Live Blood Analysis and the ASA: a catalogue of complaints

Live Blood Analysis (also known as “nutritional microscopy”) is a quack diagnostic technique which was described as ‘fraudulent’ by Professor Edzard Ernst as long ago as 2005 and which has already been covered many times on this blog.

When I first heard about Live Blood Analysis, I was so shocked by what I found that I was moved to act. Happily, the ASA had just extended their online remit to include company websites.

The following list details the outcomes of all the ASA complaints I know of concerning live blood analysis and its practitioners.

ASA complaints provoked by the Evening Standard ‘PH’ article

I have already made several complaints to the ASA regarding live blood analysis. I thought I had made my point and had been planning to forget about LBA for a while and concentrate on the Nightingale Collaboration’s Focus of the Month. Following my complaint about the Evening Standard’s ‘PH’ article last week however, and after examining the related company websites, I felt I should inform the ASA of my concerns.

More complaints to the ASA and the Evening Standard

The Evening Standard still haven’t replied to my last last email so I thought I’d send them another one:

Dear Charlotte,

I am still awaiting your response to my last email (see below). I would like to point out that I feel strongly about this issue and am not able to simply forget about it now that the article has been removed from the website.

‘Raise your PH level like a celebrity’ says the London Evening Standard

Following a tip off by Ben Goldacre, I was shocked to read this article by Victoria Stewart of the Evening Standard, which appeared in yesterday’s ES magazine. (EDIT: The article has since been removed from the Standard site but can be found here.)

It contains such gems as ‘the average sleep-deprived, hard-partying Londoner will probably have an acidic pH level below 7’.