ASA Adjudication on Everwell Chinese Medicine Centre

Ad

A leaflet, for Everwell Chinese Medicine Centre (ECMC), claimed " … What are the treatments? Herbal Remedies include: dry herbs to be taken as tea; herbal tablets or capsules, powders and lotions, treating a wide range of health problems, such as asthma, anxiety, arthritis, depression, eczema, hypertension, IBS, insomnia, ME, psoriasis, terminal illness, etc. ...". Under the heading "Our practitioners", the leaflet claimed " … The principle practitioner Doctor J.H. Zhao studied full time 5 years for her Bachelor's Degree in Western Medicine, and further 3 years for her Master's Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She used to work at the university's hospital as Associated Professor of Integrated Medicine (combination of orthodox Western and traditional Chinese Medicine) in China...". Under the heading "What health problem can be helped by Chinese Medicine?" the leaflet gave a list of medical conditions that included "... Psoriasis ... Arthritis ... Stroke ... Depression ... Diabetes ... Blood pressure ... Impotence ... Lose weight ...". The leaflet included testimonials from four patients who claimed Chinese medicine had cured their eczema, menopause, hypertension, chronic neck pain and headache and osteoarthritis.

Issue

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) challenged:

1. the efficacy of the treatment and the leaflet's references to serious ailments, particularly terminal illness and

2. whether Doctor J H Zhao was a qualified medical doctor, registered with the General Medical Council (GMC).

The ASA challenged whether:

3. the testimonials were genuine and

4. the leaflet discouraged readers from seeking advice from suitably qualified medical practitioners about serious or prolonged medical conditions.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. ECMC explained that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) had been used for centuries to treat a variety of ailments. They said the use of TCM as a treatment for various health conditions was taught at medical school in China. They acknowledged that the efficacy of Chinese medicine treatment was frequently questioned by the international scientific community and was considered to have little scientific evidence in support of it. They argued that some research had been carried out, with positive results, on TCMs effect on certain health conditions. They gave Artemisia annua as an example, arguing that it had helped millions of malaria sufferers. ECMC said terminal illnesses such as cancer, emphysema, mental illness and heart disease had been helped by TCM: they believed it relieved the nausea associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and helped emphysema patients breathe, while acupuncture helped relieve pain and improved dementia patients quality of life. ECMC listed books that referred to TCMs treatment of illnesses. They stated that they were unable to provide primary evidence to substantiate TCMs ability to treat all the medical conditions listed in the leaflet but sent information, downloaded from websites, about uses for acupuncture and herbal extracts.

2. ECMC explained that Dr Zhao had received a Certificate of Masters Degree of Chinese Medicine from Nanjing University in China in July 1990. She also received a Practitioners Certificate from the UK General Council of Traditional Chinese Medicine in November 2006. ECMC confirmed that Dr Zhao was not registered with the GMC.

3. ECMC asserted that the testimonials in the ad were genuine. They submitted copies of letters, from patients, which detailed their experiences of acupuncture and herb treatment. They explained that it was difficult for them to collect signatures of agreement from all patients for their letters to be used in ECMCs marketing; they nevertheless stated that the patients did not object to their details being used in the leaflet.

4. ECMC said it was not their intention to discourage readers from seeking advice from qualified medical practitioners. They believed any therapy which could help patients should be considered. They stated that the leaflet merely gave readers information on Chinese medicine treatment, which was an alternative approach for patients to consider.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA considered that the leaflet implied all the ailments listed under the claims "What are the treatments?" and "What health problem can be helped by Chinese Medicine?" could be effectively treated by the TCM offered by ECMC, but noted ECMC had not sent evidence to show they could treat all the listed conditions. We considered that the information downloaded from websites, which merely claimed that certain conditions could be treated with acupuncture and herbal extracts, was insufficient because it did not constitute primary evidence. We were concerned about the leaflets references to serious ailments, particularly terminal illness. In the absence of objective substantiation to support the leaflets claims, we concluded that it was misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 50.1 (Health & beauty products and therapies - General).

2. Upheld

We acknowledged that Dr Zhao was a practitioner of TCM but nevertheless considered that readers were likely to infer from the term "Dr" that she held qualifications equivalent to a general medical qualification in the UK. Because that was not the case, we considered that the term "Dr" was likely to mislead.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

3. Upheld

We noted ECMC had provided us with four letters from patients who were satisfied with their treatment. We noted the patients had not given written permission to be named in ECMCs leaflet. In addition, the letters were not from the patients named in the leaflet and did not refer to all the conditions mentioned in the leaflets testimonials. We concluded that ECMC had not substantiated that the testimonials in the leaflet were genuine.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 14.1 and 14.2 (Testimonials and endorsements).

4. Upheld

We noted the listed conditions included terminal illness, ME, MS, paralysis, impotence, infertility, psoriais, arthritis, hypertension, blood pressure, stroke and depression, which were serious or prolonged medical conditions. Because it suggested that TCM could effectively treat the listed conditions, we considered that the leaflet could discourage readers from seeking advice from suitably qualified medical practitioners about serious or prolonged medical conditions.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 50.3 (Health & beauty products and therapies - General).

Action

We told ECMC not to imply they could treat particular conditions unless they held documentary evidence to prove they could, to remove the term "Dr" and references to serious or prolonged medical conditions from the leaflet and to ensure they could prove testimonials were genuine in future. We advised ECMC to seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team before advertising again.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)