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Saturday 27 February 2010
*Indiumease - helps you recover from your anti-ageing!
UPDATE, 12 Mar: ASA say "We've already investigated and upheld complaints about this issue and I'm concerned to hear that advertising like this continues. I've therefore passed the case to our Compliance team, which will follow it up."
Like many of my readers, I spend half the day stuffing myself with pills and remedies in a desperate attempt to deny my own mortality.
All this quackery takes a certain toll on my health, but today I read that Indiumease can help me recover from the anti-ageing process!
Health Approach Company offer Indiumease in the UK, but as I can't find their website, you should call them on (+44) 1380 728278 for more information. I have suggested to the ASA that they do the same.
"I write to complain about an advert published in Nexus Magazine, Vol. 17, No. 2 (February-March 2010).
The advert, for "Health Approach Company", is entitled "Indiumese".
I have submitted a scan of the advert. I can provide an original copy of the advert by post, if required.
I believe the advert is in breach of several sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code.
1. Nexus Magazine is published in the UK "under licence by Nexus Magazine (UK) Ltd". It is available in high street shops like WH Smiths.
2. The February-March 2010 issue (Vol. 17, No. 2, page 71) carried an advert entitled "Indiumese". The advert promoted two products: "Indiumese", a "liquid mineral" available in a half ounce bottle, and "Organica Silica", available in a litre bottle.
3. The CAP Code, Section 3.1, states "Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation."
4. I challenge whether Health Approach Company holds documentary evidence for any of the following claims:
(i) Indiumese may help with type-2 diabetes;
(ii) Indiumese normalises gland function by increasing mineral absorption;
(iii) Indiumese helps anti-ageing recovery;
(iv) Indiumese may normalise the thyroid, pancreas and other glands;
(v) Indiumese makes indium absorbable for the first time;
(vi) Given the comparitive rarity of indium, whether Indiumese contains any indium whatsoever.
5. I challenge whether Health Approach Company holds documentary evidence for the claim that the "organic silica" it supplies can help dispel concerns such as arthritis, rheumatism, asthma, cardiovascular problems, cholesterol imbalance, diabetes, psoriasis, shingles, sinusitis, or any other condition.
6. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser, Nexus Magazine, or with the publishing industry in general. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser or Nexus Magazine.
7. I confirm that I am happy to be identified as the complainant."
NB. I mistakenly spelled "Indiumease" as "Indiumese" in the complaint.
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I happened upon this website by accident, while doing some research. I don't want to imply that I would take "Indiumease" to attempt to prolong my life - clearly that would be ridiculous - but I'm struggling to understand your motivation for writing hundreds of letters to the ASA. I would genuinely be interested to know.
ReplyDeleteIf you wished to do something really useful you could write to the GMC and request that their General Practitioners stop prescribing anti-depressants to people at a rabid rate, particularly SSRIs, when they have failed to outperform placebos in clinical tests, and have a multitude of side-effects. This is what happened to my mum recently, when she went to the doctor with a stomach complaint.
I really don't think any sensible person is going to use "Indiumease", whereas people do hang on the words and recommendations of Doctors, and my personal experience of them is that there is at least as much quackery in that field as in so-called alternative medicine. The only difference being, alternative medicine has an essentially benign effect on our society, as few people pay any attention to it whatsoever, whereas mainstream medicine has done no end of damage.
It can't possibly have escaped your attention that the answer to all minor ailments nowadays is to pop another pill, not look for the cause of the problem. This is why it has been stated that the United States no longer has healthcare, it has sickcare. I really genuinely believe that if you put the amount of effort into exposing this simple reality, that you have into revealing that psychics can't perform in controlled conditions - which surely any reasonable person is aware of - then you could make a positive contribution, and it would be considerably more worthwhile than this. This is a very impressive blog from an 'anal' perspective, but it seems to me that you're taking on David and ignoring Goliath. Can't say I blame you, actually.
Hi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteMedical debates are resolved within a structure of peer-reviewed journals to which only qualified professionals are invited to contribute. People like you and I don't get a seat at the table, much less a vote, because we don't hold the right qualifications.
People who make false health claims in their advertising are breaking the law, a law which is only enforced when members of the public complain.
Does that answer your questions?
You´re on your right to believe what you choose but, where is that so-claimed advance in medicine if our people is dying at younger ages than 100 years ago?
ReplyDeleteWhy do doctors die as young as normal civilians?
By the way, I do not enhace the use of that but you cannot be sure until you take Indiumease. Also, the FDA does not enhance the use of adaptogens as studies are not conclusive about their benefits. But I have taken them for 2 weeks and I can tell my mind efficiency has increased to at least 200% (increased memory, concentration capability, and reduced sleepiness mood).
Remember, if sickness were prevented, medicine would have no sense, and also, there would be no money for pharmaceutical companies.
Hi David,
ReplyDelete1. Why do you think that "people are dying at younger ages than 100 years ago"? Life expectancy for a UK male was 47 in 1900; now it is 77.
2. Why do you think that doctors die as young as normal civilians? The largest study I could find (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1128798/ - published 1997) says that hospital consultants - 20,000 of them were analysed - found that they had "low overall death rates" partly due to "better access to health care".
3. Can you point me to some evidence that Indiumease is effective, or do you prefer that I just take your word for it?
4. Likewise for adaptogens. I'm not aware of any rigorous clinical evidence that any so-called "adaptogen" is effective. Can you show me some?
5. Can you show me some source (a medical textbook, perhaps) which states that the goal of medicine is the elimination of disease? I was under the impression that, since all diseases have been constantly evolving during the history of our planet, this was considered impossible.