Advertising Standards Authority publishes list of allowed claims for UK chiros

On their website, the ASA yesterday published a statement about chiropractic. It outlines which claims UK chiropractors are allowed to make and which are likely to get them into conflict with the ASA. Here are a few excerpts (my comments are added in bold):

Chiropractic is a healthcare profession that focuses on diagnosis, treatment and prevention […]

Read the rest here: Advertising Standards Authority publishes list of allowed claims for UK chiros

UK Homeopathy Regulation: Homeopathy and Autism - Part Three

The potential implications of the accreditation of the Society of Homeopaths (SoH) as a voluntary register by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) were discussed in a previous post. As discussed in the last post, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) did rule against Teddington Homeopathy's promotion of CEASE Therapy. Teddington Homeopathy chose not to comply.

This ruling does set a precedent and one that the SoH would do well to take notice of...

Read more: UK Homeopathy Regulation: Homeopathy and Autism - Part Three

The big lie by corrupt government officials on the payroll of Big Pharma

Actually, the exact quote was slightly different: “What we’re dealing with here is the big lie, being perpetrated by corrupt government officials on the payroll of Pharma” (the bold lettering is from the original). It comes from the pen of Alan V. Schmukler who has featured on this blog before (see also here).

Strong words indeed! But not as strong as those of the title of his new article: BRING THE CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE. What were they directed against? They were in protest against the recent rulings of the British Advertising Standards Authority and the American Federal Trade Commission  outlawing the advertising of bogus claims for homeopathy...

Read on: The big lie by corrupt government officials on the payroll of Big Pharma

New advertising guidelines for UK osteopaths

Recently, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) together with the UK General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) have sent new guidance to over 4,800 UK osteopaths on the GOsC register. The guidance covers marketing claims for pregnant women, children and babies. It also provides examples of what kind of claims can, and can’t, be made for these patient groups.

Regulated by statute, osteopaths may offer advice on, diagnosis of and treatment for conditions only if they hold convincing evidence. Claims for treating conditions specific to pregnant women, children and babies are not supported by the evidence available to date...

Read on: New advertising guidelines for UK osteopaths

Homeopaths ordered to stop claiming that homeopathy can treat medical conditions | Edzard Ernst

Bogus claims of alternative therapists are legion, particularly in homeopathy. But bogus claims are neither ethical nor legal. Homeopathy works for no human condition, and therefore any medical claim made for homeopathy is unethical, false, misleading and illegal.

This is not just my view (after studying the subject for more than two decades) but also that of the […]

Read on: Homeopaths ordered to stop claiming that homeopathy can treat medical conditions

ASA welcomes successful prosecution of alternative therapy provider Electronic Healing

Quacks beware: ignoring the ASA can cost you dear. Given the importance of the case, the full text is below.

---

ASA welcomes successful prosecution of alternative therapy provider following misleading advertising

4 August 2016

We have today welcomed the outcome of legal action taken against Electronic Healing – a provider of complementary and alternative therapies and devices – by trading standards officers from the London Borough of Camden on behalf of National Trading Standards.

We referred Electronic Healing to National Trading Standards, our legal backstop power, on account of the company’s refusal to comply with the rules in place to prevent consumers from being misled by irresponsible advertising.

Following guilty pleas by the owners of Electronic Healing, Steven and Susan Lee, to offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and Food Safety Act, the pair were today (Thursday 4 August) fined £1,000 each. They were also each ordered to pay £7,000 costs, as well as a £100 victim surcharge. Moreover, the defendants agreed to forfeit £7,000 cash seized on the day of the warrant.

Electronic Healing was subject to two formal investigations by the ASA, following which the company was found to be in breach of the rules against making misleading efficacy claims (specifically in respect of claims made on its website about products named ‘Bob Beck Protocol’ and ‘Liquid Oxygen Drops’). The ad claimed that Bob Beck Protocol “kills or disables microbes (virus, bacteria, and fungus) in the body” while Liquid Oxygen Drops were “credited with a multitude of significant health benefits from healthy energy to immunity and disease prevention”. A video on the company’s website also claimed that The Bob Beck Protocol could “amplify the immune system, remove the need for flu vaccinations, increase oxygen in the blood, reduce HIV infection levels and help fibromyalgia”.

The advertiser failed to provide adequate evidence to support its claims and was placed on a list of non-compliant online advertisers on our website. Despite the sanction, the company continued to make claims that had the potential to mislead consumers. Responding to these continued breaches, we referred the company to Trading Standards for prosecution – a process that culminated in today’s sentencing hearing.

Following changes in the law, in 2013 The London Borough of Camden contracted with National Trading Standards to provide the ASA’s legal backstop in relation to misleading, aggressive or otherwise unfair non-broadcast advertising.  Where an advertiser is unwilling or unable to stick to the rules and continues to mislead consumers or business we can refer to National Trading Standards who will consider statutory action, including warnings and seeking criminal prosecutions or civil enforcement orders.

ASA Chief Executive Guy Parker said:
“We welcome the robust enforcement action taken by National Trading Standards and the London Borough of Camden against Electronic Healing. It’s a significant and important outcome and underlines our commitment to protecting consumers from misleading advertising claims. Moreover, misleading health claims have a real potential to cause harm.  It also sends out a clear and strong message to advertisers that, where they are unwilling to cooperate and stick to the rules, there can be legal consequences.”

Lord Toby Harris, Chair, National Trading Standards, said:
“These adverts deliberately misled consumers by making false claims around the products’ healing properties, which saw it promote one product as equipment that could help cure cancer. Such claims can be dangerous to consumers and I am delighted that our partnership working with colleagues at the ASA and the London Borough of Camden has led to these sentences.”

Original post: ASA welcomes successful prosecution of alternative therapy provider following misleading advertising - Advertising Standards Authority

Testing Homeopathy - Part 3: Research Evidence?

You want truth in advertising? Let's see how homeopaths score on this. The ASA goes through the Society of Homeopaths like the All Blacks going through a third-rate village scratch team.

Homeopathic chain opens 1st clinic in London … by publishing bogus claims | Edzard Ernst

An Indian chain of homeopathic clinics, Dr Batra’s, has just opened its first branch in London. The new website is impressive. It claims homeopathy is effective for the following conditions:

• Hair Loss 
• Acne (Pimples) 
• Hay Fever (Flu) 
• Eczema 
• Psoriasis 
• Vitiligo 
• Depression 

Hair loss? Are they serious? Have they not seen pictures of Samuel Hahnemann? I decided to look into the psoriasis claim […]

Read on: Homeopathic chain opens 1st clinic in London … by publishing bogus claims

A homeopath doesn’t like being called out for promoting misinformation | drpaulmorgan

Long-time “friend” (they’re certainly well-acquainted with him) of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Steve Scrutton, a Homeopath from Corby, is a regular poster on Twitter and his own blog (ironically titled “Safe Medicine“) about his chosen means of earning a living and also about various other subjects such as anti-vaccination and other forms of quackery. It’s fair to say that he exhibits features that fall under the term of crank magnetism. His brushes with the ASA were based around him making claims of benefits for products he was selling via a website he ran. I don’t know the details, but he was ordered to remove the claims. Having failed to do so, he was then listed by the ASA as a “non-compliant advertiser”. I don’t know whether he did comply by changing that website or simply closed it down, but it seems he’s no longer on that list. Just as well, as repeated non-compliance can lead to prosecution by Trading Standards...

Read the full post here: A homeopath doesn’t like being called out for promoting misinformation | drpaulmorgan

WDDTY: the gift that keeps on giving

This article was written by Bryan Hubbard, whose style is similar to that of Lynne McTaggart but more outraged and even more credulous of the claims of woo-merchants, as you will see.

Is water good for us? Is there a link between food and cancer? Most of us would say so, but the UK’s …

Continue reading → WDDTY: the gift that keeps on giving by wwddtydty appeared first on WWDDTYDTY.

Evil ASA 7: WDDTY - WWDDTYDTY

This is the seventh of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read more: Evil ASA 7: WDDTY - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 6: H:MC21 - WWDDTYDTY

This is the sixth of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read on: Evil ASA 6: H:MC21 - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 4: Zoë Harcombe

This is the fourth of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation.

Harcombe version. Mmmmm, steak.
NHS version. WHERE’S MY STEAK?



The post Evil ASA 4: Zoë Harcombe by wwddtydty appeared first on WWDDTYDTY.

Evil ASA 3: Quinton Water - WWDDTYDTY

This is the third of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read on: Evil ASA 3: Quinton Water - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 2: Islington Homeopathy Clinic - WWDDTYDTY

This is the second of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation.

Islington Homeopathy Clinic...

Read more: Evil ASA 2: Islington Homeopathy Clinic - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 1: Medical Thermal Imaging - WWDDTYDTY

This is one of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read the full story: Evil ASA 1: Medical Thermal Imaging - WWDDTYDTY

The #WDDTY 7-Step Plan

WDDTY have published a 7-step plan for any practitioner who has attracted the attention of the ASA. The whole page is comedy gold. If you were a magazine under constant criticism for publishing misleading information, would you take the time to promote the ASA’s adjudications against your contributors and advertisers? Well, you might if you …

Read on: The 7-Step Plan To Get Yourself Prosecuted For Unfair Trading Practices

This post by wwddtydty appeared first on WWDDTYDTY.

Amber Anklets

Some people are born tosspots, some become tosspots, but nobody ever has tosspothood thrust upon them. There’s no excuse for it. Today’s exercise in extreme arsewartery comes to us discourtesy of a woomeister calling herself Tamara (yes, really) and trading as Amber Anklets in the Affluent White Idiot Belt of England. That’s Surrey to you.

I came across this Friend of Sandra‘s as she pelted, with the verbal equivalent of muck and faeces, people who were politely asking for evidence for the claims made for her products on her webshite. Responding to simple questions with frothing hate is of course a hallmark of the terminally cult-ridden, fuckwitted and/or brazenly dishonest. Of course I was intrigued. It didn’t take much effort to find out that she was seriously butthurt at being added to the ASA’s naughty list, for refusing to stop making unsubstantiated claims for her wares. Another paid-up member of … Continue reading →

The post Amber Anklets by Anarchic Teapot first appeared on Plague of Mice .

Homeopathic medicines: another one hits the dust | Edzard Ernst

Most pharmacies worldwide sell any bogus treatment to their unsuspecting customers, it seems – as long as it makes a profit, anything goes! Not in New Zealand!

The New Zealand’s Pharmacy Council’s Safe Effective Pharmacy Practice Code of Ethics 2011 section 6.9 requires of pharmacists that:

“YOU MUST… Only purchase, supply or promote any medicine, complementary therapy, herbal remedy or other healthcare product where there is no reason to doubt its quality or safety and when there is credible evidence of efficacy.”

 Homeopathic medicines: another one hits the dust

Stuff that occurs to me: What is a misleading homeopathy claim, and how to report it to the ASA

This post is written for people who might not have made a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority before.

If you're irritated by homeopaths making misleading claims on Twitter, Facebook or on their websites (or in-shop leaflets or any other marketing) you can complain about those claims to the Advertising Standards Authority (the ASA).

1. Make a complaint in the UK
This is the page on the ASA's website where you can make a complaint (you give your name and address but it isn't published): http://www.asa.org.uk/Consumers/How-to-complain.aspx

2. Make a complaint in other countries too
The ASA deals with claims made on UK websites or leaflets but, thanks to its cross-border agreements, it will liaise with the relevant advertising standards authority in the following countries too -

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and of course the United Kingdom.

And that's it.

There's some extra background information at: Stuff that occurs to me: What is a misleading homeopathy claim, and how to report it to the ASA