John Renner,MD, 67, of Blue Springs, MO, passed away following emergency heart surgery on September 2 at St. Joseph's Health Center. Dr. Renner was a clinical professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Medical School and the president of the National Council Against Health Fraud, which now calls itself the National Council for Reliable Health Information.
The council has for many years been synonymous with chiropractic and alternative-care bashing. This tiny group of self-proclaimed fraud investigators has consistently taken adversarial positions against the vast majority of established and emerging alternative forms of health care, many times seemingly discounting or all together ignoring the latest research.
Dr. Renner was also the chief medical officer for HealthScout.com, an internet health information site which is already showing a distinct prejudice similar to the NCAHF.
The council has been directed by only a handful of people, but their names have become notorious in the chiropractic profession:
Charles Duvall,DC
Board Chairman John Renner,MD
President
William Jarvis,PhD
Executive Director
Stephen Barrett,MD
Book Sales
And while friends, family and colleagues will certainly miss Dr. Renner, not many chiropractors will likely miss his comments on radio, television, in the
Kansas City Star, in
Prevention magazine, at
HealthScout.com, or when testifying before Congress.
