001. Andy Lewis writes at the Quackometer in "The Homeopaths and the Advertising Standards Authority" (2011-04-01):
"it is now the end of the Nightingale Collaboration’s first month of operation [...] set up to 'challenge misleading claims in healthcare advertising' [...] focusing on the bizarre world of pseudoscientific and superstitious medicine: an area that appears to get away with the most ludicrous health claims with little attention from any authority [...] the Nightingale Collaboration asked people to report homeopaths who are making unsubstantiated claims to the Advertising Standards Authority [...] it would appear that this campaign is likely to have far reaching consequences [...] it looks like this simple campaign could severely constrain the ability for quacks of all varieties to advertise their misleading claims on the web, without facing very serious consequences [...] the ASA received over a hundred and fifty complaints about over a hundred homeopath’s websites [...and warned them] 'you must remove any content from your website that claims directly or indirectly that homeopathy and homeopathic products can diagnose / treat / help health conditions' [...] battle lines have been drawn."
Note: this looks to be an interesting contest, and Andy has a lot of analysis of the UK consumer protection scene at the full post.
