ASA Adjudication on Ideal Spine Centre

Ad

Three regional press ads for the Ideal Spine Centre, Canterbury. Ad (a) was titled "Cost Effective Health Care Saving Time & Money". Text stated "The vast problem with our health service has now become highlighted by the increasing number of hospital admissions, surgical procedures, escalating use of drugs and sky rocketing health care costs. A report was published recently revealing that prescription drugs are harming more people today than ever before. Hospital admissions from errors relating to medication and medical care hit an all time high! So, with all the money and research that is poured into our health system, what is the solution? ... ... If you had breast pain or chest pain, would you be happy if your doctor just gave you some pills to make you feel better? Of course not! You want to get to the cause of your problem. Drugs do not correct your health problems. They simply mask the symptom and make you feel 'better' ... ... It is time to stop treating the symptom, but look to correcting the cause of your health problems. This month, I hope this message sounds loud and clear because the condition I am going to make you aware of affects no less than 75% of the population. Misalignment of the spine (better known as 'Vertebral Subluxation') can occur silently, without you even feeling it for years. Vertebral Subluxation can be caused by poor posture, poor sleeping habits, car accidents, slips and falls, sports injuries, right down to the birth process itself for mother and child, as well as chemical imbalances and mental stress within the body. Vertebral Subluxation (misalignment of the spine) can manifest itself in all sorts of ways - headaches, migraines, neck pain, numbness, asthma, high blood pressure, pins and needles, poor concentration, sciatica, neuralgia, scoliosis, behavioural problems, bedwetting, and ear infections in children, lowered immunity, indigestion and back pain just to name a few. So many people are taking medication for a problem that is actually correctable ...". Ad (b) was titled "Did you get your £1,500 cheque?" Text stated "... Statistics have shown us that the NHS spends an average £1,500 per year on every man, woman and child in the UK. I don't know about you, but I have not seen my £1,500 for the past seven years since I moved from Australia to Canterbury in 2000 ... ... Just imagine if the government gave each and every one of us £1,500 a year to spend on our health. We would have a wellness explosion! More people could afford gym membership, to go on health experiences like health days, buy fresh produce from their local farm shops instead of buying packet food and poor quality produce from mass produced food chains, buy water filters to be able to drink a clean water source, have regular preventative spine and health checkups and take more regular stress free holidays. What would our town look like? ... more wellness doctors teaching people about health and keeping you well, without the use of drugs and surgery! ... ... Just imagine there would be less [sic]people killed as a result of medical error because less [sic] people would go to the medical doctor because they would be kept well by seeing new age wellness doctors ... ... An average 300 people die each day due to errors made by medicine. That is what happens each and every day in the UK. That number has increased in the past five years to make medicine the leading cause of death in the UK after heart disease and cancer. The question is, if we keep using medicine as our health solution, how long will it take for it to be the No. 1 preventable cause of death? ... ... So, to get well and stay well, medicine may be good for an emergency (if you are lucky), but definitely no good for your future wellness. Speak to your wellness doctor first, not last! ..." Ad (c) was titled "Latest News on Our Health and Our Future" and stated "The past healthcare system was sickness care and crisis care: The individual waits until either he is ill or injured and then seeks a medical doctor or other therapist for either drugs, surgery, or more natural treatment to alleviate his/her symptoms, or subdue his/her condition. This system has been useless and is the world's greatest failure ... ... The facts tell us our planet is now sicker than ever before in recorded history. The new model for health that is sweeping the nation and the world is WELLNESS CARE, and it works! ... ... Wellness means building your health up on a regular basis in order to achieve and maintain your natural health potential ... ... The power that made you, is the same power that keeps you and is the power that heals you. It is the same healing power the planet's best surgeons rely on for you to recover from life-saving surgery. That power is better known as 'innate intelligence' and it runs through your nervous system. If you have spinal misalignment, the nervous system has interference, which results in lowered function, health and ultimately impaired healing, inside the body ... ... If you want to get well and stay well start questioning your doctor's recommendations. Then if you want you and your family to be the healthiest you can be, without medication, for life, go and see a Wellness doctor ..."

Issue

The complainant challenged whether:

1. the claim "Hospital admissions from errors relating to medication had hit an all time high" in ad (a) could be substantiated;

2. the claim "Vertebral Subluxation affects 75% of the population" in ad (a) could be substantiated;

3. the claim "Vertebral Subluxation can be caused by ... chemical imbalances and mental stress within the body" in ad (a) could be substantiated;

4. the claims "Vertebral Subluxation (misalignment of the spine) can manifest itself in all sorts of ways - headaches, migraines, neck pain, numbness, asthma, high blood pressure, pins and needles, poor concentration, sciatica, neuralgia, scoliosis, behavioural problems, bedwetting, and ear infections in children, lowered immunity, indigestion and back pain just to name a few" in ad (a) could be substantiated;

5. the claims "Drugs do not correct your health problems. They simply mask the symptoms and make you feel better" and "it is time to stop treating the symptoms, but to look to correcting the cause of your health problems" in ad (a) would discourage the reader from seeking essential treatment;

6. the claim "An average 300 people die each day due to errors made by medicine" in ad (b) was accurate and could be substantiated;

7. the claim "An average 300 people die each day due to errors made by medicine. That number has increased in the past five years to make medicine the leading cause of death in the UK after heart disease and cancer" in ad (b) could cause undue fear and distress towards conventional medicine;

8. ad (b) would discourage the reader from seeking essential treatment;

9. the claim "the facts tell us that our planet is now sicker than ever before in recorded history" in ad (c) was accurate and could be substantiated;

10. the claim "the new model for health that is sweeping the nation and the world is WELLNESS CARE and it works" and the descriptions of the present system of healthcare as "useless and [is] the world's greatest failure" in ad (c) implied that the advertisers service was more effective than conventional medicine, because she did not believe that to be the case;

11. the claim "The power that made you, is the same power that keeps you and is the power that heals you. It is the same healing power the planet's best surgeons rely on for you to recover from life-saving surgery. That power is better known as 'innate intelligence' and it runs through your nervous system" in ad (c) was accurate and could be substantiated;

12. ad (c) would discourage the reader from seeking essential treatment.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Wellness News responded on behalf of Dr Farthing at the Ideal Spine Centre. They said they had written the copy for the ads. They said they were unable to send evidence to substantiate the claims at this point in time, but provided their assurance that they would not repeat the claims made in the ads until they could send the substantiation required to support them.

Assessment

1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8., 9., 10., 11. & 12. Upheld

The ASA welcomed Wellness News' assurance that the claims made in the ad would not be repeated until they could provide evidence to support them. However, because the ads could discourage some readers from seeking essential treatment, and because the CAP code required advertisers to hold substantiation for their claims prior to publication, we concluded the claims were unsubstantiated and the ads were misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 9.1 (Fear and distress), and 50.3 (Health and beauty products and therapies).

Action

We told the Ideal Spine Centre not to repeat the claims.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)