UK regulators hot on the heels of homeopathy

This week UK homeopaths will have received a letter, from the CAP* Compliance Team, informing them that they need to have their homeopathy marketing material in order by 3 November 2016. They have been told explicitly that they cannot make any claims to treat medical conditions.

"We want to bring to your attention important information about the advertising of homeopathy which might affect you and which might mean that you need to make changes to your marketing materials."

         ...   ...   ...

"The ASA^’s current position, which was established through a number of ASA rulings, is that homeopaths may not currently make either direct or implied claims to treat medical conditions." [emphasis added, source: letter to homeopaths]

This affects claims made on websites and social media (for example tweets and posts on Facebook). The ASA and CAP have also been working with the Society of Homeopaths to develop guidance for their members.

After 3 November the CAP Compliance Team will "carry out extensive monitoring spot checks" and where necessary they can apply a range of sanctions including, ultimately, referral to Trading Standards.

It will be interesting to see if any homeopaths will be prosecuted for making misleading health claims.

As far as I'm aware, in order to bring a prosecution (ie take it to the courts) Trading Standards need to be able to satisfy themselves that there's robust evidence of a problem (the evidential test) and that the evidence has been collected appropriately. Also that it's in the public interest to bring the prosecution forward (the public interest test). Presumably, even once a prosecution becomes imminent homeopaths can probably avoid further action by simply agreeing to stop making misleading claims. Let's hope they have the insight to recognise this!

My own experience (with a team of other skeptic bloggers) of getting Trading Standards involved has resulted in one company shutting down and another company owner being prosecuted and fined. In both cases the result could have been avoided by the company owners not belligerently standing their ground.

Skeptic bloggers have been waiting five years (since online marketing came under the ASA's remit in 2011 and the Nightingale Collaboration began the process of getting homeopathy more firmly on the ASA's radar) for stronger action on misleading homeopathy claims and we'll be watching this unfold from 3 November with a lot of interest.

Personally I'd like to see Trading Standards tackle the misleading claims of CEASE therapy first which claims to eliminate / cure autism using a form of #homeopathy. One homeopath (Teddington Homeopathy) has been listed on the ASA's non-compliant online advertisers list since August 2015.

Incidentally it's good to see that Jennifer Hautman of Islington Homeopathy Clinic appears to have made her site compliant with the ASA's requests. In March 2014 she was also listed on the non-compliant advertisers page but her site is no longer there so I assume she made the necessary changes. Here's an archive screenshot.

Note this is an archive copy, Jennifer Hautman's Islington Homeopathy Clinic is no longer listed on the ASA's non-compliant advertisers list which suggests that she's since made her website compliant with the regulations.

Islington Homeopathy Clinic: Non-compliant online advertiser http://t.co/5IMIkbonBD claim Gov & NHS accept homeopathy an effective treatment

— ASA (@ASA_UK) March 19, 2014

In fact she took part in a workshop on how to market your practice while remaining ASA-compliant, so hooray!

Similarly Steve Scrutton Homeopathy (incidentally he does the media communications role for the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths) also appears to have made his website compliant as he's no longer listed on the non-compliant advertisers, but was in 2014. Here's an archive screenshot.

This is an archive copy. Steve Scrutton's homeopathy website is no longer listed on the non-compliant advertisers page.

Acronyms
*CAP = Committee of Advertising Practice (they develop the advertising regulations)
^ASA = Advertising Standards Authority (they uphold CAP's regulations)

The relevant announcements and files

• ASA's announcement: Advertising standards for homeopathy (29 Sep 2016) [web]
• Background from Nightingale Collaboration: Diluting misleading claims - ASA update (29 Sep 2016) [web]
• Letter to homeopaths from CAP (28 Sep 2016) - [PDF] 2 pages
• Homeopathy advertising regulation FAQ (2016) - [PDF] 2 pages
• AdviceOnline database - Health: homeopathy [web]
• Guidance for advertisers of homeopathic services (2011) - [PDF] 5 pages

ASA / CAP are taking positive action on live blood analysis advertising

by @jobrodie // http://brodiesnotes.blogspot.co.uk

CAP = Committee of Advertising Practice
ASA = Advertising Standards Authority - CAP develops the advertising code which the ASA upholds.

It's five and a half years since I first submitted a complaint about live blood analysis to the ASA. It took quite a few months for the adjudication to be completed but all points were upheld and, to the best of my knowledge, the leaflets were removed from circulation. Since then several complaints have been made by many other people and a few live blood practitioners are now on the ASA's non-compliant online advertisers list. Two live blood analysts have also been fined several thousand pounds and each has a criminal conviction after Trading Standards began legal proceedings against them under the Cancer Act 1939.

Let me be very clear. Live blood analysis is nonsense and utterly without merit. I'm sure commenters will come along and tell me their usual tropes about how I haven't tried it, how it worked for them, how it's helped umpteen thousand people etc.

Since nearly all live blood analysis experiences seem to involve some vague recommendations to eat more healthily I'm not that surprised that "it" has helped people. You might as well argue that this blog post has helped you - eat more vegetables, move about more - there you go ;)

My advice is free and so is the advice from an NHS dietitian or GP. Save your money, let's see an end to live blood analysts ripping people off and selling them unnecessary supplements while telling them that their blood is misbehaving. From looking at a lot of their material they haven't the faintest idea what they're talking about. Sadly they follow a programme of study that's wrong and confused from the outset - it doesn't matter how assiduously you read a book if the book is full of misinformation. I feel almost sorry for the people who've spent considerable sums getting trained and buying a microscope and learning the patter.

The Good Thinking Society has been actively monitoring live blood analysis websites, in particular those that have previously agreed to amend pages but where misleading claims may have kept back in. This week the CAP has written to a number of practitioners giving them a month to get their websites in order and, if not, a range of sanctions may be applied. The CAP sending a letter to an entire 'sector' of live blood analysts is relatively uncommon I think, they have previously done similar for homeopathy.

The worst potential sanction is obviously referral to Trading Standards, as they are able to begin criminal proceedings against a company, but it usually doesn't come to that. To be fair anyone can report to Trading Standards a company that's practising unfair trading, or breaking the Cancer Act, it doesn't have to be just the last step in an ASA investigation. I can't imagine that an ignored ASA recommendation or adjudication would look good should matters come to court.

Nearly all LBA advertising that I can think of breaks the regulations relating to medicinal claims, defined as "a claim that a product or its constituent(s) can be used with a view to making a medical diagnosis or can treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings" and practitioners are not real healthcare practitioners: "Marketers who are not suitably qualified should not offer specific advice on, diagnosis of, or treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought."

If we can't see an end to live blood analysis (no objection to anyone selling microscope photos of blood samples only to the unwarranted health claims) let's at least make it safer, where people aren't given misleading advertising or advice and then charged for it.


This is the letter that CAP / ASA have sent by email: Live blood letter for AOL (I think this means 'Advice Online') - 21 October 2015