Patrick Holford is one of the many nutritionists, doctors or specialists of one form or another who make a living by selling false or misleading promises. Sometimes, they even endorse harmful remedies, or harmful avoidance of effective remedies, as is the case with Holford’s association with HIV denialism (and Scientology). Why does a national chain of pharmacies endorse this quackery? Read more at Synapses.
The Kuli Roberts column, Bitch’s Brew, has been cancelled by Avusa and the Sunday World newspaper following the publication of a “racist” column which expressed various stereotypes related to a subsection of South Africans sometimes described as ‘coloureds’. But as offensive as the column might have been to some, is there ever a good reason to deny free expression of views? Read more at Synapses.
Two recent posts that should be of interest to FSI members – on astrology, and on PowerBalance (both via Synapses). In both of these cases, the actual “product” often does little harm (although in the case of astrology, it certainly can do so). However, material harms (whether physical or financial) are perhaps not the only sort of relevant harm. These examples of pseudoscience and quackery contribute to a climate of unreason, and thereby may make us more susceptible to believing in more dangerous forms of woo.
Press release 17/01/2011
Consumer rights activists in South Africa have today announced their intention to take a mass homeopathic ‘overdose’ next month, as part of a major global protest against the alternative remedies.
Protestors in Cape Town will swallow entire bottles of homeopathic pills on February 5th 2011, in a bid to raise public awareness of the fact that homeopathic ‘remedies’ are ineffective – putting pressure on pharmacists and healthcare providers to ensure that products sold as medical treatments actually work. Continue reading “Consumers in South Africa to stage homeopathic ‘overdose’”
As reported on here, the harassment and intimidation of Leo Igwe continues. Despite the stated commitment of Awka Ibom State Governor Goodswill Akpabio to rooting out the exploitation of children for the Pentecostal witch industry, people like Leo – who are allies in that cause – are frequently arrested and subjected to other rights violations. Any who have contacts in the Nigerian government, or any other form of influence there, should be aware of this and exert what pressure they can to bring a halt to these attempts to limit Leo in his campaigning for basic human rights in Nigeria.
For some background on Leo’s troubles:
http://www.humanism.org.uk/news/view/334
http://www.humanism.org.uk/news/view/409
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2010/a-violent-attack-on-leo-igwes-family/
The FSI submitted the following complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa earlier this month. Let’s hope that they follow the example set by their Australian counterparts, and request that PowerBalance issue corrective advertising. We are aware that there are a number of similar products on the market – some making even more absurd claims than PowerBalance – and we are working on similar complaints with regard to these products.
Complaint in respect of unsubstantiated claims and misleading advertising on the part of POWER BALANCE SA
The products and claims made:
In South Africa, the PowerBalance corporation currently offer two versions of a product marketed under the promise of offering “Performance Technology”. These products (wristbands in various designs, as well as a range of pendants), can be seen on the South African section of their website:
http://www.powerbalance.com/southafrica/products
The claims made on behalf of these wristbands and pendants are:
The substance of the complaint:
The following words and phrases contained in the promotional website are held to be misleading:
1. Performance Technology: Marketing these products as “performance technology” implies that they have benefits in terms of athletic performance. No evidence to support this claim is provided, and this claim is therefore likely to mislead potential buyers into believing that the products have benefits that they do not have.
2. Natural energy field: The claim that the body has a natural “energy field” is vague and pseudoscientific. This cannot be referring to the sort of energy measured by physicists, but instead seems to refer to undefined “life energy”. We are offered no evidence that such an energy field exists, nor how it can be identified and measured. PowerBalance also provide no evidence for their claim that their product can interact with this (unproven) energy field, and offer no explanation of the mechanism by which it might be able to do so.
3. Balance, strength and flexibility: As above, the claim that these products have any effect – whether beneficial or not – on balance, strength and flexibility are made without any substantiating evidence. The fact that the product might be favoured by certain “elite athletes” is not scientific evidence for the efficacy of the product in question.
4. Holograms: A particular frequency is allegedly embedded into the holograms in these products. This appears to be little more than meaningless technobabble, designed to sound scientific. We are offered no evidence for why any particular frequency is chosen, or for how the imprinting of the frequency on to the hologram takes place.
5. Resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body: The frequencies that are allegedly imprinted on the holograms (see 4, above) are claimed to interact with the frequencies of our bodies (see 2, above). However, “a frequency can’t exist alone but has to refer to a number of repetitions of a periodic process per period of time. What is the periodic process that generates the frequency involved in the bracelet technology ”, and how is it determined that the frequencies chosen are indeed beneficial to humans?
The “Test Video”
An additional element of deception can be found on PowerBalance’s website, at http://www.powerbalance.com/southafrica/test-video . The “test” conducted here is similar to the test that is frequently conducted at points of sale, where potential customers are shown that there are benefits in terms of strength and balance when wearing a PowerBalance product.
However, these demonstrations are simple variants of what is known as “applied kinesiology”, frequently used by stage magicians to produce entirely subjective perceptions of increased strength and balance. Not only has this effect been shown to be entirely subjective and unscientific by peer-reviewed academic research , but it has also been shown to be false in double-blind experiments conducted with PowerBalance products , where a PowerBalance salesperson was unable to correctly identify which participants in the experiment were wearing a bracelet, and which were not.
This test video, as well as variants on this test demonstrated by those hoping to sell PowerBalance products, misleads consumers into thinking that the perceived effects of PowerBalance products are scientifically demonstrable and reliable. In actual fact, the perceived effects are entirely unreliable, unrelated to the product itself, and entirely subjective rather than being a physical consequence of the wearing of any PowerBalance product.Conclusion
The false and misleading claims detailed above are also reproduced on package design, as well as in retail store promotional material for PowerBalance in South Africa. PowerBalance bracelets are currently sold at various retail outlets around South Africa, including sporting goods stores (Sportsman’s Warehouse), Cape Union Mart and pharmacies. They are worn by a number of professional sportspersons, including members of the South African national rugby and cricket teams.
In all of these cases, as well as in the cases of competing (but similar) companies such as http://powerbalancewristband.co.za/ and http://quantumbracelets.com/index.html, we request that all instances of misleading promotional material be withdrawn.Furthermore, we believe that customers who have purchased such products will, in the majority of cases, have done so under the false belief that these products offered genuine benefits to their balance, strength or athletic performance in general. Given that these products are sold for as much as R500, the misleading and false claims made by PowerBalance have resulted in a not-insignificant material harm to many consumers. It would therefore be appropriate for a full refund on the purchase price to be offered to any consumers who have purchased these products.
There is a precedent for both the retraction and correction of the advertising material in question, as well as for the reimbursement of consumers who have purchased these products. On December 22, 2010, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ruled that PowerBalance should:• only make claims about its products if they are supported by a written report from an independent testing body that meets certain standards
• publish corrective advertising to prevent consumers from being misled in the future
• amend the Australian website to remove any misleading representations
• change the packaging to remove any misleading representations
• offer a refund to any consumers that feel they have been misled, and
• remove the words “performance technology” from the band itself.http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/964074
The Australian section of the PowerBalance website now includes a corrective advertisement, acknowledging that there is no scientific evidence for their claims relating to the products, and offering refunds to customers (http://www.powerbalance.com/australia/CA). However, the same website’s South African section, as well as all their other promotional material, continues to make the false and misleading claims detailed above.
PowerBalance is distributed and marketed in South Africa by:
SPT
PO BOX 6296
Walmer, Port Elizabeth, 6065
South Africa
Tel: 041 373 8576
Fax: 086 620 5590
info@powerbalanceshop.co.za
Consumer rights activists worldwide are being challenged to participate in a global ‘overdose’ on homeopathic pills, in order to raise public awareness that the remedies are in fact worthless.
The ’10:23 Challenge’, scheduled to culminate worldwide in February 2011, is a follow-up to the protest staged by the 10:23 Campaign in the UK, which saw almost 400 demonstrators take to the streets across UK to voice their concern at the sales of the pills in leading pharmacy ‘Boots’, and the support for such ‘remedies’ on the NHS.
Michael Marshall of the 10:23 Campaign explained the plans for 2011: “This year has been a great year in the UK for raising awareness of homeopathy – with doctors, pharmacists, politicians and – above all – members of the public speaking out against this discredited ‘treatment’.
“However, the case against homeopathy extends far beyond the UK – all around the world, people are being told that homeopathy is a valid form of treatment, and often with tragic consequences. It’s a global problem, and it requires global action.
“This is why we’re announcing the 10:23 Challenge for 2011 – we want to show global unity by gathering protesters from more than 10 countries, and more than 23 cities. Our aim is to have more than 1023 activists publicly gathering over the weekend of 5th-6th February, to make a statement: Homeopathy – There’s Nothing In It.
“Of course, safety is our number one concern – not all homeopathy is prepared as honestly and cleanly as the manufacturers state, and can include real ingredients which could be potentially dangerous. With this in mind we urge anyone wishing to get involved to prepare their own homeopathic remedies, or contact the 10:23 Campaign for more information (contact@1023.org.uk)”.
While International participation is yet to be announced, the challenge will culminate in a demonstration in Manchester on February 6th, at the ‘QED: Question. Explore. Discover.’ event, with over 300 protesters participating the largest ever single demonstration against homeopathy.
The 10:23 Campaign is an international movement headed by the Merseyside Skeptics Society, which aims to raise awareness of homeopathy, a multi-million pound industry based on a long-discredited 18th century ritual, selling remedies to the public which have no scientific basis and no credible evidence for their efficacy beyond the placebo effect.
While dispensing sugar pills may seem harmless, in reality the endorsement of homeopathic potions by leading health providers can have grave consequences. In September 2010, a BBC investigation discovered registered homeopaths administering ineffective ‘alternatives’ to the MMR vaccine, and in 2002 9-month old infant Gloria Sam died from serious infections after her eczema – a condition commonly treated by homeopaths – was treated with homeopathic remedies.
Mr Marshall concluded: “Homeopathy has had more than two centuries to prove itself a useful remedy, but the results consistently come back negative. In the meantime, people are being fooled into believing these pills work, often causing genuine harm. This is unacceptable, and on February 5th, we’re going to demonstrate how strongly people feel about this issue.”
For more information about the 10:23 Challenge, visit www.1023.org.uk or contact contact@1023.org.uk.
Tom Moultrie’s Sad facts – occasional musings on the abuse of statistics
I was alerted to this statistical horror by a friend who found it on the Guardian’s website; the screengrab above shows the original source cited by the Guardian. Nowhere on oneinnine’s website is evidence marshalled to support their contention.
“In South Africa a woman is more likely to be raped than learn how to read”. Say what?
A micro-nanosecond’s consideration should have you scratching your head in trying to interpret this “fact”. Continue reading “SA women more likely to be raped than to learn how to read?”
The Mail&Guardian of November 5 carried an opinion column by Andile Mngxitama which described Gareth Cliff as “the face of white supremacy“. Racism and other forms of prejudice are clear threats to a free society, and the FSI therefore notes with concern the racist tone and content of Mngxitama’s analysis. Pasted below is the original text of a submission to the Mail&Guardian in response to Mngxitama, published on November 12 under the title “White supremacy rant against Gareth Cliff sullies rational political debate“. Continue reading “A response to Mngxitama”
The South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms was publicly endorsed in October this year, at a ceremony attended by Constitutional Court Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke. Fortunately, it is not (yet) law – merely an expression of what all the major religious groupings would like to see enacted in law.
Clause 6.4 expresses the view that
Every person has the right to religious dignity, which includes not to be victimised, ridiculed or slandered on the ground of their faith, religion, convictions or religious activities. No person may advocate hatred that is based on religion, and that constitutes incitement to violence or to cause physical harm.
This clause is one of many that should be of concern to all who are committed to South Africa’s Constitutional values, particularly those endorsing and defending freedom of speech. While limitations on free speech can be justified – and are currently provided for – in the case of hate-speech, words like “victimised” and “ridiculed” are absurdly broad, and could be used to justify limitations on any speech act that is offensive to believers. As we know, the bar for offense in these areas is set very low.
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