Complementary Medicines, Advertising Reform and the TGA

by Dr Ken Harvey, with an introduction by Ken Greatorex

To set the scene for those not familiar with the glacial machinations of Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration: Until recently in Australia we had a complaint process whereby if you wanted to complain about the advertising of a particular listed medicine, you submitted. to the Complaints Resolution Panel. It was woefully under resourced, but it did its job, carried out inquiries then reported established breaches in conduct to the TGA. The TGA acted – sometimes.

Then things changed. Against the urging of such groups as The Australian Skeptics, Friends of Science in Medicine, Choice and other consumer advocates, the TGA became the body which dealt directly with such complaints. 

As one who attended and absorbed the excellent review from Professor Harvey and three of his students, the result of this change has been:

• totally predictable
• disappointing

 

(left to right: Mal Vickers, Kithmini Cooray, Mary Malek, Ken Harvey)

Speakers:

• Mal Vickers, Analysis of old and new advertising complaint systems
• Mary Malek, TGA consultation on “low risk” products
• Kithmini Cooray, Bright Brains (Bacopa Monnieri) TGA complaint

Discussion:

The audience did not agree that the ongoing advertising of ‘Bright Brains’, illustrated by Kithmini, had achieved compliance with the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code 2015. In short, they disagreed with the TGA outcome statement about this complaint.

Vyom Sharma, Doctor, Magician and Mentalist

     Dr Vyom Sharma

After gaining his medical degree in 2008, Vyom Sharma completed specialist training and currently works in Melbourne as a General Practitioner. However alongside his clinical work, he has carved out a career in show business.

As a magician and mentalist, he has performed live stage shows at the Sydney Opera House, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and was a grand finalist on Australia’s Got Talent.

His knowledge of medicine, combined with his experiences with the psychology of deception have afforded him a rare insight into the human experience of truth and persuasion. He explores the neuroscience of deception and beliefs as a regular Guest Lecturer at Monash University’s school of biological sciences.

He has debunked pseudoscientific therapies in the media, including Fairfax newspapers, Triple R radio and medical trade magazines.

Vyom Sharma will be our featured speaker at next Skeptics Café  (Monday August 20)

He will also appear at Australian Skeptics Annual Convention in Sydney over the weekend of October 13 & 14

Sharon Hill’s Spooky Geology

We have much pleasure in announcing Sharon Hill as our June Skeptics Café speaker. Sharon is a Pennsylvanian geologist who researches the paranormal, pseudoscience, and anomalous natural phenomena.

As well as being a prolific columnist and speaker she is a co-founder of

Doubtful News

and hosts the podcast 15 Credibility Street.

She is the author of Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers.

Skeptics Café is a regular monthly event and members of the public are welcome.

Monday  June 18, The Clyde Hotel Carlton, 8pm (or join us for a meal from 6 pm)

At May Skeptics Café

We’re pleased to have been visited by Dr Pauli Ohukainen from Finland. He’s a cardiovascular research scientist from Finland working in Melbourne (Baker Institute) until June 1st. He’s also an avid skeptical activist with his own blog in Finnish with 7000 followers on Facebook, (which is not too bad in a small country of 5M), and he’s also active on Twitter, which is his international forum: https://twitter.com/POhukainen. He was keen to meet some skeptics while in Melbourne, and took “selfies” at May Skeptics Café with two of our distinguished members, Francesca Folk-Scolaro (L) and Elida Radig (R).

The Whack – a – Mole Project and the TGA.

by Ken Greatorex

 

Whack-a-Mole?

Whack-a-Mole was a popular 1970s arcade game which consisted of repeatedly hitting cartoon moles on the head with a cartoon hammer. Moles nevertheless kept cropping up with undiminished energy more or less at random; so the term Whack-a-mole came to signify “a repetitious and futile task.”

Problems with Regulation of Therapeutic Goods

The situation regarding the regulation of therapeutic goods in Australia is unsatisfactory. The complaints process is frustrating, exhausting and often ineffectual. Complaints to the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) must be made against one product or service at a time. Because such complaints are almost invariably made by volunteers, and there is no financial incentive to complain, only a relatively tiny number of questionable products ever get put under the microscope.

An astonishing 87 % of such complaints have historically been upheld. Yet the offending companies rarely receive more than “a slap on the wrists”.

Staying Rational in a World of Tweets, Fake News, Alternative Facts and Sound Bites

by William P. Hall
william-hall@bigpond.com
http://www.orgs-evolution-knowledge.net 

( based on a presentation at Vic Skeptics Café, 19 June 2017 at the Clyde Hotel, Carlton, Vic)

Today we are living in a world of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and blogs where anyone (even President Trump) can instantly post their ideas to the world for essentially no cost. We are also living in dangerous times where exploding human populations and technologies are affecting the planet’s climate and natural resources where extreme concentrations of wealth and power, warfare, epidemics, climate extremes, ecological collapses and famine threaten humanity’s survival. Unsurprisingly there are often conflicts between vested interests seeking wealth, power and control versus those concerned with the futures of our descendents and of humanity in general. Both are heavy users of the new media.

Simon Singh & The Simpsons in Melbourne

Simon Singh, best-selling author of ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem‘ and ‘The Code Book‘, will discuss his latest book ‘The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets‘ at Embiggen Books, 203 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne at 5:45 pm, Monday 20th January, and again at Skeptics Café’s Soapbox, 140 Lygon Street Carlton from 8 pm.

He will explain how a team of mathematically gifted writers have covered everything from calculus to geometry, from pi to game theory, and from infinitesimals to infinity in various episodes of The Simpsons. Singh will also discuss how the writers of Futurama have similarly made it their mission to smuggle deep mathematical ideas into the series.