"The patients are highly depressed due to the age old incurability of white spots. According to Homeopathic School of thinking and philosophy the internal causes of the diseases are the same, irrespective of the name of the disease. Dr. Gorania successfully worked on the prinicipals [sic] and treated 20,000 of leucoderma (Vitligo) [sic]. The success rate is very good - 100% (excluding those who do not wait for a reasonable time). It proves if the internal cause of any disease properly diagnosed and correctly treated with the finest precision it should scientifically respond in practice."
tl;dr Dr Gorania is in England. He'll cure your vitiligo, arthritis, tinnitus etc etc for just £320. 100% success guaranteed!
Complaints to advertising standards, trading standards and the GMC all sent. Have I missed anyone?
Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Dec 24, 2009 9:59:28 GMT
Can you copy the complaints you wrote to ASA nd TS on here, so people can see the type of letter you sent etc. It helps give us all ideas and learn how to do it.
Also give us the details of which TS office you contacted, ie, the local one, then we can complain to.
Also we need to know exactly what it is you have complained about, which claim and where it was posted etc.
The quote above is from an advert in the Luton and Dunstable Herald and Post newspaper, 17th December 2009. Truly sorry, but I don't have a scanner.
The rest of the advert reads:
Other treatments include: Alopecia Areata, Thinning and Falling of Hairs, Unwanted Hairs, Balding, Arthritis, Hypertension, Asthma, Eczema, Psoriasis, Colitis, Thyroid disorder, Tinnitus, Acne, Depression, Sexual Problems, Infertility and many more. Patients can be seen at LONDON, LUTON, LEICESTER, LEEDS and BIRMINGHAM BRANCHES (Home visits also available).
The fee is £320 (inc. medicines) for 4 months. Every patient should thoroughly know the duration and other details and prepare ones self [sic] for completion of the course, to ensure success.
My note to Trading Standards: (East of England section of Consumer Direct, www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/ ; it'll be sent on to Luton or Bedfordshire trading standards, I suspect)
Re: Luton and Dunstable "Herald and Post", 17th December 2009
On page 3 of the "special advertising feature" (effectively the reverse side of the back page), there is an advert which concerns me greatly.
I have made a separate complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. What I'd like to bring to your attention is someone who may be practicing medicine unlawfully.
The advert claims that someone called "Dr Gorania" is able to treat vitiligo (a chronic condition causing depigmentation on the skin) with a 100% success rate, and all for a mere £320.
According to the General Medical Council website, "To practise medicine in the UK all doctors are required by law to hold both registration and a licence to practise." The same website provides a list of registered persons which is "updated daily".
As of today (23rd December), Dr Gorania is not registered with the GMC and he does not hold a licence to practise medicine.
Dr Gorania offers treatment at several locations in the UK. I've named the nearest one to me in section 2.
I write to complain about an advert published in the Herald and Post newspaper, published in Luton and Dunstable, on Thursday 17th December, 2009.
The advert is entitled “Homeopathic Clinic – Dr. Gorania in England to treat vitiligo (white spots) patients”.
I enclose an original copy of the advert. I believe it is in breach of several sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) Code.
1. The advert claims that Dr Gorania “successfully...treated 20,000 patients of [sic] leucoderma (Vitligo) [sic]”.
2. Vitiligo is a chronic disorder which causes depigmentation of the skin, typically at the extremities. Evidence-based medicine offers a number of treatments for sufferers.
3. The CAP code, section 3.1, states “Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation.”
4. There is no evidence in any peer-reviewed medical or scientific journal that suggests homeopathic treatments are effective against vitiligo. If Dr Gorania has in fact conducted research in this area of medicine, he has not published his results in any such journal. Section 3.1 of the code has therefore been breached.
5. Section 6.1 of the CAP code states “Marketers should not exploit the credulity, lack of knowledge or inexperience of consumers.”
6. It would be unreasonable to expect consumers to be familiar with the latest medical research about any medical disorder. Even when medical journals are available at public libraries or on the internet, few consumers possess sufficient medical knowledge to understand the research they contain. No part of the advert mentions the lack of evidence for homeopathic treatment of vitiligo. Therefore section 6.1 of the code has been breached.
7. The advert claims “The success rate is very good – 100% (excluding those who do not wait for a reasonable time)”.
8. Section 7.1 of the CAP code states “7.1 No marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise.”
9. Modern medicine knows of no treatment, for any medical condition, that is “100% successful”. The claim is simply deceitful and in breach of section 7.1 of the code.
10. If Dr Gorania is indeed able to treat vitiligo with homeopathic treatments, then his claim of 100% success is an exaggeration, a further breach of section 7.1 of the code.
11. The advert mentions that “Other treatments include: Alopecia Areata, Thinning and Falling of Hairs, Unwanted Hairs, Balding, Arthritis, Hypertension, Asthma, Eczema, Psoriasis, Colitis, Thyroid disorder, Tinnitus, Acne, Depression, Sexual Problems, Infertility and many more.”
12. The advert thus gives the impression that Dr Gorania's homeopathic treatment is effective against a number of medical disorders. However, Dr Ben Goldacre, writing in The Lancet (November 2007) says “Five large meta-analyses of homoeopathy trials have been done. All have had the same result: after excluding methodologically inadequate trials and accounting for publication bias, homoeopathy produced no statistically significant benefit over placebo.” The advert is therefore in breach of several sections of the code, including sections 3, 6 and 7.
13. The advert uses the title “Dr” for a practicioner offering treatment at several UK clinics.
14. The General Medical Council (GMC) requires “all doctors wanting to practise medicine in the UK need to hold both registration and a licence to practise.” The GMC website provides a list of registered doctors, updated “daily”.
15. Dr. Gorania is not registered with the GMC and is not licensed to practise medicine in the United Kingdom. His claim to be a legitimate doctor is in breach of section 2.1 of the CAP code, which states “2.1 All marketing communications should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.”
I thank you for your customary swift attention to this matter.
Yours faithfully,
To the GMC, I just sent an enquiry about "Dr" Gorania's registration; it may or may not be in their remit.
Post by The Legendary Barb on Dec 24, 2009 10:50:08 GMT
Have googled in the DR"s name V D Gorania .He graduated with distinction from the D H M S,.THE COUNCIL FOR HOMEOPATHIC SYSTEM of MEDICINE in the Gujaret state in India in 1976, and has run his clinic for 35 yrs. So he is not new to this type of healing. There are a few DR,s on the site with this surname but they all appear to be M D,s.
The DHMS is a diploma awarded by the aforementioned Council for Homeopathic Medicine. I can't find any information about them; if their website is in Hindi or Gujarati, that would not be surprising.
I've seen claims* that this diploma is recognised as equivalent to a UK Bachelor's degree. I'm not sure how to check this (anyone?), but I am sure that a bachelor's degree isn't the same as an advanced degree, here or in India.
Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Dec 26, 2009 20:53:37 GMT
PLEASE keep us informed of any response you get, and any official action they take. Then I can publish the results of your complaint on www.parawatch.com
Just hope the ASA and TS actually do something
A bad ass who will beat you like he's using the fists of god.
Consumer Direct thought the complaint good enough to pass on to Luton Trading Standards. (Consumer Direct really does work.) They will contact me only if they require further information.
General Medical Council have asked for more information, before taking a position.
No reply from ASA yet - but that was a snail-mail letter.
Here's a scan of the advert. The grainy illegible text is actually as it appears in the newspaper, believe it or not.
Guess what, folks! "Dr" Veja Gorania - the homeopathic miracle cure salesman who made me famous - is back!
Lots of nonsense has been written about online social networking services like Facebook, myspace and Twitter.
Thanks to the most amazing service of all - it's called Google Alerts, by the way - today I bumped into one of my oldest and bestest pals!
i751.Report this post to Admin please.com/albums/xx155/scepticletters/Goranialogo.jpg[/img]
"Dr" Gorania - the irresponsible quack pictured above - was the subject of my first ever ASA complaint nearly a year ago.
I can't tell you how pleased I am that he's still peddling his homeopathic miracle cures. I love writing complaints about him!
On this occasion (advert visible here), the good "doctor" claims he has "...worked on these principles [of homeopathy] and treated 20,000 patients of lucoderma (vitiligo) and the success rate is very good (excluding those who do not wait for reasonable [sic] time)..."
That's a slightly more modest claim than the one he used last time.
"The success rate is very good - 100%"
With that much success, one might have thought that "Dr" Gorania would be the toast of the medical world. Alas, you won't find his name in any medical journal.
One of the reasons is that "Dr" Gorania isn't actually a doctor - at least, not in the sense of having spent six or seven gruelling years training to earn a degree in medicine. In fact, Gorania doesn't appear to have a degree at all.
It's back to the ASA for my latest complaint. Keep up the good work, "Dr" Gorania!
I write to complain about an advert appearing in "Spice Business" magazine (Volume 39, Aug-Sep 2010, p24.
The advert, for "Dr" Veja Gorania, promotes his "Homeopathic Clinic" and offers a treatment for vitiligo and numerous other medical problems.
I suspect that the advert may be in breach of several sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code (2010). I enclose a scan of the advert.
1. "Spice Business" is a magazine catering to the Asian restaurant trade.
2. The advert contains the text:
"Homeopathic CLINIC - Patients are highly depressed due to the age old [sic] incurability of white spots. According to the homeopathic school of thinking and philosophy the 'internal causes of the diseases are the same, irrespective of name [sic] of the disease'. Dr Gorania successfully worked on these principles and treated 20,000 patients of lucoderma (vitiligo) and the success rate is very good (excluding those who do not wait for reasonable [sic] time). It proves that if the 'internal cause of any disease is properly diagnosed and correctly treated with the finest precision this [sic] should scientifically respond to practice [sic]'.
Other treatments include: Alocepia, Areatea, Thining [sic] and Falling of hair, Unwanted hair, Balding, Arthritis, Hypertension, Asthma, Eczema, Psoriasis, Colitis, Thyroid Disorder, Tinnitus, Acne, Depression, Sexual problems, Infertility and many more. Patients can be seen at LUTON, LONDON, LEICESTER, BIRMINGHAM and MANCHESTER branches (home visits also available).
Oral medications uproot internal causes - No need for harmful UV light exposure - No hospitalization [sic] - Side benefits - If vitiligo recurs we will treat [sic] free of charge"
3. In January this year (or maybe December 2009?) I submitted a complaint about the same advertiser and a broadly similar advert. You later wrote to tell me:
"...we have already investigated and upheld complaints about this advertiser in the past...I've therefore passed the case to our Compliance team..."
4. Therefore, I again challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate any of the following claims:
(i) Veja Gorania has successfully treated 20,000 patients suffering from vitiligo and has had a "very good" success rate (ii) Veja Gorania is able to treat any of the named conditions with homeopathy
5. I also challenge whether the following statements are misleading:
(i) The description of Veja Gorania as a "doctor" in the context of claiming to treat many tens of thousands of patients suffering from dozens of medical conditions
(ii) "...internal causes of the diseases are the same, irrespective of name [sic] of the disease"
(iii) "It proves that if the 'internal cause of any disease is properly diagnosed and correctly treated with the finest precision this [sic] should scientifically respond to practice [sic]'"
(iv) "Oral medications uproot internal causes"
6. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or the magazine. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser or the magazine.
Will have to keep a look out for this DR never heard of them. Welcome to the forum.