Advertisment
The advertisers’ website provided the following information:
“A Welcome note from Victoria at Cork Osteopaths
Cork City Osteopaths
To understand how osteopathy may help you or somebody close to you.
We welcome you to our website and clinic and look forward to helping you achieve your health goals
Osteopaths are highly qualified and spent (sic) several years in college, they treat the very young to the old alike often specialising in sports, paediatric, and pregnancy related cases as well as arthritic and degenitive conditions.
All facets of osteopathy are utilised including cranial osteopathy which is especially useful in treating the very young. AAA Cork Osteopth Clinic opened its doors this year after Victoria Ryan returned from spending several years working and studying in Australia, our primary concern lays with you.
After 9 years of training in both Ireland and Australia I qualified and worked for a leading A.F.L football team in Melbourne, as well as ran (sic) a busy city centre private clinic in Melbourne.
We want to contribute to your overall health and wellbeing not only through our treatment plan but also by giving appropriate advice on lifestyle changes to improve and explain what is actually happening with you (sic) body, and how Osteopathic treatments can have a positive effect on how you feel and can perform in your daily life.”
On her general LinkedIn profile Ms. Ryan referred to the following:
Victoria Ryan
Osteopath at AAA Cork Osteopath Clinic
Ireland Alternative Medicine
Education R.m.i.t.
Complaint
The complainants, the Osteopathic Council of Ireland, queried Ms. Ryan’s Osteopathic training. They considered that while she was practising in the field of Osteopathy, that she may not have the proper qualifications to enable her to do so.
Response
The advertiser said that this was the first time that she had ever received a complaint regarding her qualifications. She said, had the Osteopathic Council of Ireland asked her to supply them with proof of her qualifications, she would have been happy to provide them with certified copies of her degree, and a letter from the college she attended stating that she was a qualified osteopath. She asked if the Osteopathic Council could provide proof that she was not a qualified osteopath.
Further Information:
The ASAI Secretariat informed the advertiser that there was an onus on all advertisers to support the claims made in their advertising and as such she should provide any evidence she considered necessary, to the ASAI to substantiate her claims.
The advertiser said that she had been in contact with the college relevant to her and they would be forwarding certified copies of her degree as well as transcripts as proof of her qualification.
To date the advertiser has not forwarded any documents to support the claims made in her advertising.
Conclusion
Complaint upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertiser’s response. They reminded the advertisers that there was an onus on all advertisers to be able to provide substantiation for any claims made by them in their advertising. In view of the fact that the advertisers had not provided the relevant documentary evidence to support the qualifications, the Committee upheld the complaint under Sections and 2.9, 2.22, 2.24 and 8.3 of the Code.
Action Required:
The advertising should not be used in its current form again unless the advertiser provides the relevant documentary evidence requested by the ASAI.
