ability to enter weekly journal entires throughout the
treatment period.
Wouldnt this be cool?  This would put a serious dent in the sales of
quack treatments and snake oils.  For instance, the new Tinnitus
sufferer would find the new web site using google and do a search on a
particular treatment. They would immediately see the averaged score
from all the peeps who have taken it and read their journals if
desired. In many cases this will prolly result in a non-sale for that
treatment. Whereas the treatments that are beneficial (if any?) will
start to shine by those who give them high marks.
I'm sure those of you who are still following this post prolly have
already thought of many reasons why this may not work.  But I'd like to
address your issues.  For instance, I can of think 2 big issues.  One
issue is how to authenticate the journalists.  How would you prevent
someone from creating a treatment journal who's sole purpose is to give
the treatment high marks because they are associated with the products
sponsors?  Another issue is how to reward people to take the time to
create a treatment journal.  I think these issues are not
insurmountable.  These are actually very typical issues for web sites
that provide an open product-review abilty.

Feel free to email me privately if you want. I am an internet developer
by trade, specializing in dynamic, database-driven web sites.  I've
been in the computer business 22 years, sitting down with people
looking for ways to help them leverage the internet to their advantage.
I'm not looking for income opportunities here and and neither should
you.  I am a Tinnitus sufferer, only became aware of it this year.  So
I want to help myself and others, if possible, the best way I know how.
Hosting a web site can be done for well under $50/month and I feel that
all expenses for the web application I'm proposing can easily be
covered by site-visitor donations.  This post is just an initial
attempt to see if this idea has legs.  If your responses convince me
that this idea is full of deep holes then, of course, I will appreciate
your comments and abondon the idea.  This is not a project I will
undertake on my own. I have more than enough to do with my full-time
employment. I am not an independant contractor.  However, if I should
receive encouragement from enough people I will want to ask your
continued support in terms of participating in the functional design on
thru the final testing and implementation.  No money is involved.  In
other words, if this project moves forward it will not be 'my' project,
it will be 'our' project.  And, we will try not to waste each other's
time.  Thanx for your consideration.
Regards,
Jim Anderson