Joseph Mercola, D.O. (born 1954), is an osteopathic physician, health activist, an entrepreneur practicing near Chicago. He is the author of two New York Times best-sellers, The No-Grain Diet (with Alison Rose Levy), and The Great Bird Flu Hoax, together with several other books. He is best known as founder and editor of the website Mercola.com. On his website, he advocates dietary and lifestyle approaches to health. He criticizes many of the practices of mainstream medicine and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), particularly vaccination and the frequent use of prescription drugs and surgery to treat diseases. On the website, he also promotes and sells a variety of products. Mercola has received a pair of warnings from the FDA for marketing nutritional products in a manner which violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. He is a member of the politically conservative Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, as well as several alternative medicine-related organizations.