Ad description

Claims on the website www.thechineseclinic.co.uk related to multiple sclerosis (MS) and appeared under the heading "MS cures itself" and the sub-headings "What is MS?", "MS symptoms can be improved or eliminated readily", "Signs and symptoms", "Shorter life-expectancy", "The body repairs itself", "What causes MS?", "What causes cell functions to break down?", "The lack of restorative sleep leads to illness" and "Curing MS".

The web page provided details related to MS and included claims about the nature of the condition and its progression, as well as efficacy claims such as "No cure exists for MS in conventional medicine but the body can improve or eliminate symptoms of MS, if you give the body the energy it needs" and "We have not yet come across a case of MS that has not improved readily, even in the case of primary progressives [sic] MS. We improve or eliminate MS symptoms every day and offer a money back guarantee, if you promise to stop worrying and start enjoying your life. At the very least, we guarantee to improve your sleep, energy and quality of life".

Under the text "Curing MS", claims included "Every expert tells you that MS is progressive and incurable. If you follow expert advice, the only outcome you can reasonably expect is to see your life worsening progressively, cutting short your life expectancy by about 10 years. In order to recover from MS, and to prevent your symptoms from getting worse, it is necessary to act on facts instead of listening to experts who, by definition, do not understand MS. The first and most important fact to note is that symptoms come and go, often disappearing completely for months or even years. This is good evidence that the body has the capability to repair myelin, if you give it the energy it needs. The cure therefore lies in restoring the body's natural powers to repair itself. The second noteworthy fact is that we have not yet come across a case of MS that has not improved readily, even in the case of a wheelchair bound patient diagnosed with primary progressive MS. Evidence can be verified easily since we produce similar outcomes every day ... One of the problems with conventional medicine is that doctors take little account of the sort of patients they are trying to help. Parry's dictum says: 'it is more important to know what sort of patient has the disease than what kind of disease the patient has.'

Every one of our MS patients is a perfectionist. They all persisted in pushing themselves over the limit, breaking their own body down. They could not stop thinking or worrying which drained their body of energy. They suffered from high stress and low energy levels, and from insomnia or the lack of restorative sleep. Given what experts told them about MS, it would indeed be surprising if they did not suffer from anxiety and depression which make everything worse. Myelin damage is not progressive. MS progresses because people with MS break their body down progressively, stubbornly denying their body the chance to repair the damage …".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the claims "MS cures itself", claims about the nature of the condition and those that restoring energy could cure MS were misleading and discouraged essential treatment for a condition for which medical supervision should be sought.

Response

Chinese Clinics (Balham) Ltd (the Chinese Clinic) said their theory "MS cures itself" was based on observation of how actual improvements occurred when circumstances changed. They said the text was based on the law of limitation (which governed all principles, including those of conventional medicine), the cell theory that was one of the key principles of biology, and the founding principle of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which stated that when the body was strong enough illness could not invade. They said "MS cures itself" was underpinned by patient feedback, medical records and the testimonials displayed on their website. They said health and well-being could be affected by a range of factors. Similarly, MS symptoms could worsen because of a change in circumstances, such as stress, and the purpose of their treatment was to help MS sufferers understand how they could help themselves by changing the way they thought and did things. They said the cell theory explained that illness developed naturally when cell function broke down. The Chinese Clinic said illnesses improved and disappeared just as naturally when normal cell function resumed, which could be achieved by reducing stress and thereby increasing restorative sleep.

They said the website explained that oligodendrocytes repaired damaged myelin through a process called remyelination. They said scar-like plaque that built up when myelin was damaged was the origin of symptoms and during an attack, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) often showed more than ten new plaques. They believed the brain was capable of repairing itself without producing noticeable consequences if there were not too many lesions. The Chinese Clinic said a feature of MS was that symptoms often disappeared for months or even years. They believed that, given that symptoms were caused by myelin damage which disrupted signals to and from the brain, and the fact that no treatment could repair myelin, it was common sense that the disappearance of symptoms would not be possible had the body not repaired the damaged myelin by itself. Conversely, primary progressive MS, where symptoms were constant with no remissions, could exist only because the body was unable to repair myelin damage.

The Chinese Clinic provided a testimonial from a patient whose MRI scan showed a lesion had disappeared from his brain following their treatment, which they believed demonstrated the body was able to repair myelin damage. However, they said myelin damage did not cause a relapse in symptoms, but people did, because they broke their bodies down and allowed symptoms to recur. All illnesses progressed when the body was allowed to weaken progressively. They believed the notion that illness could be cured without reducing stress and giving the body the energy it needed, was a fundamental flaw in conventional medicine where "energy" did not exist and which also favoured prescribing drugs that had a range of side effects. Their view was that such drugs, which were often strong, could cause further cell damage. The Chinese Clinic also provided a testimonial from a patient who described how quickly his sleep, energy and mood improved and how his anxiety and depression had disappeared, along with aggressive spasms. They emphasised that a lack of energy was an illness in itself and also the most common and troublesome symptom of MS. Therefore, improving energy alone was, by definition, improving MS and in effect preventing premature death. They said they also offered a money back guarantee to any patient who did not notice improvements, but they had not come across a case of MS that had not improved readily. Their approach was innovative, holistic and cost-effective and also consistently improved the symptoms of MS speedily.

They said the ad explained how the body could recover from a large number of conditions that were considered incurable according to conventional medicine, because the body had the power to bounce back if its limitations were respected. They said research showed that a lack of sleep contributed to cell damage, which might lead to degenerative diseases. Therefore, their website explained that they did not treat illnesses, including MS, but instead improved and eliminated conditions by strengthening the body and restoring sleep to give the body the energy it needed; they treated only insomnia and fatigue in order to allow the body to cure illnesses. The ad did not state that every case of MS could be improved, but instead made clear that while MS was incurable, it could be improved or eliminated only by the body itself. The Chinese Clinic said no one understood MS because the data used to construct theories was fundamentally flawed and lacking. They said that while no one outside of their clinic had noticed an improvement in symptoms, and no effective treatment existed elsewhere, the theories that said no improvements were possible were obviously incorrect. The Chinese Clinic said MS was diagnosed by neurologists and patients were then invited to visit their neurologist regularly. However, those patients would not seek alternative help if the treatment that was provided for free worked or improved their lives.

The Chinese Clinic said their claims were not automatically untrue just because they contradicted conventional beliefs. They said evidence on improved symptoms could be provided from patients and that was the most appropriate measure, because no objective test existed to measure the symptoms of MS. In addition, they could supply their patients' medical records. They said controlled trials that did not take account of patients' circumstances and factors such as stress, energy levels and quality of sleep could not have any real meaning. They said drugs that had been proven to be safe in controlled clinical trials were later found to have done more harm than good. They referred to the review 'Working for a Healthier Tomorrow', which stated that a wide range of factors influenced health and well-being and was based on a firm belief that issues around health and work should not be reduced to problems of medicine and medical practice, necessary though they were to the solution.

They said their four sleep specialists were qualified TCM practitioners, who each had at least 20 years clinic experience. They provided a list of the staff's qualifications and said each had worked in the UK for at least six years. They said the notion that MS was progressive and could be slowed down only by seeking the advice of a suitably qualified medical professional was fantasy given the fact that all real experts agreed that no one really understood MS and no one could improve the condition, however well qualified they may be. The Chinese Clinic said 'essential treatments', which masked symptoms while allowing patients' overall health to deteriorate progressively, destroying the body's natural defences against infectious and other common diseases, were meaningless to sufferers of MS, who were regularly told to expect progressively more suffering and shortened life expectancy. They said MS did not kill, but treatments that allowed the body to weaken progressively did. However, the improvements their treatments had produced could not be disputed and the claims were supported by the outcomes they produced every day. They believed anyone who could produce improvements that no one else could produce was an expert by definition, whether they were suitably qualified or not. They submitted several other testimonials, as well as a range of articles, including from NHS Choices, which related to MS and wider health matters.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the Chinese Clinic's arguments, including that NHS Choices stated that good sleep was essential to good health and that many incurable conditions improved or disappeared naturally over time. We noted the ad included a wide range of claims, such as, "MS cures itself", "MS symptoms can be improved or eliminated readily", "Curing MS", “We have not yet come across a case of MS that has not improved readily, even in the case of primary progressives [sic] MS. We improve or eliminate MS symptoms every day and offer a money back guarantee" and "The cure therefore lies in restoring the body's natural powers to repair itself". We considered its overall impression of the ad was such that it was likely to be interpreted to mean the Chinese Clinic could bring about improvements in energy that resulted in MS being cured.

However, we understood the nature of MS was such that it could not be cured, only managed, and noted we had not seen evidence, for example in the form of controlled clinical trials, to demonstrate that the therapy the Chinese Clinic provided could lead to improvements in energy that in turn cured MS. We acknowledged the testimonials they had submitted, however, we noted that testimonials did not constitute adequate evidence in support of objective claims if they were not accompanied by robust independent evidence to support the views within them.

Finally, we noted the Chinese Clinic said their practitioners were qualified in TCM, but considered such qualifications were not sufficient to allow the clinic to offer advice on, diagnosis of or treatment for MS, a condition for which medical supervision, such as that from a registered medical practitioner, should be sought. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading and discouraged essential treatment for a condition for which medical supervision should be sought.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  (Misleading advertising),  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) and  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  12.2 12.2 Marketers must not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. For example, they must not offer specific advice on, diagnosis of or treatment for such conditions unless that advice, diagnosis or treatment is conducted under the supervision of a suitably qualified health professional. Accurate and responsible general information about such conditions may, however, be offered (see rule  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.
 ).
Health professionals will be deemed suitably qualified only if they can provide suitable credentials, for example, evidence of: relevant professional expertise or qualifications; systems for regular review of members' skills and competencies and suitable professional indemnity insurance covering all services provided; accreditation by a professional or regulatory body that has systems for dealing with complaints and taking disciplinary action and has registration based on minimum standards for training and qualifications.
 (Medicines, medical devices, health and beauty products).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told the Chinese Clinic to ensure their future ads did not discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. We also told them to ensure they were in a position to substantiate their objective claims before making them in future.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

12.1     12.2     3.1     3.7    


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