Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Claims on www.naturalpatient.com, a website for a homeopath, for their Eight Dial Homeopathic Remedy Maker (Potentiser) stated "Natural Patient is proud to offer a Homeopathic Remedy Maker with an 8 dial Rates section and Potency selection facilities of 1 to 999 X, C, M, CM, MM and LM. Additionally there is an amplification system enabling remedies to be made with power levels of 0-250 units and our unique ‘lock system’. As well as using this device to originate Homeopathic Remedies, you can also use the device to copy any homeopathic remedy, or in fact any sort of Energy remedy ... Unlike many other potentisers of this type this device requires no electrical supply and as such is fully portable. The overall dimensions of the device are 205mm long x 200mm wide x 90mm deep ... Our unique ‘lock’ feature prevents remedies from losing energy. Many people who have used Homeopathic and Energy remedies may have noticed that those remedies tend to fade with prolonged storage or even bought over the counter using a barcode reader, and if stored next to strong smelling substances, or accidentally touched with the palm of the hand they may have lost their potency completely. This remarkable feature developed by Gillian Lee is quite unique and is brought into action by depressing a single switch for a couple of seconds, after the remedy has been made ...".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:
1. "As well as using this device to originate Homeopathic Remedies, you can also use the device to copy any homeopathic remedy";
2. "Unlike many other potentisers of this type this device requires no electrical supply and as such is fully portable"; and
3. "Our unique ‘lock’ feature prevents remedies from losing energy."
Response
1. naturalpatient.com believed the claims were correct as both original homeopathic remedies and any subsequent copies could be made using the device. They said that homeopathic schools and homeopathic practitioners throughout the world were using the device.
naturalpatient.com said that most types of homeopathic remedy makers combined radionics science with modern technology. They said all matter had a unique energy pattern or field, which included homeopathic remedies produced traditionally by titration and succussion (forceful striking on an elastic body). They said although a dilution of more than 600 times meant a single molecule of substance did not exist in the remedy, what did exist was a quantum energy field or subtle energy field that had a unique rate equivalent that could be set on the machine, and if required, transferred to the carrier substance, e.g. tablet, alcohol, etc. using digital technology. That digital technology produced a clear signal of that energy, much like a digital TV, thus the energy of a substance could be translated into an energy or homeopathic remedy.
naturalpatient.com said the machine dials enabled the user to choose the equivalent potency they required and the process could be repeated to produce combination remedies containing multiple energies at different potencies.
naturalpaitient.com said kinesiology showed that remedies made with their device were equal energetically to those homeopathic remedies made by succussion and dilution in the recognised manner.
2. naturalpatient.com believed the claims were correct because the device did not need an electrical supply and it was fully portable. They said remedy vibrations were produced through natural geometric resonance in the Rates Section and those vibrations were used to modulate free, undifferentiated energy that was generated in the rest of the potentiser circuitry. They said it was a specialist science which did not require an electrical supply.
3. naturalpatient.com said the claim was based on the intellectual property of Gillian Lee, who had been producing remedies for 20 years and that it had been proven to work. They said it was a fact that remedies which had been made using had a better shelf life than normal homeopathic remedies. They added that remedies which had been made with the device 20 years ago were still energetically charged and explained that kinesiology was one of the methods used to test the remedies. They believed the claims were correct because they aptly described the benefits of the unique lock feature present on the device.
Assessment
1., 2., & 3. Upheld
The ASA noted naturalpatient.com's explanation of how the device worked and their belief that the claims were correct. They did not provide documentary evidence in support of their claims; claims which we considered were capable of substantiation. We had not seen any evidence which demonstrated how the device copied homeopathic remedies, how it worked without the need for an electrical supply or how it prevented the homeopathic remedies from losing their energy. We therefore concluded the claims had not been substantiated and were misleading.
The claims breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation).
Action
The claims must no longer appear. We told naturalpatient.com not to make claims about its Eight Dial Homeopathic Remedy Maker (Potentiser) unless it held robust substantiation.
