Someone out there has been pondering this very question.
The following were all typed into Google yesterday and all found my blog:
suing errol denton
suing quack doctors in uk
live blood analysis london
errol denton
errol denton who can i complain to
errol denton complaints
I have plenty of suggestions for who you can complain to.
But first, for the benefit of newcomers, I will explain a little bit about Errol.
Background
Errol Denton is a live blood microscopist (or “certified nutritional microscopist”) and qualified iridologist, operating from a Harley Street address. He was trained by the alkalarian cancer quack, ‘Dr’ Robert O Young. According to Young’s ‘New Biology®’, all illness (or ‘dis-ease’) is caused by acidity and may be prevented or ‘reversed’ by an ‘alkaline’ diet. Such ‘dis-ease’ includes all cancers and both Types of diabetes. Young also thinks that viruses aren’t real and that bacteria come into being when your own cells ‘transform’. Young teaches trainee quacks how to observe a wide range of such phenomena using Live Blood Analysis (although many of these phenomena do not exist).
Complaints so far
Errol Denton has two different websites. He has also advertised using misleading leaflets and through Groupon.
In total, there are four ASA rulings against Errol’s advertising and his company, Fitalifestyle, appears on the ASA list of non-compliant online advertisers.
The Groupon deal resulted in many unhappy customers, several of whom contacted me through my blog. One of these women was left distressed after Errol led her to believe she had markers for cancer and diabetes in her blood. She later spoke of her experience on Radio 4 You and Yours.
Errol’s latest online exploits
Given Errol’s history of ignoring the ASA, you won’t be surprised to see that Errol Denton’s relaunched livebloodtest website and his recent tweets appear not to comply with CAP Advertising Codes.
But it gets worse. Some of Errol’s recent advertising also seems to breach the UK Cancer Act.
Yesterday, Errol tweeted:
Cancer,Diabetes,HIV etc etc all curable without BIG Pharmaceutical Companies. See here: http://www.livebloodtest.com/case-studies.html …
This is certainly misleading and probably illegal.
And last week, Errol published the blogpost Kate Middleton AKA (Duchess of Cambridge) Burn your Bra and prevent breast Cancer!
Errol isn’t urging just Kate to burn her bra. He claims that wearing a bra can lead to breast cancer, cysts, swelling and breast pain and that he has been advising women for years not to wear a bra.
Errol Denton is not qualified to give out such advice. Furthermore, such claims are completely unsubstantiated.
Denton doesn’t just advise on how to prevent breast cancer; he also thinks he can help clients overcome it:
By changing the diet of one of my client’s drastically she was able to overcome breast cancer without surgery and without the removal of her lymph nodes and has been cancer free for the past four years. She no longer wears a bra ever now either.
I think Errol is in breach of the Cancer Act again here.
Trading Standards
Breaches of the Cancer Act should be reported to Trading Standards. Details of your local office may be found here.
Many local offices (mine, for example) redirect complainants to Citizens Advice. It is my concern that such complaints end up being either lost in the system or filed away and forgotten about. For this reason, I think it might be more productive to complain to the offices local to quacks.
For Harley Street, the relevant Trading Standards office is Westminster, who may be contacted at tradingstandards@westminster.gov.uk.
Unlike the ASA, Trading Standards do seem to play a numbers game. The more complaints they receive, the more likely it is they will act.
If you have been a client of Errol’s, you may be aware of further issues which could also be a matter for Trading Standards. For example, I don’t know if Errol is familiar with regulations relating to disposal of sharps. If not, this document from the Royal College of Nursing may be helpful.
MP
If you live close to where Errol practises, or if you have been a client of Errol’s, it might be worth contacting your MP. If you aren’t sure who that is, you can find out here.
Mark Field is the Conservative MP for Cities of London & Westminster. Details of further elected representatives for the area local to Errol’s clinic are given here.
Advertising Standards Authority
You can complain to the ASA about misleading, unsubstantiated claims – which abound on Errol’s sites. You can also point out instances where Errol’s advertising may dissuade customers from consulting a suitably qualified medical professional.
But remember that the ASA will act on just one complaint and overloading them could be counterproductive. Bear in mind that I will be writing to them myself to point out Errol’s continuing non-compliance.
MHRA
The MHRA say here that
Information linked to an unlicensed product which makes direct or implied claims may well cause the Section to say that a product falls within the definition of a medicinal product.
Errol’s banned ad for Liquid Chlorophyll (still online here) made the following claims:
- “Liquid Chlorophyll is the most potent blood cleanser and deodorizer”
- “Chlorophyll in liquid form is essential for creating healthy alkaline blood”
- “Everyone should consume at least 20ml per day to ensure perfect health.”
The ASA challenged whether the ad made a medicinal claim for an unlicensed product.
If you too are concerned that Liquid Chlorophyll (or indeed any other products on sale through Errol’s online shop) are unlicensed medicines, you can email Medicines.Borderline.advice@mhra.gsi.gov.uk for advice.
Citizens Advice Bureau and Small Claims
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau should be able to advise on how to pursue a Small Claims case, for example if you have been left traumatised after being led to believe you have cancer or if you have been unable to obtain a refund after buying a voucher of some sort which you were not able to redeem.
To clarify – this is pure speculation, based on what happened following Errol’s Groupon deal. I don’t intend to imply he has done this recently and really have no idea why someone googled “suing Errol Denton” yesterday.
Further suggestions
You don’t need to make a formal complaint to take action against Errol. You may wish to write a critical blogpost, or to simply stir things on Twitter. Or you could just send me the information and I’ll do it myself.
If anyone has any other ideas, I would be delighted to add them to this post.
Related articles
Radio 4 You & Yours investigate unregulated ‘live’ blood tests Josephine Jones, 17/03/12
Easy ways to see the tweets of someone who’d blocked you on Twitter Jo Brodie, Stuff that occurs to me, 08/10/12
All posts tagged ‘Errol Denton’
NEW: Victorian Errol @PencilBloke, Twitter, 10/10/12
Josephine Jones 
Thanks Josephine – I’m really baffled by him taking to Twitter and posting this stuff. It definitely seems to be him (the thought had occurred to me that someone else was posting it) but it seems official as the account is linked from his website and doesn’t appear to be hacked / phished.
While he currently has just 18 followers this stuff will eventually get picked up and retweeted. He’s posting several messages in a short time-frame – possibly he’s trying to build up a portfolio of tweets.
I feel quite uncomfortable that he’s writing tweets about how easy it is to cure cancer and diabetes and other conditions. I hope no-one is taken in by this and wastes any money on his blood microscopy.
Jo
Since writing this post, I’ve just had a look at his more recent tweets. I’m seriously concerned about what he’s been saying about diabetes, eg:
and
I am a registered and qualified specialist biomedical scientist in haematology. A patient rang the lab very distressed by what he had heard from an LBA practitioner. Quackery is a very accurate description of this practice. NORMAL components in the blood were incorrectly identified as yeast, with microscopic artefacts being identified as bacteria. I am shocked that these people can practice legally and completely unregulated. This is not alternative medicine, such as homeopathy or herbalism, it’s profiteering from vulnerable people. This man needs to be stopped and others like him.
@David Ryder, just fyi (and not to derail here), homeopathy isn’t medicine either. It too is fraudulent and “profiteering from vulnerable people”. How else would you describe magic water and sugar pills?
There really is no such thing as “alternative” medicine. In our dreams there may be “alternative reality” medicine, but in reality there is only medicine or not medicine – which as a “registered and qualified specialist biomedical scientist in haematology” you would know.
I thought that using Physician in your job title was against the 1983 Medical Act, which states “who wilfully and falsely presents to be or takes or uses the name or title of
physician, doctor of medicine, licentiate in medicine and surgery, bachelor of
medicine, surgeon, general practitioner or apothecary, or any name, title, addition
or description implying that he is registered under any provision of this Act, or that
he is recognised by law as a physician or surgeon or licentiate in medicine and
surgery or a practitioner in medicine or an apothecary, shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.’
Am I wrong?
I hadn’t even considered complaining to the GMC about him. To be honest, I don’t think he is really expecting anyone to believe he is a medical doctor. Certainly you wouldn’t think that from his advertising alone. The ASA/CAP also have guidelines on use of the title ‘Dr’ in advertising but I don’t think Errol does this really, except for one client referring to him as ‘Dr Errol’ in a testimonial.
Errol has started a new blog to try to defend his name.
http://erroldenton.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/errol-denton-succeeds-where-medicine-fails/
http://erroldenton.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/errol-denton-complaints-about-racist-nazi-bloggers-highlights-big-cover-up-against-alternative-medicine/
It’s well worth a read.
According to the GMC helpline, I am right, he cannot go around calling himself a Physician under section 49 of the 1983 Medical Act. They wil apparently be in touch with MR Denton. Psuedoscientific nonsense does not count even at degree level, as a qualification for the title Physician. The title physician implies medical training an regulation by the GMC, a body which MR Denton is not regisitered with.
Apparently “Errol points out that wild animals do not need to take these medications because they follow the natural common sense dietary laws that humans have sadly discarded. ” Tell you what Mr Denton (note not docor or physician) why don’t you list the wild animals that follow a “natural common sense diet” that have a longer life expectancy than humans who take drugs to help cure or mitigate disesases. In the context of an article proclaiming that ibuprofen has no use why don’t you tell me how these animals get pain relief to a meaning ful levle, otherise the point you made is moronic, as it has no relevance to the discussion whatsoever. Yes there are some people who have reactiosn to drugs, there are also those who have reactions to ginger an turmeric, which have no evidence to suggest they are as strong a pain killer as ibuprofen.
Yet another ridiculous set of claims by a completely non-medically qualified person giving advice to people on medicla matters. What a charlatan.
Pingback: The 21st Floor » Blog Archive » Skeptic News: Quack deflects criticism as racism
Just read the latest garbage from MR Denton. Strangely he accuses people of beign racist despite their posts attacking his practices (calling himself a physician and encouraging people not to follow the advice of properly qualified medical professionals in favour of paying him for advice on completely unproven methods given following totally discredited methods of diagnosis sold ont he basis of over blown anecdote with little or no evidence to support some very outlandish and damaging claims).
He says he is singled out due to his colour, which is disgraceful as it is playing the race card without cause. If MR Denton was honest he would note that it is his continued reliance on lying in his advertisements adn encouraging people not to follow PROPER medical advice from QUALIFED medical professionals despite the ASA telling him to stop it that continues to generate criticism from sceptics.
Let’s face it there are plenthy of white middle class british targets on this blog and other blogs that he complains about, but this seems to pass MR Denton by, as he lies and libels people.
I have to wonder who can stop this aggresive, lying, bullying, charlatan from haring people’s health, Personally I think he has gone to far, and is plainly advertising that he can cure people, when he has zero medical training, and goes against teh advice of properly qualifed professionals. If he thinks it is due tot eh colour of his skinthat I say this maybe he should consider that he does not know the colour of my skin before calling me or anyone else he doesn’t know the ethnicity of so that he doesn’t end up looking foolish, then again his continuing posts on his blog demonstrate amply that he doesn’t care if he looks like the fool he is.
PS I don’t have a twitter account.
if he’s a quack the stop bellyaching and do something or shut up and let the man do his work. you behave like the only cure for anything is western medicine. how much illness and side effects this causes seems to be forgotten in the mob mentality so quick to denounce him.,because someone is approved does not make him/her a good doctor.
@John Jones: Errol Denton does not respect the law. The process of getting a misleading advertiser shut down is a long one, and in the mean time he is advertising useless treatments and worthless diagnostics, preying on the vulnerable, so it is necessary to discuss the nature and details of his failures.
As to your second implied point, the distinction “Western medicine” is a false one. It’s just medicine. Medicine adopts and adapts anything that works (most new drugs start from compounds found in nature) and discards that which does not. There are some evolutionary backwaters which have failed to adopt the scientific method, but that failure is a point against them.
i would just like to know why such a huge time wasting campaign of complaint against a man who i know has helped my aunty who had been diagnosed with diabetes and now no longer has it due to advice from Errol,,,,we need to be focusing on the multi nationals who are putting drugged horse meat in our food reconstituted fish, meat and poultry and making use helplessly ill and searching for answers from the likes of errol
He makes misleading claims to cure cancer, diabetes and other serious diseases; he has, by his own account, persuaded people to stop taking potentially vital medication; he uses two diagnostic techniques which are farcical; he has a history of telling people that he diagnoses things that these techniques cannot possibly diagnose, and telling people they have things in their blood which are exceptionally unlikely actually to be present (e.g. bateria – bacteraemia is a very serious condition, is diagosed by culture not microscopy, and requires urgent treatment with antibiotics).
Mixed in with the veritable deluge of delusional nonsense, paranoid conspiracism and other delights, are occasional nuggets of the blindingly obvious, like eating a good diet. Even there it’s heavily skewed by his promotion of diets which are bizarre and may well not be well tolerated, and his evidence-free strictures to avoid whole classes of common and uncontroversial foods. Any statement Errol Denton makes that is correct, should be viewed as an outlier.
He is, in short, a dangerous quack. Anyone whose health has improved while seeing Denton is likely to be a coincidence not a cure.
It’s simple Caroyln, he makes up medical claims that are completely unsubstnatiated and rpetends he is medically qualifeid. The rule exist to prevent vulnerable people from being exploited, and that is what MR Denton is doing. he may have some dietary advice tht helps some people, but he is using complete bullshit to sell it, and selling expertise he simply does nto have. Add to that that he is a disgustng human being for his false allegations of racism agasint people and i think you have the reasons why many people correctly believe that he is a con man who deliberately lies (note ASA Adjudication) about what he actually does. He has no medical qualifications whatsoever, and yet tries to dissuade peopel from seeking medical advice from properly qualified people. It’s plain wrong.
I am curious as to why he is called a Homeopathic doctor. I can find no evidence he ever qualified in Homeopathic medicine and live blood analysis and colloidal silver are not Homeopathic practices.
From what I can see, nothing he does involves Homeopathic medicine so why is he labelled a Homeopath?
If you have such information showing he is qualified in Homeopathic medicine, a more than four year course, then I would like to see it.
If he is, then his practices are still not Homeopathic and nothing to do with Homeopathy. If he is not then it is just a scam to seek to discredit Homeopathic medicine.