Simon's posterous

Suggested CNHC action against misleading claims

Hi Maggy,

We clearly disagree on many points here.  If you do believe reflexology to be effective for any known condition, please provide me with the evidence and I will change my mind.  If you are unable to provide robust evidence, I do hope you will change yours.

Regardless, I do believe we can work together to ensure the public is better protected.  

Can I suggest that the CNHC urgently contact their members to convey the following information:
  • That many CNHC members have been found to be breaking ASA guidance by making misleading health claims.
  • That the CNHC strongly recommends that their members urgently review their advertising materials and remove:
    • Any claims to treat disease without robust evidence.
    • Any claims that their service has any other health benefits unless these claims can be justified with robust evidence.
    • Any other claims not backed up by evidence (for instance that specific areas of the foot are somehow connected to various organs)
  • That starting on the 20th June a review of all CNHC member websites will be conducted and any misleading claims reported to the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards.  Complaints will also be submitted to the MHRA if relevant.
  • That this review will cover misleading claims made about all therapies, and not just the therapies for which they are regulated by the CNHC.
I recommend that the CNHC work with the ASA's copy advice team to ensure that any advice is consistent with their code.

While I do not expect all CNHC practitioners to take action, I hope that the communication you send out will significantly reduce the number of misleading claims made by the practitioners, and therefore the number that receive ASA adjudications or investigations by Trading Standards.  Swift action from the CNHC will also greatly reduce the burden on the regulators.

You may also like to add in addition to the ASA and Trading Standards, CNHC will be taking regulatory action against any member not complying with the ASA's CAP code.

I also believe that the reputation of the CNHC will be higher amongst its membership if it sends this warning message than if the CNHC knew about the forthcoming advertising review and said nothing.

Do you see this as a sensible way forward?

Many thanks,

Simon

On 20 May 2011 08:54, Maggy Wallace <Maggy.Wallace@cnhc.org.uk> wrote:

 

Thanks for your quick response, Simon.

 

Clearly there are things on which we are not going to agree. As a regulator you cannot honestly expect us to support a position as stated by you to the effect that ‘...........Genuine, honest training on reflexology must cover the simple truth that reflexology is not known to be effective for any condition.’

 

This is your opinion and in our view, is unsupportable as a statement. If we believed what you say to be true, and continued to regulate reflexology, we could be accused of misrepresentation and acting without integrity, both of which would be serious accusations indeed.  

 

CNHC is working with practitioners to ensure that they do not over-represent the efficacy of their therapies and do not make misleading medical claims. This will take some time owing to the numbers involved and the work and expense (and time lag) associated with changing web sites and advertising material.

 

Clearly you will proceed as you wish. We fail to see however, how driving people from our register - which will undoubtedly be the effect of further complaints - can be seen to be in any way acting in the interests of the public. The individuals will merely continue to practise without any  means of calling them to account.  Please tell me how you think this serves the public interest?

 

Do we have no common ground on which we can come together?

 

With best wishes

 

Maggy

 

Maggy Wallace MA BA DipEd DipN

Executive Chair

Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC)

83 Victoria Street

London   SW1H OHW

 

Tel 0203 178 2196

Email: maggy.wallace@cnhc.org.uk

General enquiries: info@cnhc.org.uk

Visit our website at http://www.cnhc.org.uk

 

Company name: The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council 

Place of registration: Companies House 

Registered number: 6643004 

 

 

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From: Simon Perry []
Sent: 12 May 2011 09:16
To: Maggy Wallace
Cc: Maggie Dunn
Subject: Re: FW: Maggie Dunn & Maggy Wallace, CNHC

 

Hi Maggy,

 

Thanks for your reply.  

 

I'm struck by your suggestion that the CNHC shares the my goal of wanting practitioners to stop misleading the public.  Over a year after my original complaints, there is still widespread lack of compliance throughout your membership as a quick search aptly demonstrates.  The CNHC wishes to give the appearance of regulation without actually implementing it - otherwise how do you explain why the exact people I originally complained about were still making exactly the same claims month after the CNHC had promised to clean things up?

 

Practitioners who are pseudo-regulated by the CNHC are a reasonable target for the simple reason that the CNHC's logo gives the public confidence while not in reality providing regulation.  You also mention training.  The CNHC allows its members to take psuedo-training courses - this is not in the public interest.  If you remember, you dismissed my complaints on the grounds that the practitioners were trained to believe in the misleading statements they made on their adverts.  Genuine, honest training on reflexology must cover the simple truth that reflexology is not known to be effective for any condition.  While you continue to allow registrations from practitioners who have been taught the opposite, you are only requiring pseudo-training.

 

What I am trying to to do with my previous email and this one is to embarrass the CNHC into regulating its membership.  The ASA now regulates web sites - and they will take firm action against your members if they continue to make misleading medical claims.  

 

Large numbers of ASA adjudications against your membership base will clearly demonstrate that the CNHC is not an effective regulator.  It will also clean up the widespread lack of compliance.  

 

It's easy to do.  Not only do we have an easy way of finding which of your members are making false claims, but we also have an extremely effective method of reporting them.  FishBarrel (a software tool - see http://adventuresinnonsense.blogspot.com/2011/04/fishbarrel-easy-way-to-report.html) allows ASA and Trading Standards complaints to be put in within seconds.  One person can easily put 10 complaints in within an hour.

 

I've also got help.  Last time I asked for help in reporting people, I had 100 volunteers within a few days.  100 people using FishBarrel would likely be able to report your entire membership within a couple of days.

 

I'd rather CNHC cleared up it's membership instead.  That's why I'm giving a month's notice before these complaints go in.  All that is really required is for the CNHC to urgently contact its membership and ensure these websites are changed quickly and misleading health claims removed.

 

I'm happy to assist in any way with a joint activity, and I'm happy to meet (though I'd be unable to do so in London due to my schedule).

 

Many thanks,

 

Simon

 

 

On 12 May 2011 08:22, Maggy Wallace <Maggy.Wallace@cnhc.org.uk> wrote:

 

 

Greetings Simon

 

It seems long time since we’ve heard from you. Thank you for the heads-up on your latest initiative.

 

Reading your proposed activity, I am struck again by the fact that you as an individual and we as an organisation appear to have many of the same objectives, namely that of not wishing the public to be misled with regard to inappropriate claims of efficacy of certain treatments. It is in our methods of achieving those objectives that we differ: CNHC preferring to work with practitioners, for example, with regard to changing their advertising, and you by complaining against them.

 

It seem ironical to us that those individuals who have chosen to be registered with CNHC - thereby demonstrating that they take a responsible approach to their work and have undertaken relevant education and training and have signed up to a code of conduct - should be targeted. Surely it is those who have not made such a commitment to professional standards who should be the subject of your activity.

 

We now ask you, in all seriousness, whether there is not some joint activity that could be undertaken to achieve our objectives more effectively? We’d be happy to meet to discuss this.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

With kind regards

 

Maggy Wallace MA BA DipEd DipN

Executive Chair

Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC)

83 Victoria Street

London   SW1H OHW

 

Tel 0203 178 2196

Email: maggy.wallace@cnhc.org.uk

General enquiries: info@cnhc.org.uk

Visit our website at http://www.cnhc.org.uk

 

Company name: The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council

Place of registration: Companies House

Registered number: 6643004

 

 

- - Disclaimer - -

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you are

not the intended recipient, any reading, printing, storage, disclosure,

copying or any other action taken in respect of this e-mail is prohibited

and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify

the sender immediately by using the reply function and then permanently

delete what you have received.

 

 

 

From: Simon Perry [mailto:]
Sent: 08 May 2011 23:28
To: Maggie Dunn; Maggy Wallace
Cc: Posterous
Subject: FAO: Maggie Dunn & Maggy Wallace, CNHC

 

Hi Maggie & Maggy,

 

I've set up a custom search that allows me to easily see which of CNHC's practitioners are making claims to treat various diseases on their website (see it here).  For instance, this link shows a simple search for "arthritis" and it returns hundreds of your member's web pages.

 

In your role as a professional regulatory body, I'm sure you're every bit as concerned as I am about 100s of your practitioners exploiting the public's credulity in this way.

 

I'm planning on going through this list next month and reporting these people to the Advertising Standards Authority and also to Trading Standards.  Is there a way I could easily copy the complaints into CNHC too?

 

I eagerly look forward to your response.

 

Many thanks,

 

Simon Perry.