Quack Doctor

Say, do you have cancer? Well, never fear. Your friendly local aromatherapist has some coconut oil scent which will stimulate the nerves in your nose. You'll be cured in no time! Maybe you're deaf. Well, never fear. Your friendly local chiropractic will yank your spine around, and fix your "vertebral subluxation", and you'll be able to hear. You'll be cured in no time! Maybe The Loins Sleep Tonight. Well, never fear. Your friendly local homeopath will take some medicine, dilute it about 60 billion times, and, uh, whack the bottle against a leather-bound book...you'll be cured in no time! Or, maybe you've fallen victim to a quack. A Quack Doctor pretends to be a doctor or other health care professional but actually practices fake science and fake cures, possibly due to being a Con Artist trying to separate gullible rubes from their money. The best case scenario is that the rube will lose their money, figure out that they were scammed, and seek treatment from a real doctor. Worse case scenarios lead to the suffering and death of the patient either from their disease going untreated, or the supposed "cure" being actively harmful. They may have a Phony Degree in order to be extra convincing. Compared to a Back-Alley Doctor, which involves a medical procedure being done illicitly, either because the procedure itself is illegalnote , or because the person needing the procedure can't go to a regular hospitalnote . The Back Alley Doctor may actually be competent and capable of performing a legit medical procedure, while the Quack Doctor by definition cannot do so. Of course, someone could be both. The Quack Doctor is also related to the Snake Oil Salesman, who makes a living by selling ridiculous fake medicines; and the Fake Faith Healer, who claims to be able to heal people through miraculous supernatural powers, often in a religious context. The Quack Doctor has an official right to perform medicine; it is just that it is better if he doesn't. A Sub-Trope of The Con. Compare with Dr. Feelgood, who is really just delivering intoxicating drugs, but may be pretending to treat some sort of illness. Compare Morally Ambiguous Doctorate, when the "Doctor" in question isn't specifically a con artist, but straight-up evil, and compare and contrast with Obscene OB-GYN, where the doctors are legitimate, but they still use their occupation for perverted purposes. Occasionally crosses over with The Barnum. If played for laughs, may result in Comically Inept Healing; sometimes, it might even feature an actual duck as a Visual Pun. Due to modern controversies, no Real Life entries from the last 50 years please unless convictions or at least press recognition was made to the alleged doctor's quackery.