Honest Universe

Band-Aid is a household name, but can you trust the way they’re promoted? For years Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturers of Band-Aid adhesive bandages, have been making a simple claim about them. If you put a Band-Aid on a cut, it will heal faster than it would have if left uncovered. Specifically, they say it … Continue reading Can you trust Band-Aids? →

The Pharmacy Council has opened consultations on a proposed new code of ethics. Following an initial consultation in 2015 where they’d proposed changing one part of the existing code, the council has since decided the whole code could do with a review. The Pharmacy Council is the regulatory body for pharmacists in New Zealand, set … Continue reading Pharmacy ethics: Have your say →

New Zealand has several layers of regulation to protect us against misleading health claims. Sometimes they all fail. My struggle against quackery over the last few years has given me some familiarity with the ways we’re protected against it, and with their shortcomings. Misleading people about their healthcare options is something that is clearly unethical. … Continue reading A Failure to Regulate →

A decades old loophole in New Zealand’s patient protection legislation is letting quacks get away with health fraud, right under the regulator’s nose. In New Zealand, patients are protected from health fraud scams by the Medicines Act. This legislation, which is enforced by Medsafe, only allows products making strong health claims to be sold if … Continue reading State-Approved Health Fraud Scams →

Don’t be fooled, colloidal silver sprays and creams won’t benefit your health. In the continuing trend of the New Zealand media advertising ineffective health products as though it’s news, stuff.co.nz has published an article pushing colloidal silver for treating infections and skin conditions. The article quotes a naturopath and sales representative from Skybright Natural Health, … Continue reading Colloidal Silver Blues →

Last week, ACC’s spending on alternative therapies was in the media spotlight. There were pieces on both TV3’s Story and Stuff asking the question of whether or not this spending is justified. This was prompted by some new information that’s been released by ACC under the Official Information Act, regarding their funding of acupuncture treatments. … Continue reading $26m for Acupuncture →

Most New Zealand chiropractors make misleading claims. Through my role as the chair of the Society for Science Based Healthcare, I see a lot of misleading health claims in advertisements. Many of them are pretty clearly bogus; I’ve seen claims that drinking “harmonized water” is as good as sunscreen and that bacteria make your cells … Continue reading Misleading claims common among chiropractors →

The Pharmaceutical Society doesn’t think pharmacists should be able to sell healthcare products with no evidence of efficacy. Last week I wrote about the Pharmacy Council’s proposal to change their Code of Ethics, and summarised the submissions that I was aware of. One important organisation that was missing from that roundup is the Pharmaceutical Society. … Continue reading Pharmacists Don’t Want to Sell Unproven Products →

The Pharmacy Council has proposed a change to their code of ethics, here’s everything you need to know. The Pharmacy Council is the statutory body responsible for setting standards of conduct and competence of pharmacists in New Zealand. They have a code of ethics, the Safe Effective Pharmacy Practice Code of Ethics 2011, which currently … Continue reading Pharmacy Council’s Code of Ethics Proposal: Submissions Roundup →

I’ve written a lot about ethical pharmacy practice in New Zealand, advocating for New Zealand pharmacists to choose not to promote or sell healthcare products that aren’t supported by credible evidence of efficacy. I’ve also complained in the past about misleading advertising of ineffective healthcare products in pharmacies. I strongly believe that we should be … Continue reading Ethical Pharmacy Practice 6: An Opportunity for Change →