Deepak Chopra, the alternative medicine guru, needs no introduction.
Deepak (he's the one on the left - or is that him on the right? I can't be sure) is the author of Magical Mind Magical Body, a set of CDs offered to readers of Kindred Spirit magazine (advert available here and here).
Alongside the usual preposterous mumbo-jumbo can be found a series of altogether more serious claims."Doctors are baffled...Is it possible [to]...erase pain better than drugs...?""Dr Deepak Chopra will explain his ideas on how to: ...Say goodbye to pharamceutical drugs...""In the West doctors believe in the "magic bullet" - take a sleeping pill, take an antibiotic...this approach does work to some extent but only to relieve symptoms...not the underlying cause...the imbalance is still present."That sounds suspiciously like discouraging essential medical treatment to me - an act which is specifically forbidden by the ASA's advertising codes.Not content with this offence, the advertisers (Nightingale Connant of Torquay) boast that listening to the CDs will teach you"How to eat whatever you wish without gaining weight"I didn't even bother counting the sections of the code that claim breaches. Here's my complaint to the ASA!"I write to complain about a leaflet inserted into copies of "Kindred Spirit" magazine (Issue 106, Sep/Oct 2010).The leaflet, for Nightingale Conant, promotes a pack of six CDs entitled "Magical Mind Magical Body".I suspect that the advert may be in breach of several sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code (2010). I enclose a scan of the leaflet.1. The leaflet contains the text:"Doctors are baffled... Is it possible for the mind to create perfect health...heal illness, erase pain better than drugs, protect you against disease, reverse the ageing process, help you lose weight...?"2. The leaflet continues:"In this remarkable 6 hours talking book...Dr Deepak Chopra will explain his ideas on how to: Unleash the healing powers of your mind...Increase your immunity to illness...Learn a simple way to overcome addiction...Say goodbye to pharmaceutical drugs...How to eat whatever you wish without gaining weight...Create perfect health and total wellbeing..."3. Under Sections 3.7 and 12.1 of the CAP Code (2010) I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate any of the following claims:(i) Listening to the CDs can "create perfect health", "heal illness", "erase pain better than drugs", "protect you against diseases", "reverse the ageing process" or "help you lose weight"(ii) Listening to the CDs can "increase your immunity to illness", "overcome addiction", help you "say goodbye to pharmaceutical drugs", allow you to "eat whatever you wish without gaining weight" and "create perfect health"4. The leaflet continues:"Deepark Chopra's work combines his training in western medicine with the 6000 year old [sic] science of healing called Ayurveda from his homeland of India..."5. (i) Despite careful searches, I have been unable to find a substantial body of clinical evidence attesting to the efficacy of Ayurveda. Nor can I find a description of the Ayurvedic methodology that seems to be congruent with the scientific method. (ii) Therefore, under Section 3.1 I challenge whether the claim that Ayurveda is a "science" is misleading.6. The leaflet continues:"In the West doctors believe in the "magic bullet" - take a sleeping pill, take an antibiotic...this approach does work to some extent but only to relieve symptoms...not the underlying cause...the imbalance is still present."7. Under Sections 3.7 and 12.1 of the CAP Code (2010) I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate the claim that antibiotics do not treat the "underlying cause" of infections, and under Section 3.1 I challenge whether the quoted text is misleading.8. Under Section 12.2, I challenge whether the following statements are likely to discourage essential treatment:(i) "Doctors are baffled...Is it possible [to]...erase pain better than drugs...?"(ii) "Dr Deepak Chopra will explain his ideas on how to: ...Say goodbye to pharamceutical drugs..."(iii) "In the West doctors believe in the "magic bullet" - take a sleeping pill, take an antibiotic...this approach does work to some extent but only to relieve symptoms...not the underlying cause...the imbalance is still present."9. I challenge whether the statement "How to eat whatever you wish without gaining weight" is in breach of several parts of Section 13 of the CAP Code.10. Finally, I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate their claim that the mind has "magical healing powers" which can be "unleash[ed]" by listening to the CD.11. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or the magazine. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser or the magazine."
This is Qurban Hussain, the Lib Dem candidate for Luton South in last month's general election.
Qurban ran his campaign out of an office at 351 Dunstable Road, Luton. (I live in a neighbouring constituency and don't belong to any political party).
Today's ASA complaint is about a company called Ayushya Ltd.UPDATE, 25 Aug: ASA advise me that the advertisers have agreed to withdraw the advert and not to repeat the claims it makes.
The company specialises in Ayurvedic medicine, a herbal medicine tradition from India. (According to the Quackwatch website, it's not a "tradition" at all, but the product of the Maharashi Yogi's verdant imagination.)
Ayushya's shopfront window makes a number of pseudoscientific claims - my favourite is that Ayurveda can treat diabetes - but my letter to the ASA concerns a recent newspaper advert.
The advert unwisely claims you can "LOSE 2 INCHES in just 2 WEEKS!" with Ayurvedic massage which, by the way, is also "Guaranteed to stop hair loss in just 2 months!"By the way, Ayushya Ltd operates out of premises at... 351 Dunstable Road, Luton!I don't know whether Qurban and Ayushya are connected - I rather hope not, given Qurban's good reputation as a local councillor. A firm of accountants also operate out of the same address.
Still, the tenuous connection enlivens an otherwise straightforward ASA complaint."I write to complain about an advert which appears in the "Luton Herald and Post" newspaper (Thursday, June 24, p41).The advert, for Ayushya Ltd, promotes Ayurvedic Massage.I suspect that the advert may be in breach of four sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code. I can provide an original copy of the advert by post, if required.1. Ayurvedic Medicine is a system of traditional herbal medicine, originating in India, which commonly incorporates both yoga and massage.2. Clinical evidence for the efficacy of ayurvedic treatments is thin on the ground, and generally of poor quality. For example, a 2007 Cochrane Review, "Ayurvedic medicine for schizophrenia", concludes [1]:"Ayurvedic medication may have some effects for treatment of schizophrenia, but has been evaluated only in a few small pioneering trials."The 2010 paper, "Herbal medicines for asthma: a systematic review" [2], concluded:"No definitive evidence for any of the herbal preparations [including a number of ayurvedic herbal medicines] emerged. Considering the popularity of herbal medicine with asthma patients, there is urgent need for stringently designed clinically relevant randomised clinical trials for herbal preparations in the treatment of asthma."3. The ASA Council has in the past upheld a complaint concerning an advert for ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for a number of conditions [3]. (The advertisers in that case were not Ayushya Ltd.)3. (i) I have found two studies discussing ayurvedic medicine and weight loss. The first study [4] suggests: "Hence, diets based on Ayurvedic constitution may prove useful in promoting weight loss. Though these promising findings support traditional Indian Ayurvedic scriptures, more closely controlled trials are needed to substantiate these findings."(ii) The second study [5], an RCT, reports:"A significant weight loss was observed in drug therapy groups when compared with the placebo."(iii) The positive results of these two studies, both published in India, do not appear to have been replicated by anybody else.4. I have been unable to find any clinical evidence for the efficacy of ayurvedic medicine in preventing hair loss.5. Under Sections 3.1 and 50.1, I challenge whether the advertiser holds documentary evidence to prove the following claim, and I challenge whether the claim is backed by evidence, where appropriate consisting of clinical trials conducted on people:(i) Ayurvedic massage is "guaranteed to stop hair loss in just 2 months"6. Under Sections 3.1 and 51.1 of the CAP Code, I challenge whether the advertiser holds documentary evidence to prove the following claim, and I challenge whether the claim made for the effectiveness of the product is backed if appropriate by rigorous trials on people:(i) Ayurvedic massage can make you "LOSE 2 INCHES in just 2 WEEKS!"7. Under Section 7.1, I challenge whether the advertiser's claim that they are able to offer "FREE medical advice" is misleading.8. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or the magazine. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser or the magazine.Footnotes:[1] Agarwal V, Abhijnhan A, Raviraj P. Ayurvedic medicine for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD006867. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006867 http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab006867.html[2] Huntley A, Ernst E. Herbal medicines for asthma: a systematic review. Thorax 2000;55:925-929 doi:10.1136/thorax.55.11.925 http://thorax.bmj.com/content/55/11/925.abstract[3] http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2009/7/Kerala-Ayurvedic-Health-Clinic/TF_ADJ_46582.aspx[4] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19161047[5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2278549"
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