Ad description
Claims seen on a website for CMT Integrated Health Ltd, www.attiliodalberto.com stated "Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine has been used in Asia (China, Korea, Japan, etc) to treat the conditions below for thousands of years. Click on the condition to read more." The ad included a list of conditions that included Kidney Stones, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Type-2 Diabetes and Strokes.
Issue
ALIED, Acupuncture Learning & Integrated Educational Development, challenged whether the claim that acupuncture could treat the listed conditions was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
CMT Integrated Health Ltd (CMT Integrated Health) said the conditions were listed for information purposes only and did not indicate that he treated them. The advertiser said this was made clear by the text "Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine has been used in Asia (China, Korea, Japan, etc) to treat the conditions below for thousands of years".
CMT Integrated Health said each of the conditions listed contained hyperlinks to a factsheet prepared by his governing association which listed research related to the benefits of acupuncture.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the list of conditions was preceded by the text regarding the history of acupuncture. However, we considered that consumers would interpret the list as conditions that could be treated with acupuncture, especially in the context of the advertiser being an acupuncturist. We considered this was further reinforced as some conditions contained links to research. The full research papers were not supplied; therefore it was not possible to assess the efficacy of acupuncture for the conditions. Because we had not seen evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture for those conditions, we concluded the ad was misleading.
We noted most of the conditions raised by the complainant, kidney stones, type-2 diabetes and strokes, should be supervised by a suitably qualified health professional and may therefore discourage essential medical treatment. Because we had not seen evidence that the advertiser was suitably qualified to supervise the treatment of the conditions, we considered that reference to them could discourage essential medical treatment. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading for that reason also.
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),
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 related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told CMT Integrated Health Ltd to avoid making claims that are not supported with documentary evidence and not make claims for conditions that should be supervised by a suitably qualified health professional.
