Originally Posted by Sib69:
“the link won't work for me. can someone give me the highlights please?”
It's a valid link, but perhaps you'd have to be registered at the Guardian site or something?
It's an article by Ben Goldacre from Monday 12 February 2007.
Anyway, here are some highlights:
Someone
Quote:
“took McKeith to the Advertising Standards Authority, complaining about her using the title "doctor" on the basis of a qualification gained by correspondence course from a non-accredited American college. He won. She may have sidestepped the publication of a damning ASA draft adjudication at the last minute by accepting - "voluntarily" - not to call herself "doctor" in her advertising any more. But would you know it, a copy of that draft adjudication has fallen into our laps, and it concludes that "the claim 'Dr' was likely to mislead". The advert allegedly breached two clauses of the Committee of Advertising Practice code: "substantiation" and "truthfulness".
Is it petty to take pleasure in this? No. McKeith is a menace to the public understanding of science. She seems to misunderstand not nuances, but the most basic aspects of biology - things that a 14-year-old could put her straight on.”
It goes into things she gets wildly wrong about chlorophyll and DNA, her questionable use of questionable references, cargo cult science, her tendency to issue misleading statements and legal threats, the "Fast Formula Horny Goat Weed Complex" controversy (the advertising violated medicines legislation and pills had to be withdrawn from sale, she tried to blame the EU), ...
Then her claim to have a PhD from the American College of Nutrition -- she didn't, but the "mistake" was blamed on a work experience kid posting the wrong CV, even though the claim had also appeared in one of her books -- and ... then we finally get to the
Dead Cat Part
Quote:
“She even sneaked one into this very newspaper, during a profile on her: "Doubt has also been cast on the value of McKeith's certified membership of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants, especially since Guardian journalist Ben Goldacre managed to buy the same membership online for his dead cat for $60. McKeith's spokeswoman says of this membership: "Gillian has 'professional membership', which is membership designed for practising nutritional and dietary professionals, and is distinct from 'associate membership', which is open to all individuals. To gain professional membership Gillian provided proof of her degree and three professional references."
Well. My dead cat Hettie is also a "certified professional member" of the AANC. I have the certificate hanging in my loo. Perhaps it didn't even occur to the journalist that McKeith could be wrong. More likely, of course, in the tradition of nervous journalists, I suspect she was hurried, on deadline, and felt she had to get McKeith's "right of reply" in, even if it cast doubts on - I'll admit my beef here - my own hard-won investigative revelations about my dead cat. I mean, I don't sign my dead cat up to bogus professional organisations for the good of my health, you know.
But those who criticise McKeith have reason to worry. McKeith goes after people, and nastily. ...”
At this point, we are less than half way through the article.
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