Kicked in the McTeeth

Ben Goldacre of   Bad Science has been writing for some time about  "Dr" Gillian McKeith, her  misleading  qualification, her products and loony TV behaviour on Channel4 .

This morning, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has ordered a couple of  McTeeths's products- " Fastformula Wild Pink" and "Fastformula Horny" removed from sale. The decision includes this finding:

" The MHRA determined that both products were medicines because of the presence of some well-known medicinal herbs and because of the claims being made by Dr McKeith’s organisation. Only licensed medicines may be advertised to the public."

It will be interesting to see if  Channel 4 commission a further series of the trashy  "You are What You Eat".

Comments

[SilverTiger]

To me personally, it is inconceivable that a public organization would permit one of its presenters to use an unmerited title. That surely counts as misrepresentation just as it would if a person falsely claiming to be an MD set up a practice and started treating people.

When I moved to the science faculty of a particular polytechnic (later university) I discovered that a member of the academic staff was using the title "Dr" having bought it from a company in the US selling false titles. He was instructed to remove the nameplate from his door. He refused. The caretaker was instructed to remove it and did so. The false Dr somehow got hold of the plate and superglued it to the door.

I find the cynical effrontery of such people stunning. There ought to be a way of dealing with them such as taking out an injunction forbidding them to use the false title.