| Posted 12 February 2021 Readers may be aware that Albe Geldenhuys (USN) and MNI (Antagolin) (Dr Conrad Smith) is suing CamCheck and Dr Harris Steinman for alleged defamation. We regard this as what is recognised internationally as a SLAPP suite (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation). In other words, these two companies are trying to silence CamCheck and Dr Steinman for pointing out the insufficient robust evidence, among other, in support of the claims being made for their products. South Africa has not previously recognised SLAPP suits for what they are, until now. In a recent court ruling, Judge Goliath – for the first time in South Africa, acknowledged this pernicious practice for what it is. Quotes from the ruling: “It is trite that legal process is abused when it is used for a purpose other than that for what it has been intended or designed for. Corporations should not be … Read the rest Posted 17 March 2017 USN, Albe Geldenhuys and Antagolin have instituted High Court action against Dr Steinman alleging defamation for Dr Steinman having pointed out factual deficiencies in their claims for their products. This parallels Dr Brathwaite’s action against the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society. This article published in GroundUp, reports on the court finding in favour of the latter, i.e., dismissing Dr Brathwaite’s action. “Defamatory statements are essentially statements that damage or harm the reputation of a person. However, even if the statements are defamatory, they can still be protected speech if they are true or fair comment and in the public benefit.” Court strikes blow against quackery Dr Hugh Brathwaite falsely claimed that his product could prevent HIV transmission By Safura Abdool Karim 16 March 2017 On Wednesday, Judge M A Makume of the Johannesburg High Court dismissed an application by Dr Hugh Brathwaite, a medical … Read the rest Posted 23 November 2015 This article written by patent attorney, Hans Muhlberg, is reproduced here with permission from the author. Open season for snake oil salesmen? Does the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) have the jurisdiction to rule on adverts placed by companies that aren’t members of the ASA? If you’re involved in ASA matters, you’ll know that it’s not uncommon for the ASA to rule on such ads. You’ll also know that these rulings tend to be effective, despite the fact that the ASA is a voluntary body, whose rulings are only binding on its members. The reason is simple – the SA media companies (electronic, TV, print, billboard) belong to the ASA, which means that as soon as the ASA rules that an ad contravenes the ASA Code (by making unsubstantiated claims for example), the media companies refuse to touch the ad. So the ad’s … Read the rest Posted 17 November 2015 This article, written by Megan Power, appeared in the Sunday Times of 15 November 2015. [Permission to republish it was kindly granted by the Sunday Times.] The article highlights the legal actions of Antagolin (MNI), Herbex, Solal and USN, against the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority), as well as against Dr Harris Steinman. Megan Power makes the accurate point: “There’s a quiet war being waged against South Africa’s advertising watchdog“. All these companies have had ASA rulings against claims for their products. See also the previous article about this. Homemark has in the meantime persuaded the ASA to suspend all processes and procedures regarding complaints against Homemark, until the MNI appeal, or the actual court case is concluded, depending which happens first. All these companies are being represented by Saul Shoot of Fluxmans. Watchdog in chains as advertiser fights back Court ruling against advertising authority … Read the rest On 15 November 2013 the Minister of Health finally published Regulations to the Medicines Act (Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965 (Act 101 of 1965), not for comment, but for implementation. They defined complementary medicines for the first time in South Africa. In addition the Regulations incrementally “called up” various complementary medicines over the following six years. If a product that has been called up, and has not been registered, or an application for registration has not been received by the MCC, then according to the Medicines Act (Section 14(1)) it may no longer be sold. The Regulations also created a new category of medicines – category D – which are complementary medicines “subdivided into such disciplines as may be determined by the Council after consultation with the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa.” This left “dietary supplements” out in the cold and the Health Products Association … Read the rest Posted 15 November 2015 The two articles below, highlight Antagolin’s interdict in High Court against the ASA to prevent the ASA from taking action against claims being made for their product. Both are written by the journalist, Elaine Swanepoel: the first, published in Health24, is a translation of the second, published in Die Rapport. Subsequent to the High Court action, Antagolin (Dr Conrad Smith and Mariaan du Plessis) are now taking the ASA and Dr Harris Steinman to the High Court, demanding over R17 million and R200,000 respectively. … Read the rest Posted 06 October 2015 This article, below, published in Times Live, draws attention to Vigro (a Natura product) trying to prevent arbitration on whether the claims that the product can regrow hair was supported by adequate evidence. The ASA ruled against the claims, and following an appeal by Natura, was referred for arbitration to Prof Nonhlanhla Khumalo, head of the Department of Dermatology, University of Cape Town. The article also highlights USN’s High Court Action against Dr Harris Steinman. USN alleges that Steinman had defamed them. Steinman is defending the action. More than 40 complaints have been laid against USN with the ASA. … Read the rest Posted 22 July 2015 In the first ASA ruling against Antagolin, the claims “Antagolin combats insulin resistance and will help you to lose weight effectively” was ruled against and had to be withdrawn. It should be said that even Big Pharma, with millions at their disposal, have been unable to develop a great weight-loss product. Yet Dr Conrad Smith and the pharmacist, Mariaan Du Plessis, claim that they have. A subsequent appeal was dismissed. It should be noted that no studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals, to date, supporting the claims for this product. Indeed, although the MNI website gives the spin that the evidence for the ingredients are sound, the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, finds little support for the claims for the individual ingredients. This did not stop the company for repeating these claims on an advert flighted on MNET. Bizarrely Willem de Klerk Attorneys, on behalf of … Read the rest Posted 07 August 2014 The ASA has previously ruled against the claims for Antagolin. The company submitted new evidence in support of their claims. The ASA requested the two previous complainants to comment on the submission. Based on the ASA’s assessment of the complaint, and the comments, they ruled against the claims for Antagolin. Importantly, Dr Conrad Smith and pharmacist, Mariaan du Plessis, may have opened themselves to being struck of the professional register for conducting a study without ethical approval or informed consent. Ruling 2 … Read the rest Posted 07 August 2014 The ASA has previously ruled against the claims for Antagolin. The company submitted new evidence in support of their claims. The ASA requested the two previous complainants to comment on the submission. Based on the ASA’s assessment of the complaint, and the comments, they ruled against the claims for Antagolin. Importantly, Dr Conrad Smith and pharmacist, Mariaan du Plessis, may have opened themselves to being struck of the professional register for conducting a study without ethical approval or informed consent. Ruling 1 … Read the rest | |