“Freedom of expression may be under threat in Australia from companies using legal action, or the threat of it, to try and silence their critics. A recent case involves a health professional being sued for questioning the efficacy of a complementary medicine.”
John S Dowden writing in the Australian Prescriber details the case of Dr Ken Harvey who complained about the promotion of SensaSlim to a panel that considers whether advertising has breached the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code, the Therapeutic Goods Regulations or the Therapeutic Act. The article is written in plain English and entitled Critical appraisal: court in the Act.
SensaSlim “was said to be a combination of weight loss ingredients. Spraying it into the mouth was claimed to suppress appetite. Supporting evidence was said to come from ‘the world’s largest weight loss trial’. This was reported to have had ‘sensational results’ with 87% of the participants losing at least 10% of their body weight. Advertising for the product appeared in print and electronic media. Investors had the opportunity to buy franchises, reportedly for around $60 000 each.” In Dr. Harvey’s view the claims were baseless.
SensaSlim responded to Dr. Harvey’s complaint by launching a defamation action in the Supreme Court of New South Wales seeking damages of $800 000. The company was liquidated but the case continued. Ultimately it was decided in favour of Dr. Harvey and he was awarded costs although in view of SensaSlim’s demise he has little chance of recovering them. Just to make sure he got the message the company’s director launched a new defamation action in the Supreme Court of Queensland now seeking over $1 million. The case was dismissed in February 2012. The punishment of course is in the process.
Along the way Dowden observes that the “regulation of complementary medicines in Australia appears to be weak. The system should at least protect the public.” And I thank Tim Minchin for the observation that complementary medicine that is proved to work is just called medicine.
Dowden sums it up with “It is unacceptable that a health professional can face financial ruin for informing the government’s medicines regulator that its rules are being broken.”
bobmcgee 