Categories

Open season for snake oil salesmen?

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

November 23rd, 2015 | Tags: , , , , | Category: | Leave a comment

Supplement manufacturers take advertising authority to court

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
November 15th, 2015 | Tags: , , , | Category: | Leave a comment

Antagolin – ASA breach ruling June 2015

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“Antagolin combats insulin resistance and will help you to lose weight effectively” was ruled against and had to be withdrawn.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

July 22nd, 2015 | Tags: , , , , | Category: | Leave a comment

Antagolin – Still no robust evidence II

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
August 7th, 2014 | Tags: , , , | Category: | Leave a comment

Antagolin – Still no robust evidence I

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
August 7th, 2014 | Tags: , , , | Category: | Leave a comment

Antagolin – ASA ruling

Posted 11 April 2014

Make no mistake, the evidence for Antagolin being an effective weight loss / insulin resistance treatment is not robust at all. There is no study published on this product, no evidence that the ingredients are effective, and now, the products is actually an illegal medicine for CAM regulations published will not permit it as a CAM, and it is not registered as a medicine.

Read this ASA ruling with our deconstruction to see why we call this product a scam.

… Read the rest
April 12th, 2014 | Tags: , , | Category: ASA (SA) Rulings | Leave a comment

Antagolin, ASA agrees, no evidence it works!

Posted 07 March 2014

Dr Goldstein lodged a consumer complaint against a Medical Nutritional Institute’s television commercial promoting Antagolin. The commercial features a very overweight female in underwear, stating “I don’t want to look like this anymore. What is happening to my body? Why can’t I lose weight?” A male voice-over the states “You may be suffering from insulin resistance. Measure your waist. Females measuring more than 88cm may have insulin resistance. Antagolin combats insulin resistance and will help you to lose weight effectively. Antagolin, developed by the Medical Nutritional Institute”.

The complainant submitted, in essence, that there is no evidence that the product with its ingredient mix has any benefits as made in the claims. She explained that the ingredients listed for the product have been scarcely researched, and are potentially toxic. The dosage used in the product is also well below what was researched.

The Medical Nutritional Institute’s … Read the rest

March 7th, 2014 | Tags: , , | Category: ASA (SA) Rulings | Leave a comment