A second ASA adjudication in two weeks against misleading marketing from Homeopathy UK

Summary: Homeopathy UK, formerly the British Homeopathic Association (BHA) has had its second (in two weeks) Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) adjudication upheld against its marketing.

Edit 20 May 2021: Les Rose has submitted a Serious Concern to the Association's Trustees about the failure to meet the public benefit requirement of the Charities Act (the Association is registered as a charity). I've also re-arranged bits of the post below and added a Table of Contents for clarity.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Table of Contents
1. Preamble
2. My ASA complaint
3. Further reading
4. Screenshots (that go with (2))

1. Preamble
On 5 May 2021 I spotted that the ASA had published its rulings including one about Homeopathy UK. As I also had a complaint about Homeopathy UK's website in the pipeline I was a bit puzzled and initially assumed it was mine (until I read and discovered that the complaint was made by the Good Thinking Society) and that mine was next in the queue. 

I didn't know that GTS had put in a complaint, and to be fair I don't think I'd mentioned mine to them either so they happened independently. I see from the statement** put out today by Homeopathy UK that they suspect we're all working together behind the scenes on these complaints but that wasn't the case in this particular instance - I'm not sure if they realise that several people keep an eye on homeopaths' (and homeopathy societies' and associations') websites.

The story has been picked up in The Times (including an opinion piece) and Mail Online. Prof Edzard Ernst has also written about it and it's also in the BMJ (see 3. Further Reading).

Below is my original complaint, I've not included the follow up discussions though as you can read the final output in the adjudication. My complaint didn't mention depression but it's not that unusual that the ASA might add in another concern after looking at the information for themselves. I did mention a page about cancer which has also been taken down - normally that would be referred to Trading Standards but presumably no need for that now it's been removed.

I've deliberately mangled the links that no longer work in the text below - if you want to visit them (all links now point to the main 'conditions' landing page anyway) you'd need to paste them into a browser address bar and delete the ^^.

2. My ASA complaint: relevant screenshots are at the end
Why is the British Homeopathic Association (now known as Homeopathy UK) allowed to have a page on its website listing almost 50 conditions "where homeopathy can help"? https://homeopathy-uk.org/homeopathy/how-homeopathy-helps/conditions 

None of that is true and several of the conditions are quite serious (allergies, asthma, cancer (!), circulatory problems, Crohn's etc). Each of these pages is written by a single author, drawing on their experiences of treating people who have the relevant condition. Of the 4 pages I've viewed in more depth (below) no evidence is offered beyond purely anecdotal. 

I was amazed to see cancer included (https://home^^opathy-uk.or^^g/homeopathy/how-homeopathy-helps/conditions/cancer), given the Cancer Act 1939, but on clicking through the claims are at least a bit softer (not claiming that homeopathy can help directly with cancer) though I think this phrase is concerning "A preparation of Mistletoe would be an example of a complementary medicine which has been shown to stimulate the immune system and when given alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy can reduce fatigue and improve quality of life" as I don't think that homeopathic levels of mistletoe can do anything. 

Later on that page the author references this rather theatrical example "Along with Mistletoe injections, I also prescribed X-ray 30c on the morning of radiotherapy, along with Belladonna in the afternoon, both of which have been shown in one placebo-controlled trial to reduce the inflam­mation of the skin and deeper tissues that is caused with radiotherapy" - I can only wonder how diluted X-rays are prepared, or what they might be supposed to do. 

The diabetes page (https://home^^opathy-uk.or^^g/homeopathy/how-homeopathy-helps/conditions/diabetes) is also misleading - implying that numbness arising from nerve damage can be 'helped' with hemlock and (hopefully very diluted) lead. This is unlikely to be true. Worse, there is mention of 'helping' infected (leg / foot) ulcers by the application of calendula lotion, or 'helping renal function' with other remedies. 

The page on infertility (https://home^^opathy-uk.or^^g/homeopathy/how-homeopathy-helps/conditions/infertility) seems cruel, implying that homeopathy can help in any way in having a healthy pregnancy. The phrase "I prescribed Tub bov 10M, three tablets in one day, and two months later she missed her period" implies a causal relationship between the remedy and the pregnancy which is probably unwarranted. 

The page on psoriasis (https://home^^opathy-uk.or^^g/homeopathy/how-homeopathy-helps/conditions/psoriasis) suggests that conventional treatment can temporarily suppress the effects of the condition and includes the line that "Some patients are, therefore, looking for a more permanent “cure” for their condition", implying that homeopathy might offer that. I think that's incredibly unlikely and misleading, and I’m not sure that putting ‘cure’ in quotes minimises that. 

Jo

 

3. Further reading

1. Homeopathy site banned from discussing depression (19 May 2021) The Times, Kat Lay
2. Clamp down on bogus science of homeopathy (19 May 2021) The Times, Oliver Kamm
   
3. Homeopathy charity is hit by ad ban after claiming the treatment can be used for depression, diabetes and infertility (19 May 2021) Mail Online, Isabella Nikolic
4. Clamp down on the bogus science of homeopathy (19 May 2021) Edzard Ernst's blog  
5. Homeopathy UK told to take down articles saying remedies can help depression and asthma (20 May 2021) BMJ, Clare Dyer 
6. Re: Homeopathy UK told to take down articles saying remedies can help depression and asthma (21 May 2021) BMJ: Rapid Response, Jo Brodie (me!)
7. ASA to charity: Remove claims homeopathy helps diabetes and asthma (21 May 2021) C+D (Chemist + Druggist), Grace Lewis
   

ASA Adjudications against Homeopathy UK aka British Homeopathic Association 

• ASA Ruling on Homeopathy UK (19 May 2021) - mine 
• ASA Ruling on Homeopathy UK (5 May 2021) - Good Thinking Society's

**Homeopathy UK have shared their "A message from our Chief Executive" statement several times on Twitter (though apparently not on Facebook) and the quote tweets for several of them are rather more critical. If you've been blocked and need to view the tweets in a private window while logged out you won't be able to see them via the Quote Tweet button (it requires login). Ignore that and just paste each link below into the search bar or visit https://twitter.com/explore - this, in essence, shows you mentions of that tweet (logically identical to the quote tweet format).

https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395005017741041671
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395046861581455362
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395281901116608515
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395402698388873226
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395674487429996546
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1396460917001494532

4. Screenshots (these were attached to my original ASA complaint): 

Homeopathy UK 01 - list of conditions

Homeopathy UK 02 - list of conditions

Homeopathy UK 03 - cancer and diabetes

 Homeopathy UK 04 - infertility and psoriasis

 

Misleading homeopathy marketing (again) - complaint submitted to Advertising Standards Authority

I'm grateful to 'BrownBagPantry' the prolific tweeter of homeopathy-related matters. Her screenshot of Alan's (zeno001) tweet alerted me to a problem with the claims made by Highgate Holistic Clinic in a tweet and on their website. I would have missed his tweet on the #homeopathy tag as Alan hadn't tagged it, so my thanks to BrownBagPantry for being solely responsible for bringing it to my attention and causing me to submit a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about the clinic's misleading advertising. Had I been looking at the tag on Christmas Day I might well have seen the clinic's own tweet (as they did hashtag it) but I wasn't, so all credit to BrownBagPantry.

Normally if I'd spotted one of Alan's tweets about a misleading advert I'd have DMed him asking if he'd reported it and he might reply that he had, or that someone else had already done so, or that he was perhaps waiting until after the holidays before tackling it etc. However that's not going to happen today as I'm just going to get on with the complaint and add the text here here.

I've taken screenshots of the tweet and parts of the website to share with the ASA though I hadn't planned to add them here.

Background research
Highgate Holistic Clinic's website claims that the homeopath is a registered member of the Society of Homeopaths however double-checking on the 'Find a Homeopath' site indicates that she's a member of the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths, but doesn't mention SoH membership. As a courtesy I'll let the SoH know about this in case she isn't and the info is incorrect.

Text of my complaint to the ASA
Note - the online form doesn't permit hyperlinks (where the link is behind a word) so the link was pasted in full in a list at the end with a number in brackets next to the relevant part of my text, eg [1]. It also doesn't permit bold or italic so the text has been slightly reformatted for clarity here. The text of a complaint must also be less than 5,000 characters (I had about 1,800 to spare).

--oo--   --oo--   --oo--   --oo--   --oo--   --oo--   --oo--

I'm complaining about a tweet from a clinic, the text of which implies that homeopathy can cure conditions, and the content of two pages from the clinic's website.

The tweet
"#Homeopathy is based on the principle of ‘like cures like’. In other words, a substance taken in small amounts will cure the same symptoms it causes if taken in large amounts." - it is not possible for homeopathy to cure any symptoms so the text of this tweet is misleading.

The tweet links to a page on the clinic's website, which says
"Danielle Abramov is committed to homeopathy as it treats the person as a whole without the side effects of conventional medicine" - I think this statement may discourage people from visiting a doctor or from taking real medicine. It implies that medicine offers only side effects.

"...working with them towards improving their health naturally – offering a real alternative to or support for conventional treatment." - this implies that homeopathy is an alternative to conventional treatment, and also implies that it is a 'real' alternative. It isn't. I've no objection to 'support for conventional treatment' though.

"In India homeopathy is considered to be equal to allopathic medicine." - this is largely untrue but what is relevant here is the implication that homeopathy should be considered as some sort of real thing, implying that it can help people.

"Danielle Abramov is also a qualified Vega practitioner. The Vega machine is a non-invasive, painless, diagnostic tool for determining some of the causes of ill health, be it persistent viral, fungal or bacterial overload, vitamin or mineral deficiency, food intolerance or emotional blocks." - the Vega machine is not a valid diagnostic tool and you have previously noted that it is "not capable of diagnosing [respiratory allergy and sensitisation to common aero-allergens]", I do not believe it is capable of diagnosing viral, fungal or bacterial overload either. Also a lay homeopath [one who is not also a doctor or other healthcare professional] is unlikely to be competent to diagnose any health conditions (using this or any other 'diagnostic' tool).

The website also has a page on therapies that includes a section on homeopathy
The section on homeopathy says that it "... can help with many issues such as Asthma, Anxiety, Allergies, Bronchitis, Childhood Diseases

Coughs, Colds and Sore Throats, Depression, Digestive Disorders, Earache, Eczema, Exhaustion, Emotional issues, Fibroids, Grief, Headaches & Migraines, Menopause, Menstrual Complaints & Infertility, Pregnancy & Birth, Sleep Problems, Thyroid Imbalances, Urinary Disorders, Vaccination Side-Effects, Varicose Veins etc." - none of these can be helped by homeopathy, some are serious medical conditions that need appropriately qualified medical care and support. I also do not believe that homeopaths or clinics are allowed to list named conditions.

--oo--   --oo--   --oo--   --oo--   --oo--   --oo--   --oo--

What happens next?
Several years ago the ASA changed the way it handled homeopathy-related complaints. Rather than asking homeopaths to provide evidence for particular claims the ASA took a more holistic view and, recognising that homeopathy doesn't work for any condition, determined that any homeopathy claim was misleading and that there was no need to undertake an investigation for each complaint submitted. Instead, each complaint is handled as a case of non-compliance by the Compliance Team - so my complaint will be handled by them and I won't know the outcome (only adjudications are published).

I've created a Wikipedia page for the Society of Homeopaths

A few months ago I spotted that the British Homeopathic Association (BHA) and Faculty of Homeopathy (FoH) had Wikipedia pages but the Society of Homeopaths (SoH) didn't and I'd been meaning to create a page to redress that. It's been interesting revisiting some of their activities and with their recent re-accreditation by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) and the Judicial Review into that decision that has been requested by the Good Thinking Society I thought it was time to get a move on, so here it is: Society of Homeopaths.

The BHA's page begins with a paragraph about when the association was formed and by whom, then highlights that homeopathy is an unevidenced pseudoscience before going on to highlight two examples of BHA's activities. The first is about the quality (apparently not great) of the evidence they submitted to the House of Commons Evidence Check on Homeopathy from 2009, the second is about their failed Judicial Review of NHS England's decision to top funding homeopathy.

I followed the same pattern for the SoH page and so far I have the following information in there.

• An Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) adjudication against the SoH in 2013 for engaging in false advertising and discouraging people from seeking essential treatments
• SoH considered legal action in 2016 against the ASA after it wrote to UK homeopaths to remind them of the rules for marketing material, but they were advised against it by their legal advisor
• In 2017 skeptics* complained to the PSA about the SoH as their members were offering CEASE therapy for autism. The PSA put some obligations on the SoH in place but re-accredited them. One of the obligations was to publish a position statement on CEASE (and monitor risks from member homeopaths offering this).
• In May this year there was an undercover interview by The Times with a number of homeopaths one of whom was both a member of the SoH and also offering 'homeoprophylaxis' (an alternative to vaccination, which doesn't offer any protection). Rather than bring about disciplinary proceedings the SoH defended the member and said they would complain to the press regulator.
• As a result of the PSA re-accrediting the SoH (on 1 April no less) the GTS has filed a request for a Judicial Review to be undertaken of that decision, you can read more about that here (and donate to the crowdfunder).

*the term skeptics refers not just to bloggers and activists by doctors, scientists, healthcare professionals and patients who are concerned about health claims.

Next to investigate, write, reference and add are

• Info on the 2006 Newsnight undercover 'sting' into homeopaths offering homeopathic alternatives to malaria prevention medicine, alongside a lack of general advice about bite avoidance. Some of the homeopaths involved appear to have been SoH members (a spokesperson from the SoH certainly appeared on follow-up programmes). This will take time to unpick as I need to remind myself of the sequence of events, and of SoH's involvement.
• Related to the above, a year later in 2017 blogger @lecanardnoir wrote a post about the SoH's response about their members re: the malaria sting and received a legal letter asking him to remove his post (which he did). Doing so triggered a chain of events resulting in the mirroring (copying, republishing) onto over 60 other sites and was probably the first time I hear the phrase the Streisand Effect (in which by seeking to hide information you end up drawing more attention to it).
• A retrospective link to this 2014 article which appeared when the SoH first began to be accredited by the PSA, pointing out how ill-advised this seemed.
  "It’s unscientific for a medical regulatory body to give accreditation to homeopaths" - New Statesman (18 September 2014)

Obviously I want the Wikipedia article to be reasonably encyclopaedic (kind of the point!) but I don't think it's necessary to itemise every single thing. Here are some things I've not added, or only lightly referenced.

• I've added the latest (as at Sep 2018) official number of society members (according to PSA's accreditation document) but struggled to make sense of the membership numbers overall so haven't included further information. Their current 'About us' website page has 1,200. In their 2009 submission to the HoC EvCheck they give it as 2,500, in 2013 it was 1,300.
• Probably I won't add anything about the problem of Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford University letting the SoH have their conference and AGM on site despite concerns about legitimising homeopathy, not to mention how the university's autistic students might feel about that happening. 
• Also there's some stuff about alleged links between a (former) SoH staff member and the long-since debunked MMR-autism controversy but that might require legal considerations, so probably best left out for now.
• The SoH has today published a news article on the fact that members can add additional therapies to their insurance package. Some SoH members offer a range of services, including homeopathy, but the standard insurance covers them only for homeopathy. Whether or not society members are underinsured might be a bit niche for Wikipedia.

The purpose of this post then is to combine some stuff that's on Wikipedia with stuff that isn't. I think it's important and helpful to have overview information of a topic, particularly where something involves many years of historical skeptic activism. It's easy to forget things and so useful to keep it all together.

The Professional Standards Authority has re-accredited the Society of Homeopaths - CEASE therapy for autism

Reaccreditation document (PDF)

This one is a little surprising. A number of us have been expressing concern to the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) about the response by the Society of Homeopaths (SoH) to those of their members who are offering "CEASE" therapy for autism.

The SoH keeps a register of its 997 members (at Sep 2018, all of whom are allowed to use the term RSHom in their marketing material) and the PSA accredits a variety of society registers, including SoH's. SoH therefore runs an Accredited Register (AR) of homeopaths, though accreditation isn't meant to imply that homeopathy works.

Last year the PSA re-accredited the SoH with some provisos that the society would need to satisfy some additional monitoring requirements about those of their members offering CEASE.

Yestesrday the PSA published the latest accreditation and I've not read it all yet but wanted to add something here about it as I've written several times on this topic.

The 21 page PDF from the PSA is here - Society of Homeopaths Annual Review 2018

What surprised me is that the PSA highlighted a problem with members of an AR offering any treatment (whether real or bogus) that claims to treat a protected characteristic such as autism. The SoH still has members offering this, with a range of claims.

Thanks to @UKHomeopathyReg for alerting me.

Also of interest and relevance is that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has referred five homeopaths (I don't know if any of them are SoH members, no reasons to assume that any are) to Trading Standards for further investigation. Last year the ASA sent an Enforcement Notice to 150 UK homeopaths who were making misleading claims to treat or cure autism. Homeopaths should not write CEASE out in full (it stands for Complete Elimination of Autistic Spectrum Expression) as the full name is an implied health claim, which is misleading.

Why so-called CEASE Therapy claims to 'cure' autism really have to stop - Guy Parker, CEO ASA

Who have the ASA referred to Trading Standards and what happened next?

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK keeps a page of non-compliant online advertiers - people are added to the page, and eventually fall off it. I thought I should keep a closer eye on changes to that page and set up a post to do that, but this post looks at the Referrals page. This outlines the activity where a non-compliant advertiser is referred to Trading Standards for further action.

There are curently 62 cases listed, however you have to keep pressing 'show more' to see them so this shows the full list all at once.

Bold text in yellow highlights what happened next after referral.

• iPhoneIMEI.net

  • 09 January 2019

  • Unlocking iPhone and iCloud service
  • Referred

• 97maxx.co.uk

  • 02 January 2019

  • 97maxx.co.uk
  • trainers
  • Referred

• 95max.co.uk

  • 23 October 2018

  • 95max.co.uk
  • Trainers
  • Referred

• D Smith

  • 06 September 2018

  • Contactthedvla.co.uk / dvla-contact-number.co.uk
  • Call forwarding service
  • Referred

• Travel Affairs Ltd

  • 23 August 2018

  • ehic-e111-card.org
  • Copycat website (EHIC)
  • Referred

• Kellys Vegies Ltd

  • 23 August 2018

  • My Farm Fresh Box
  • Grocery box subscription
  • Referred

• UK Official Records Ltd

  • 23 August 2018

  • ukofficialrecords.co.uk
  • Copycat website (Replacement certificates)
  • Referred

• Holistic Energy Advanced Learning Ltd

  • 20 August 2018

  • Allergy Testing UK
  • Allergy and food intolerance testing
  • Referred

• www.point-less.co.uk

  • 07 August 2018

  • www.point-less.co.uk
  • Point-Less
  • Website taken down

• PDQ Estates Ltd

  • 24 July 2018

  • PDQ
  • Estate agent
  • Referred

• kenyaairway.co.uk

  • 14 May 2018

  • kenyaairway.co.uk
  • Travel agent
  • Website taken down

• Online Central Reservations Ltd

  • 30 April 2018

  • Central Reservations
  • Hotel bookings
  • Website taken down

• Goodwin Development Trust

  • 09 April 2018

  • Oxypod
  • Referred

• George Smith

  • 24 January 2018

  • UK Directory Services
  • Call forwarding service
  • Website taken down

• ETA and E-Visa Service

  • 12 January 2018

  • us-esta.uk
  • “Copycat” website
  • Website taken down

• Thermalogica Ltd

  • 10 January 2018

  • Thermalogica Health Screening
  • Thermal imaging
  • Website taken down

• herdress.co.uk

  • 04 January 2018

  • HerDress
  • Dress for formal events
  • Referred

• Sky Number

  • 04 September 2017

  • skynumber.co.uk
  • Call forwarding service
  • Ceased trading

• Marie Atlas Ltd

  • 12 May 2017

  • marieatlas.co.uk
  • AtlasProfilax Therapy
  • Trader now compliant

• FreeFusion Ltd

  • 07 April 2017

  • www.iphonespecialist.co.uk
  • Mobile phone repair
  • Prosecuted

• Threechings.com Ltd

  • 21 February 2017

  • Three Chings
  • Trader now compliant

• Ticket4Football

  • 02 February 2017

  • Ticket4Football
  • Referred

• Premier Events

  • 01 February 2017

  • Premier Events
  • Referred

• Novum Publishing gmbh

  • 26 January 2017

  • United P.C. Publisher
  • Referred

• Britannia Campaigning Ltd

  • 24 January 2017

  • Britain First
  • Trader now compliant

• Lionheart GB

  • 24 January 2017

  • The Patriot Store
  • Clothing
  • Trader now compliant

• Halcyon Bracelets

  • 01 January 2017

  • Halcyon Bracelets
  • Halcyon copper bracelets
  • Trader now compliant

• Dr Jin

  • 01 January 2017

  • Traditional Chinese medicine
  • Trader now compliant

• Zeetech Services Ltd

  • 01 January 2017

  • Canterbury Spine and Health Practice
  • Chiropractic Services
  • Website taken down

• Nature's Range Ltd

  • 01 January 2017

  • Nature's Range
  • ProstEase, JointEase, Pernol
  • Referred

• Easy Consulting SL

  • 01 November 2016

  • Direct Resorts International The Ultimate Holiday Package
  • Holiday accommodation
  • Trader now compliant

• Meridian Consumer Research Private Ltd

  • 01 November 2016

  • drivinglicenceguide.co.uk, incomesupportguide.co.uk
  • Call forwarding service
  • Trader now compliant

• -Limit Ltd

  • 01 October 2016

  • www.europeanhealthcard.org.uk
  • “Copycat” website
  • Ceased trading

• Chinese Clinics (Balham) Ltd

  • 01 September 2016

  • The Chinese Clinic
  • Traditional Chinese medicine
  • Website taken down

• Crystal Healing Light Ltd

  • 01 September 2016

  • Crystal Healing Light
  • Crystal therapy
  • Website taken down

• Ron Prescott ND

  • 01 September 2016

  • www.ronprescottnd.co.uk, www.mecures.co.uk & www.smileqigong.com
  • Alternative therapies
  • Trader now compliant

• XT-Tec Ltd

  • 01 August 2016

  • pcbattery.co.uk
  • Laptop Batteries
  • Website taken down

• missydress.co.uk Inc

  • 01 July 2016

  • www.missydress.co.uk
  • Dresses
  • Website taken down

• top-battery.co.uk

  • 01 June 2016

  • www.top-battery.co.uk
  • Laptop Batteries
  • Website taken down

• Kitchen Units Cardiff

  • 01 June 2016

  • www.kitchenunits-cardiff.co.uk
  • Kitchens
  • Website taken down

• Finitro

  • 01 February 2016

  • Finitro
  • Finitro Forte Plus
  • Trader now compliant

• Dr Alyssa Burns Hill

  • 01 January 2016

  • www.alyssaburns-hill.com
  • Hormone Testing and Holistic Health Advice
  • Referred

• Tiny Tinklers

  • 01 December 2015

  • www.teethingnecklace.co.uk
  • Amber teething necklaces
  • Website taken down

• ATN-UK Company

  • 01 August 2015

  • www.amber-teething-necklaces.co.uk
  • Amber Teething Necklaces
  • Website taken down

• Bamboo Textiles

  • 01 August 2015

  • www.bamboo-textiles.co.uk
  • Bamboo Textiles
  • Trader now compliant

• Live Blood Test

  • 01 August 2015

  • Errol Denton
  • Live Blood Test
  • Referred 

  
  This person is also behind Fitalifestyle Ltd and was prosecuted and fined under the Cancer Act 1939 and two years later again under trading laws (and again fined) and is currently subject to a Community Behaviour Order - Jo

• Howard Bult

  • 01 August 2015

  • Howard Bult
  • Bowen Therapy
  • Trader now compliant

• Cascade Financial Ltd

  • 01 August 2015

  • www.daddycashforgold.co.uk
  • Financial
  • Website taken down

• Kitchen Factory Ltd

  • 01 August 2015

  • www.the-kitchenfactory.co.uk, www.kitchendesign1.co.uk, and www.uk-fittedkitchen.co.uk
  • Kitchens
  • Website taken down

• Fitalifestyle

  • 01 August 2015

  • seemycells.co.uk - see comment for Live Blood Analysis above, Jo
  • Liquid Chlorophyll
  • Referred

• Paul Godber

  • 01 August 2015

  • IronHorseHouse (IHH)
  • Software add-ons for a train simulator game
  • Website taken down

• SeaMaple (HK) Ltd

  • 01 August 2015

  • Urdress.co.uk
  • Formal dresses
  • Website taken down

• The Tanning Hut

  • 01 August 2015

  • www.thetanninghut-huntingdon.co.uk
  • Sunbeds
  • Trader now compliant

• LifestrengthUK

  • 01 August 2015

  • LifestrengthUK
  • Lifestrength wristbands
  • Website taken down

• London Natural Therapies

  • 01 August 2015

  • www.londonnaturaltherapies.co.uk
  • Live blood
  • Trader now compliant

• Philip Martin's

  • 01 August 2015

  • Philip Martin's
  • Philip Martin's Organics
  • Website taken down

• Sonic Reflex

  • 01 August 2015

  • Waterboost
  • Waterboost
  • Trader now compliant

• Kidz 5 A Day Ltd

  • 01 August 2014

  • Kidz 5 A Day Ltd
  • Powdered Drink
  • Ceased trading

• Attitude Holidays

  • 01 August 2014

  • Attitude Holidays Ltd
  • Holidays
  • Website taken down

• The Linden Centre

  • 01 August 2014

  • The Linden Method
  • The Linden Method
  • Now in Primary Authority Partnership

• Systek Marketing Group

  • 01 August 2014

  • Prospect Email
  • Email address lists
  • Website taken down

• Electronic Healing

  • 01 May 2014

  • Electronic Healing
  • BobBeck Protocol / Liquid Oxygen Drops
  • Prosecuted

Who's on the ASA's list of non-compliant online advertisers in Jan 2019?

Updated: 31 Jan 2019

There are currently 40 companies on the UK Advertising Standards Authority's list of non-compliant online advertisers. This is a list off organisations against whom an adjudication has been upheld regarding their misleading advertising. Companies that fail (or refuse) to amend marketing material are placed tere and some may have additional sanctions applied - this can include removing their page from Google search, adding an ad warning people searching for relevant keywords and referral to Trading Standards for prosecution.

Organisations that do later amend their material can also be removed from the list, so it varies over time and I thought I'd start recording what's on there and look at it again in a couple of months.

As far as I'm aware the ASA tends to delete older adjudications (cleared out every five years I think) - this wouldn't necessarily be done for non-compliant organisations though, but I thought it might be a good idea to record some of this. Also the ASA's page hides most of the info that's lower down and you have to keep clicking 'show more' to get them on the page, so here's the info all on one page.

• Person(s) unknown t/a Ecofundingplan.co.uk and Ecofundingplan.com

  • Ecofundingplan.co.uk and Ecofundingplan.com
  • Windows
  • 28 January 2019 [added to this blog post on 31 Jan] 

• Imperial GB Ltd

  • Kitchen – household
  • 23 January 2019   [added to this blog post on 31 Jan] 

• Agency Management Ltd

  • BMA Models
  • Modelling agency
  • 14 January 2019 [added to this blog post on 14 Jan] 

• Northern Myth Ltd

  • Rune Balm Body Butter
  • Body butters
  • 14 January 2019 [added to this blog post on 14 Jan] 

• Watts Marketing Ltd/H2B Windows Ltd

  • 04 January 2019
  •  

  Edit - 19 Jan 2019 - the company seems to be no longer on the list (the linked page is now 404ing though can, at time of writing, be accessed via Google cache). Here's a copy of the original adjudication for context. 
  

• Avid Technology Inc

  • avid.com
  • Creative digital tools
  • 02 January 2019

• SportsDirect.com Retail Ltd

  • Sports Direct
  • Walking boots
  • 19 December 2018

• Person(s) Unknown t/a Career Study College

  • careerstudycollege.com
  • Educational courses
  • 19 November 2018

• Person(s) Unknown trading as wilfredandalice.co.uk

  • Shoes
  • 19 November 2018

• Shaun Smith

  • 18kaweek.com
  • Financial advice on increased earnings
  • 15 November 2018

• Natural Medicine Devon

  • naturalmedicinedevon.co.uk
  • Bioresonance therapy and homeopathy
  • 07 November 2018

• Shaping Wellness

  • Radiesthesa testing
  • 05 November 2018

• Gemstones Power Water

  • gempowerwater.com
  • Gemstones Power Water
  • 11 October 2018

• Mr Jay Wenman

  • Milton Property Maintenance
  • Construction services
  • 11 October 2018

• The Beauty Company Belfast Ltd

  • Logan Wellbeing Medical & Aesthetics
  • Massage Therapy
  • 04 October 2018

• Vistaprint BV

  • Vistaprint
  • Business cards
  • 24 September 2018

• The Women’s Centre

  • The Women’s Centre
  • Post Conception Advice
  • 29 August 2018

• kinnaird-guesthouse.co.uk

  • kinnaird-guesthouse.co.uk
  • Clothing
  • 15 August 2018

• Persons unknown

  • Green Deal Funding Group
  • Replacement windows funding scheme
  • 06 July 2018

• Ray Brown Healing

  • www.raybrownhealing.com
  • Spiritual Healer
  • 29 May 2018

• Marambra Ltd

  • shopmarambra.com
  • Amber teething jewellery
  • 17 April 2018

• Protein World Ltd

  • Protein World
  • Carb Blocker
  • 10 April 2018

• Power Body Nutrition Ltd

  • powerbody.co.uk
  • 09 April 2018

• Official iPhone Unlock Ltd

  • www.officialiphoneunlock.co.uk
  • iPhone unlocking service
  • 05 April 2018

• Sarah Burt ND

  • Sarah Burt
  • Iridology
  • 03 April 2018

• Direct Response Marketing Group Ltd

  • Wellform Direct
  • Snail Elixir Miracle
  • 28 March 2018

• Barry Pearson t/a www.compareheaters.com & www.whatheater.com

  • Heater comparison
  • 20 March 2018

• Hydrox Systems UK

  • hydroxsystems.co.uk
  • HHO fuel saver kits
  • 19 March 2018

• Daniel Corlett

  • number-direct.co.uk
  • Call forwarding service
  • 08 March 2018

• iPhoneIMEI.net

  • iPhoneIMEI.net
  • Price claims
  • 08 March 2018

• Cocoalocks

  • Cocoalocks.com
  • Cocoa Locks hair supplement
  • 25 October 2017

• Gymheadz Sportswear Ltd

  • SkinnyFitCoffee
  • Skinny Fit Coffee
  • 22 August 2017

• Skinny Coffee Club Ltd

  • Skinny Coffee Club
  • Skinny Coffee
  • 08 May 2017

• Roger Meacock t/a Natural Healing Solutions

  • health-disk.com
  • Alternative Therapy Devices
  • 04 May 2017

• Roger Meacock

  • quinton-water.com
  • Quinton water supplements
  • 10 April 2017

• Water for Health Ltd

  • www.water-for-health.co.uk
  • Food supplements
  • 12 October 2016

• Marcos Pavlides Reflexology

  • Reflexions – The Reflexology Shop
  • Reflexology
  • 27 April 2016

• Gerad Kite Clinic

  • www.geradkite.com
  • Acupuncture
  • 08 April 2016

• Teddington Homeopathy

  • Teddington Homeopathy
  • CEASE Therapy
  • 27 August 2015

• Comfort Click Ltd

  • shytobuy.uk
  • VigRX
  • 07 August 2015

• Allergy and Asthma Ltd

  • The Salt Cave
  • Salt therapy
  • 06 August 2015

• LadyCare Lifetime Limited

  • www.ladycaremenopause.com
  • Magnotherapy
  • 08 September 2014 

  
  LadyCare Lifetime Limited were removed from the list shortly after this post was published, coincidentally around the time that Woman & Home magazine wrote a reasonably favourable article about the product (11 Jan 2019). I emailed the magazine to point out problems with the article and they promptly made some quite strong amendments, highlighting the ASA's original adjudication and including info from Jen Gunter's blog about the lack of evidence of effectiveness. Good work Woman & Home!