Yet another quack company litigates against its critics

Posted on October 11, 2012 | 2 Comments

Earlier today, Quackdown reported that in South Africa…

Solal Technologies is suing Kevin Charleston for R350,000 because he wrote on the Quackdown website that Solal Technologies’ magazine, Health Intelligence is a  “disguised marketing programme for Solal Technologies, a company that actively promotes pseudoscience and aggressively attempts to shut out valid criticism of its advertising.”

Solal Technologies deserve hefty criticism. They have made misleading claims that their products help treat AIDS, cancer, heart disease and depression. Since quackery is a very serious problem in South Africa, it is surely in the public interest to expose these claims.

But like the quacks they are, Solal’s response is to litigate.

I’m getting a funny sense of deja vu.

Send me your links!

  1. Quack company litigates against its critics Quackdown 11/10/12
  2. Morning Toolbox – October 11, 2012 – Legal Threats and Fair Use Tim Farley, Skeptical Software Tools, 11/10/12
  3. Yet another quack company litigates against its critics Josephine Jones, 11/10/12
  4. The Morning Heresy 10/11/12: Ladybugs’ Picnic Day Center for Inquiry, 11/10/12
  5. More companies go after critical bloggers with heavy-handed tactics idoubtit, Doubtful News, 11/10/12
  6. Skeptic News: 2 Skeptics sued The Twenty-First Floor, 11/10/12
  7. Solal Technologies to sue over ‘quack’ claims Tamar Kahn, Business Day BDlive, 12/10/12
  8. Solal Technologies to sue over ‘quack’ claims Harris, CAMcheck, 12/10/12
  9. Solal Technologies Sues South African Sceptic Andy Lewis, The Quackometer, 12/10/12
  10. Legal thuggery threatens another skeptic Orac, Respectful Insolence, 16/10/12
  11. Virtual Skeptics, Episode 10 (17 Oct 2012) 17/10/12
  12. Solal Technologies Practices Legal Thuggery Foster Disbelief, 18/10/12

Last updated 20/10/12 13:08

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2 responses to “Yet another quack company litigates against its critics”

  1. corporation offshore | October 30, 2012 at 4:37 pm | Reply

    Perusing Solal Technologies’ list of products, I was struck at the sheer range of nonsensical claims the company makes for them. For instance, it markets a product called Craving Control that claims to “reduces addictive cravings for cigarettes, alcohol, recreational medicine and food.” It contains mainly tyrosine, 5-HT, and other nutrients, and the rationale Solal uses to argue for its effectiveness is very much like that used for Breast Protection Formula, only even more tenuously related to reality. Then there’s a product called Stress Damage Control , which claims to “prevent excessive cortisol and adrenaline production when exposed to long term stress” and to “protect the brain and heart from the dangerous physical damage and consequences that stress causes, such as raised blood pressure and heart attack.” The product contains a “proprietary formulation of: Rosavin and salidroside (extracted from Rhodiola rosea), ashwaganda standardised extract, beta-sitosterol, alpha lipoic acid, thiamine pyrophosphate.” Evidence that it works to do what Solal Technologies claims it can do? None is presented. The list goes on and on, including claims that its products can treat HIV. For instance, its Bitter Melon is claimed to “inhibit the progression of some forms of cancer” and to be “beneficial for the treatment of (AIDS).” If you are at all familiar with South Africa, you’ll know that AIDS quackery has been a particularly vexing problem there, particularly with the influence of HIV/AIDS denialist Peter Duesberg and Matthias Rath’s selling of supplements to treat HIV.

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