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An email newsletter included a section titled:
“What to do about COVID-19?
This is the question of the moment.
Such exciting times!!!!
What do we do?
Upgrade Immune System, pronto!
Vitamin C 4gms
Vitamin D 10,000 IU’s
Zinc, Magnesium
Anti-Viral herbs daily
COVID is not a particularly strong virus, however if you have many other viruses in your system then hang out in 5G or strong electric magnetic fields it is proving to be a big issue.
My advise (sic) is to clean out viruses immediately.
Upregulate your immune system without delay.
As a client of Grangeville Healing you already know how to do this.
Licorice has been proven in laboratories to wipe out corona.
Astragalus, Oregano, Silver, Ginger, Lemon Balm, Olive Leaf Extract
Any of these are a good idea to remove current viruses.
One virus alone can be dealt with, viral loading is a problem.
Anti-viral is essential, now!
5G is definitely showing as being involved as the cases are turning up in 5G areas. Wuhan is China’s first 5G test site with over 10,000 masts been turned on in October.
Protective devises are available from www.5gbioshield.com”
The newsletter included a world map of 5G rollout and a world map of Covid-19 cases.
Within the newsletter was a video of the advertiser discussing Covid-19 and included the following statements:
“So I was not aware of the extent of some of the things happening at home much to my delight and so I’ve been home 3 days now and you’re all inundated I’m sure with the Covid-19 virus updates. So I thought it was worth sharing a few things, it’s getting kind of boring at this point with everyone talking about it, but I think that the remedies are quite important. This little remedy here, it’s called liquorice root extract is the actual cure for Coronavirus, very simple. It’s called liquorice root extract, that will take out, in a laboratory test that will take out any of these viruses. The aspect, it’s not a strong virus, it’s nothing to worry about at all, its quite insignificant, eh, it is a problem if you have viral loading. If you have many viruses in the body and this is very common, it’s normal. These big storms and whatnot and all sorts of pathogens and microbes in those and what we have is a build up of viruses and that’s where it becomes a problem. So it blocks the oxygen exchange of the aveoli. It’s a dry cough, its different to a pneumonia or a typical viral infection which would be quite phlegmy cough, it’s a dry cough and its shown to have some relationship with 5G, particularly very strong wireless frequencies because they are using your oxygen to travel through your body and if there is a lot of viral infections and toxins at the bottom of the lungs, it blocks your oxygen and it tends to drop a little bit. So being a little bit wise about 5G protection would be very good advice at this point. The chance of getting this in Ireland is close to zero, I know they are talking about the numbers going up but I’m not really sure how they are diagnosing them. It’s a few weeks to go through laboratories, maybe with better testing, I’m not really sure. There’s huge amount of positive energy coming out of this, there’s really good feeling, I feel, coming in with this, people are looking after themselves, the topic of virus is becoming very common, we’re talking about how to look after ourselves. People are taking Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Silver, echinacea, oregano, astraganas, herbs take out viruses and this is the real answer to helping ourselves and this is another point, people are helping themselves.”
“I’m sure the people in fear are at home in self-quarantine, those who are not in fear are actually out having a good time, children are certainly having a good time, I’m really pleased for them. (laughs) It’s amazing how people can adapt in such a short space of time, it’s really, really interesting. I feel that this will come and go very quickly, in a couple of days it just won’t be in the news anymore, it will just be a new topic, some new drama in the ark for people to talk about, like what happened to that Coronavirus. It’s really not a very strong virus, if you are in certain areas with 5G I think you would want to look into 5G protection, there is a company online called 5Gbio shield you can buy little USB sticks and they will protect your energy field or look into Mike Emery organised bubble, or William Wright, em, or other clothes like that. 5G protection is really important if you live in Dublin, Waterford, Clare I believe, Cork or some of those urban areas. Down here in Wexford at the moment there shouldn’t be any issues at all, we’ll see. It’s worth knowing that liquorice root extract will take out the Coronavirus and I would recommend taking anti-virals now, cleaning your body out, getting rid of any viruses that are in the body, burning something like eucalyptus oil in your house using a diffuser, keeping the airways open, and just everything is changing in life, there’s some really interesting aspects to this, how it was created, some of the laboratories involved and how it was spread and the intention and how that has actually been flipped around some very cool things are coming out Hugh Anon and where we go on we go all is passing some very interesting information about that. So how a negative can be turned into a positive, and really cool things happening on the Earth at this time. It’s time for change, it’s a time to be able to adapt, it’s a time to look after yourself, to be strong in yourself, to clean viruses out of your body, research and okay, people are spending more time on their own, or less in bigger crowds, I mean the pubs were empty anyway, I don’t know how much a big deal less in the workplace is, it’s fine, its okay. So use this time to go within, take a spiritual path and meditate. Yoga enhances your physical body, your mental body, your spiritual body, and use this time to make yourself stronger, there’s really cool things coming out with this, a lot more awareness, and yeah. Anyway, I’m back to work, I am working with viruses and of course if you feel that you have a dry cough and a high temperature and whatnot you are asked to isolate, at least to some degree. You can phone me, you can email me, I can help you from a distance but other than that I have been treating viruses for years and years and years, I’ve treated a lot more serious viruses than this so well, the door is open. Thank you.”
Complaint
Two complaints were received on the following grounds:
Issue 1: The advertising was misleading as it claimed that lab tests have shown liquorice to be an effective treatment against Covid-19
Issue 2: The advertising was misleading as it claimed that 5G was a factor in serious cases of Covid-19
Issue 3: The advertising was misleading in claiming a cure for Covid-19 as there was no cure for the virus.
Issue 4: The advertising was misleading as it downplayed the seriousness of the virus.
Response
The advertisers stated that they were not aware of any advertising on their website that was a case for concern.
In reply to a request from the Executive to substantiate the claims made within their advertising the advertiser referred to Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their definition of the freedom of expression. The advertiser stated that all human beings were born free with equal dignity and rights and that all were afforded these rights without any distinction at all.
Article 19 states:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
The advertiser also included the opening paragraph from a research letter published in The Lancet(1) titled “Glycyrrhizin, an active component of liquorice roots, and replication of SARS-associated coronavirus” which stated:
“The outbreak of SARS warrants the search for antiviral compounds to treat the disease. At present, no specific treatment has been identified for SARS-associated coronavirus infection. We assessed the antiviral potential of ribavirin, 6-azauridine, pyrazofurin, mycophenolic acid, and glycyrrhizin against two clinical isolates of coronavirus (FFM-1 and FFM-2) from patients with SARS admitted to the clinical centre of Frankfurt University, Germany. Of all the compounds, glycyrrhizin was the most active in inhibiting replication of the SARS-associated virus. Our findings suggest that glycyrrhizin should be assessed for treatment of SARS.”
ASAI Executive Research:
1. Covid-19 Treatments
The Executive reviewed the World Health Organisation’s website (www.who.int) in order to obtain information regarding potential cures or therapies for Covid19. The WHO’s website states that:
“While some western, traditional or home remedies may provide comfort and alleviate symptoms of COVID-19, there is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease. WHO does not recommend self-medication with any medicines, including antibiotics, as a prevention or cure for COVID-19. However, there are several ongoing clinical trials that include both western and traditional medicines. WHO will continue to provide updated information as soon as clinical findings are available.”
2. Comparability of SARS-CoV-2 to SARS-CoV (the virus that caused SARS)
The Executive reviewed the WHO’s website for information on the virus that causes the disease COVID-19. The Executive noted that in their explanation on “Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it”(2) , the WHO stated that “
“ICTV announced “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” as the name of the new virus on 11 February 2020. This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. While related, the two viruses are different.”(3)
3. 5G
The ASAI Executive viewed the European Commission’s website https://ec.europa.eu/info/index_en) and noted that it stated in relation to Covid-19 and 5G that:
“There is no connection between 5G and COVID-19. The Coronavirus is a virus that is spread from one person to another through droplets that people sneeze, cough or exhale. 5G is the new generation of mobile network technology that is transmitted over non-ionising radio waves. There is no evidence that 5G is harmful to people’s health. The outbreak of coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan is unrelated to 5G, and is thought to have originated in a seafood wholesale market.(4)
The Executive noted a leaflet published by Telecommunication Industry Ireland which set out views from a number of sources that there was no link between 5G and COVID-19. Sources included the World Health Organisation, the Commission for Communications Regulation in a joint statement with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Taoiseach, the European Commission, and other international organisations.(5)
(1)Publisher of medical research papers. https://www.thelancet.com/about-us
(2)https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it
(3)ICTV is the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, the body “concerned with the designation and naming of virus taxa (i.e. species, genus, family, etc.) rather than the designation of virus common names or disease names” (https://talk.ictvonline.org/)
(4)https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response/fighting-disinformation_en
(5)file:///C:/Users/o.twomey/Downloads/5G%20%20COVID19%207%20May2020.pdf
Conclusion
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.
The Committee noted the advertisers’ reference to their rights to freedom of expression and opinion and they acknowledged those rights. The Committee noted that the issue at point was whether claims in the marketing communications were substantiated.
Issue 1 – Upheld:
The Committee noted the Code requirement that claims about health and beauty products and treatments should be backed by substantiation. Where relevant, this should include the results of robust and reputable trials on human subjects, of sufficient rigour, design and execution as to warrant general acceptance of the results (11.1).
The Committee noted that the extract from a Research Letter published in The Lancet in 2003 that had been submitted as substantiation, had related to a different coronavirus, SARS-CoV (that caused SARS), not SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes caused Covid-19. They noted the WHO statement that while related, the two viruses were different.
In the circumstances the Committee did not consider that the claim that liquorice root extract was a cure for Covid-19 had been substantiated and the claim was in breach of Sections 4.1. 4.4, 11.1 and 11.10 of the Code
Issue 2 – Upheld:
The Committee noted that no information had been provided by the advertisers in relation to the claim regarding 5G.
They also noted ASAI Executive’s research and the statements by the European Commission and other organisations that there was no connection between 5G and COVID-19.
In the circumstances the Committee considered that claim of a connection between 5G and COVID-19 had not been substantiated and was in breach of Sections 4.1. 4.4, 11.1 and 11.10 of the Code
Issue 3 – Upheld:
The Complaints Committee noted that at the time of publication of the advertising, the World Health Organisation statement that there was no evidence that current medicine could prevent or cure the disease. They noted the information provided in relation to liquorice but as at issue 1, this related to another disease, SARS, and did not in the Committee’s view substantiate reference to claims that there was a cure for COVID-19.
In view of the information provided on the WHO’s website, and in the absence of independent, peer reviewed data that applied to Covid-19, the Committee considered that the advertising was in breach of Sections 4.1. 4.4, 11.1 and 11.10 of the Code.
Issue 4 – Upheld:
The Complaints Committee considered that the video marketing communication thorough use of statements such as ‘it’s not a strong virus’ ‘chance of getting this in Ireland is close to zero’, ‘those who are not in fear are actually out having a good time’, ‘ … this will come and go very quickly’ , did downplay the seriousness of COVID-19 and therefore had the potential to misleading consumers.
In the circumstances the Committee considered that the advertising was in breach of Section 4.1 of the Code.
Action required: The advertising must not reappear in its current form.
The Complaints Committee also told the advertiser not to make claims that had not been appropriately substantiated.
