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Advertising
Standards Authority Adjudication - The
International Reiki and Healing Centre
This is one of series of reproductions
on this website of adjudication decisions given by the Advertising Standards
Authority in response to complaints made by members of the public about
advertisements and related publicity promotion placed in the past by
therapists and related organisations working in the Complementary and
Alternative Medicine sector. The reproduction has been made in
accordance with the copyright conditions of the ASA whose website may be
found by clicking here. Reproduction of the adjudication
decision on this page does not imply endorsement of the other content of this
website by the ASA. Reproduction is made purely for
information purposes to raise awareness amongst therapists of the existence
of advertising standards and the requirement to comply with them. The reproduction of this and other
adjudication decisions on this website give examples of advertisements placed
in good faith by therapists and related organisations in the past but which
were judged not to meet required advertising standards. From 1st September 2010, the scope of
jurisdiction of the ASA has been extended to include all forms of digital
publicity and promotional communications. This means that for the first time
the promotional activity of the majority of therapists falls under the remit
of the ASA and many will need to change the content of their websites and to
change the content of their electronic communications to comply with current
advertising standards. A brief summary of the overall framework
for the overall quality control of advertising in the A directory of all the ASA adjudication
decisions posted to this website together with a reproduction of the
Advertising Codes may be found by clicking here.
Adjudication - The
International Reiki and Healing Centre 15
August 2001
The International
Reiki and Healing Centre Complaint Objection to a brochure and exhibition leaflet that
offered training courses in Reiki, a method of healing using spiritual and
life-force energies. They claimed "Learn REIKI with the Honorary
President and HIGHLY HONOURED TEACHER OF TWO JAPANESE REIKI ORGANISATIONS.
REIKI MASTER SENSEI DR ALLAN SWEENEY Phd (AM) ...
was greatly honoured by being invited to be the Honorary President Of 1. to the reference to cures in conjunction with
cancer; and 2. that the use of the word "Dr" implied
Allan Sweeney had medical training The Authority challenged: 3. the reference to serious conditions; and 4. the efficacy of the
treatment. Codes section: 3.1, 7.1, 50.1, 50.3 Adjudication
The advertisers explained that they taught
spiritual healing, meditation, psi-healing,
therapeutic touch, visualisation and other healing methods. 1. Complaint upheld The advertisers said that, because cancer was a
life-threatening illness, they had compiled much evidence to support their
claim. They said they adhered to the Cancer Act and had not meant to imply
that Reiki could cure cancer. The advertisers supplied anecdotal evidence of
one cancer sufferer's response to healing and extracts of studies from books
and the Internet. The Authority considered that the use of the word
"cure" in the heading implied that the conditions listed underneath
it, including cancer, could be cured. It was concerned that the advertisement
implied Reiki could cure cancer. The Authority asked the advertisers to
delete references to cancer from future advertisements and suggested that the
advertisers take legal advice about the Cancer Act before placing similar
advertisements. 2. Complaint upheld The advertisers said Allan Sweeney was a Doctor of
Philosophy in Alternative Medicine and provided a certificate that showed he
had completed a course in that subject from the Indian Board of Alternative
Medicines. The Authority was concerned that, in the context of the advertisement,
the use of the title "Dr" implied that Allan Sweeney was medically
trained. It understood that the course had been completed in a year and
considered that it neither represented a doctorate, a course that typically
took 3 years to complete, nor was related to medical training. The Authority
asked the advertisers to delete the claim from future advertisements. 3. Complaint upheld The advertisers believed their advertisement did
not claim to cure the serious conditions listed. They said they worked
alongside doctors and would not recommend that sufferers of serious medical
conditions should depend solely on Reiki to treat their condition. The
advertisers, nevertheless, provided anecdotal evidence of their patients'
experiences, a video of a television appearance, documents on the history of
Reiki, documents from their Reiki practice, information about the
doctor-healer network and extracts of studies from books and the Internet
including medical professional articles and studies carried out in doctors'
surgeries. They believed the evidence showed Reiki could heal the conditions
listed. The Authority noted the code of practice written by the advertisers
emphasised the importance of working with doctors. It was concerned, however,
that the advertisers had referred to depression, cancer, ME and schizophrenia
and considered that the use of the word "cure" in the heading
implied that the conditions listed underneath it could be cured. It asked the
advertisers to delete claims referring to serious conditions from future
advertisements. 4. Complaint upheld The advertisers provided evidence of anecdotal
experiences and excerpts of studies from books and the Internet. They
believed the evidence showed Reiki could heal the medical problems listed in
the advertisement. The Authority considered that the evidence was
insufficient to support the efficacy of the treatment. It asked the
advertisers to amend their future advertisements with the help of the
Committee of Advertising Practice Copy Advice team. Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast) Date
of posting : 31st August 2010 |
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