Advertisment
The homepage of the website included a section titled “Welcome to Haven Integrated Pain Relief Centre”
Included in the section was the following:
“Haven Integrative Pain Relief Centre in Douglas, Cork, is Ireland’s leading Multidisciplinary Pain Relief and Wellness Care Centre. We provide a broad range of diagnostic and treatment services to help people of all ages who are suffering from acute or chronic pain regain their health and quality of life.
Our state-of-the-art clinic offers the most effective drug-free, non-invasive treatment options currently available for musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain conditions, in a supportive, caring environment.”
At the bottom of the homepage, it included information on the clinic and a named Doctor:
“Haven Pain Relief Centre
[named Doctor] is the founder and principal doctor at Haven Pain Relief Centre. Educated in America he holds the following qualifications:
Diplomate of Integrated Pain Management (American Academy of Pain Management)
US Board Certified Chiropractic Consultant
Chiropractic Sports Physician
Primary Care Provider (State of California)”
“Dr [named] is a member of:
Chiropractic Association of Ireland
American Academy of Pain Management
US Pain Foundation
California Chiropractic Association
American Chiropractic Association”
The “Meet the Doctor” webpage included the following:
“Pain Management Consultants, Pain Specialist Doctor Cork
Dr [name] BSc, Phys, DC, CSP, DAAPM
Integrated Pain Management Specialist
US Board Certified Chiropractic Physician
US Board Certified Physiotherapist
U.S Sports Chiropractic Physician
Diplomate American Academy Pain Management
Member Chiropractic Association Ireland”
Complaint
The complainant objected to the advertising on the grounds that it was misleading. The complainant said that the service was advertised as pain management and the advertising included various references to ‘doctor’, together with a reference to ‘pain management consultants’ and ‘pain specialist doctor’ and that based on this information, they considered it was reasonable for a member of the public to think that the services provided were given by a medical doctor. They said that none of the credentials listed for the person featured appeared to be those that qualified a person in Ireland to practice medicine as a medical practitioner.
Response
The advertisers said that they had reviewed their website looking at anything that they thought could possibly be construed as confusing or misleading and had removed or altered it. They provided a screenshot from their ‘About us’ and ‘Meet the Doctor’ webpages.
They said that they had a clinical doctorate degree in Chiropractic and were entitled to their title of Doctor of Chiropractic.
Further Information:
The advertisers provided a screenshot from the ‘About us’ and ‘Meet the Doctor’ webpages. The Executive reviewed the pages and noted the following:
“Meet the Doctor” webpage –
“Pain Management Consultants” and “Pain Specialist Doctor Cork” statements removed, replaced with “Integrated pain relief specialist”.
Conclusion
Complaint Upheld.
The Complaints Council considered the detail of the complaint, the submissions made by the advertiser, the amendments made to the advertisers’ website (following receipt of the complaint) and the submissions made by the complainant.
The Complaints Council noted that several descriptors have been used interchangeably throughout the advertisers’ website, including for example “Dr”, “principal doctor”, “Meet The Doctor”, “Consultant”, “Physician”, “Pain Management Consultant”, “Integrative Pain Relief Specialist” and “Integrative Pain Management Specialist”.
The Complaints Council noted that recent amendments to the advertisers’ website include replacing some (but not all) references to term “Consultant” with the phrase “Integrative Pain Relief Specialist”.
The Complaints Council formed the view that the advertisers’ use of various descriptors, in particular the use of the term “Consultant” and variations of the term “Dr” (without using the complete title for the relevant qualification i.e. Doctor of Chiropractic (DC)), was likely to mislead consumers into understanding that the services were being offered by a medical doctor (MD). While the Complaints Council acknowledged that the recent amendments to the advertisers’ website had made some progress towards remedying this misleading impression, further amendments were required to reduce the risk of confusion on the part of consumers.
With the above in mind, the Complaints Council held that the advertising was in breach of Sections 4.1 and 4.4 of the Code.
Action Required:
The advertising should not appear in its current form again.
The Council advised the advertisers that all instances where descriptors such as ‘Dr’, ‘doctor’, ‘Doctor’ or equivalents, such as ‘physician’, ‘consultant’ etc, are used, should be clarified that the title is a Doctor of Chiropractic.
