Ad description

The website www.equiwinner.com, seen on 8 June 2016, included various claims about the the Equiwinner patch. They included “… the only product designed to restore normal blood pressure in a horse is Equiwinner, which comes with a guarantee that it will restore normal circulation. After a ten day course of Equiwinner including normal daily exercise, with normal circulation, ends headshaking in any horse which has started this distressing condition”, “Equiwinner Always Stops Horse Nose and Lung Bleeding EIPH! … Because Equiwinner tackles the cause of the nose bleed, instead of just trying to suppress the symptoms as drugs do, Equiwinner is guaranteed to work to stop bleeding every time. After using Equiwinner the horse then has healthy circulation and lungs …” and “How to Easily Stop Horse Tying-Up or Azoturia …”.

Issue

The complainant, who believed the ad made medicinal claims without the relevant authorisation, challenged whether the ad breached the Code.

Response

Active Signal Ltd t/a Equiwinner said the product was intended for use only in horses, and that was made clear on the website. They believed that it was necessary for there to be administration of a medicinal product, or for there to be a medical condition, in order for a claim to be medicinal. They said, however, EIPH bleeding, tying-up and headshaking were problems arising from normal training of a horse, rather than medical conditions. There were no effective medical treatments for those problems and therefore often horses had to be euthanised, although Equiwinner could help. However, the patches were completely inert and nothing passed into the skin of the horse. Equiwinner nevertheless made changes to the website in light of the complaint.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA acknowledged that Equiwinner were willing to amend their advertising, but noted that the ad continued to include similar claims that the product could have an effect on the conditions referred to.

We considered, for example, that the claims “restore normal blood pressure”, “restore normal circulation”, “ends headshaking, “this distressing condition”, “Stops Horse Nose and Lung Bleeding EIPH!”, “Equiwinner tackles the cause of the nose bleed, instead of just trying to suppress the symptoms as drugs do”, “stop bleeding”, “After using Equiwinner the horse then has healthy circulation and lungs” and “Easily Stop Horse Tying-Up or Azoturia …” were medicinal. We understood such claims could be made only if a device’s human authorisation allowed it, whereas we had not seen evidence to demonstrate that Equiwinner had any such authorisation. We therefore concluded that the ad breached the Code.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  12.1 12.1 Objective claims must be backed by evidence, if relevant consisting of trials conducted on people. Substantiation will be assessed on the basis of the available scientific knowledge.
Medicinal or medical claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that is licensed by the MHRA, VMD or under the auspices of the EMA, or for a CE-marked medical device. A medicinal claim is 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.
Secondary medicinal claims made for cosmetic products as defined in the appropriate European legislation must be backed by evidence. These are limited to any preventative action of the product and may not include claims to treat disease.
 and  12.6 12.6 Marketers should not falsely claim that a product is able to cure illness, dysfunction or malformations.  (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Equiwinner not to make medicinal claims, for example in relation to blood pressure, circulation, headshaking, bleeding or EIPH, or horse tying-up, without the relevant authorisation.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

12.1     12.6    


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