Laura Thomason
Author's posts
Dec 02 2016
Regulators issue new advertising guidance for osteopaths
The Advertising Standards Authority has teamed up with the General Osteopathic Council to send new guidance to over 4,800 registered osteopaths. The guidance relates to marketing claims for pregnant women, children and babies and provides examples of what kind of claims can, and can’t, be made for these patient groups. We have been concerned for …
Jul 19 2016
BBC acknowledges that Farming Today homeopathy coverage did not meet editorial standards
Following our complaint, the editor of BBC Radio 4 Farming Today has acknowledged that an item about the homeopathic treatment of farm animals did not meet editorial standards. The programme team was reminded of the need for accurate and balanced reporting in relation to scientific matters. The finding was published today by the BBC Editorial …
Jul 18 2016
BBC upholds our complaint against Steve Wright in the Afternoon’s Lynne McTaggart interview
The BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit has upheld our complaint about BBC Radio 2’s Steve Wright in the Afternoon. In an interview broadcast last December, Steve Wright and Janey Lee Grace chatted to Lynne McTaggart, editor of the magazine What Doctors Don’t Tell You. It was not made clear at any point during the programme that …
Apr 06 2016
Tesco closes loss-making NutriCentre
Supermarket giant Tesco has announced the closure of its NutriCentre business – the in-store health and wellbeing chain we previously criticised for peddling quackery. Earlier this year, NutriCentre MD Jessica Frame admitted that the business had become beset with structural and distribution problems. She also acknowledged that NutriCentre needed to address regulatory compliance issues with …
Oct 12 2015
“Inside Harley Street” practitioners continue to make unsubstantiated claims
In May of this year we investigated each of the complementary and alternative medicine practitioners who had appeared on the BBC’s Inside Harley Street programme. All seven of them were making misleading and unsubstantiated claims on their websites so we reported them all to the Advertising Standards Authority. Our complaints were reported in the …
Sep 17 2015
General Osteopathic Council warns its registrants against unsubstantiated advertising claims
Back in April, with very little searching, our undercover investigator found four different osteopaths making unjustified claims regarding colic. The phone calls with each of the osteopaths can be heard by visiting the investigation page. We reported each of the osteopaths to the General Osteopathic Council, and urged the GOsC to act quickly in addressing …
Jun 17 2015
Trading Standards action on ‘Miracle Mineral Solution’ conference in Surrey
As we highlighted in our warning last week, the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing seminar took place last weekend in Farnham, Surrey at an undisclosed location. This organisation promotes ‘Miracle Mineral Solution’ – a form of industrial bleach – as a treatment for a wide range of health conditions including cancer, malaria and …
May 10 2015
Our concerns about “Inside Harley Street” alternative therapies
UPDATE 02/09/15 Our complaints have all now been resolved. The complaint against Susan Kennard was upheld. The complaints against Michael Culp (Natural Health and Wellness Centre), London Leech Therapy and Lesley Parkinson (Brainhealth) were all informally resolved. The practitioners in question have all assured the ASA that they will amend their websites to bring them …
May 07 2015
General Dental Council warns against misleading mercury claims
We contacted the General Dental Council (GDC) last year explaining that we are aware of a significant number of “mercury free” dentists who appear to be making misleading and unsubstantiated claims regarding the safety of amalgam fillings. It appears that these dentists are misleading patients and carrying out procedures for which there is no clinical …
Dec 16 2014
Trading Standards instruct Oasis of Hope UK to remove cancer claims from website
A week ago, Oasis of Hope UK was instructed to remove claims from its website following our complaint to Nottingham Trading Standards under the Cancer Act (1939). All content was removed from the website yesterday. Oasis of Hope is a controversial cancer clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, which offers a range of unproven treatments for advanced …
