ASA Adjudication on Healing on the Streets-Bath
Healing on the Streets-Bath
Bradford on Avon
Wiltshire
BA15 1RG
Date:
1 February 2012Media:
Internet (on own site)Sector:
Non-commercialNumber of complaints:
1Complaint Ref:
A11-158433Ad
A website and a leaflet, for Healing on the Streets - Bath, viewed on 10 May 2011:
a. The website home page stated "Our vision is to :- Promote Christian Healing as a daily life style for every believer, through demonstration, training and equipping. We are working in unity, from numerous churches outside the four walls of the building, In order to :- - Heal the sick ...".
A page headed "What people have told us afterwards ..." included five testimonials in which people stated that after receiving prayer their conditions had been improved.
b. The leaflet was available for download on the website under the heading "Download a healing flyer by clicking below". The leaflet stated "NEED HEALING? GOD CAN HEAL TODAY! Do you suffer from Back Pain, Arthritis, MS, Addiction ... Ulcers, Depression, Allergies, Fibromyalgia, Asthma, Paralysis, Crippling Disease, Phobias, Sleeping disorders or any other sickness? We'd love to pray for your healing right now! We're Christian from churches in Bath and we pray in the name of Jesus. We believe that God loves you and can heal you from any sickness".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the claim in ad (b) that the advertiser could heal the named conditions was misleading and could be substantiated;
2. the testimonials in ad (a) misleadingly implied that the advertiser could heal the conditions referred to; and
3. the ads were irresponsible, because they provided false hope to those suffering from the named conditions.
4. The ASA challenged whether the ads could discourage essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should be sought.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
1. & 2. Healing on the Streets - Bath (HOTS) said there were no claims in the ads that HOTS or any individual person could heal the conditions referred to. They said the leaflet stated "God can heal you", which was a statement of their belief. They said that the statements in the testimonials on their website were the individuals' genuine statements of their experiences and beliefs, and there were no guarantees or promises in the ads that people would be healed.
3. HOTS said they did not believe the ads were irresponsible or provided false hope to people who were sick. In their view, any hope provided was not false because they believed that God could and did heal sickness, and that many people had experienced that. They said it was not irresponsible to provide people with an opportunity to be prayed for, and to experience healing. They said they were a registered charity and praying for healing was part of their objectives as a registered charity, and was also in accordance with traditional Christian beliefs. They added that the charity's activities were endorsed by many churches and other reputable members of the community. They said they provided people with an opportunity to consider the possibility that God could help them.
4. HOTS said they did not agree that the ads discouraged people from seeking essential treatment and there was no suggestion that people should think that it was an alternative to seeking medical supervision or essential treatment. They said all their volunteers underwent detailed training before taking part in their activities, including instruction that everyone who received prayer must be given a letter which included the statements "if you are on medication STAY on it. Under NO circumstances should you stop doing anything a medical professional or counsellor has advised. We are not medically trained so please verify with them what has happened and take their advice. If you have been healed, their endorsement is a great encouragement to others of what God has done".
HOTS offered to amend their ads to state "We believe God can heal" and "See God heal the sick" or "Pray for the sick", to include the words "We believe" in any references to healing, to include a prominent reference to medical treatment on their website, and to remove the leaflet from their website.
Assessment
1., 2. & 3. Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that HOTS sought to promote their faith and the hope for physical healing by God through the claims in their ads. However, we were concerned that the prominent references in ad (b) to healing and the statement "You have nothing to lose, except your sickness" in combination with the references to medical conditions for which medical supervision should be sought such as arthritis, asthma, MS, addictions, depression and paralysis, could give consumers the expectation that, by receiving prayer from HOTS volunteers, they would be healed of the conditions listed or other sicknesses from which they suffered. We also considered that the testimonials in ad (a) could also give consumers that expectation, and furthermore, noted that a video on the website also made claims that HOTS volunteers had successfully prayed for healing for people with cancer, fibromyalgia, back pain, kidney pain, hip pain, cataracts, arthritis and paralysis. We noted the testimonials on the website and in the video but considered that testimonials were insufficient as evidence for claims of healing. We therefore concluded the ads were misleading.
We acknowledged that HOTS volunteers believed that prayer could treat illness and medical conditions, and that therefore the ads did not promote false hope. However, we noted we had not seen evidence that people had been healed through the prayer of HOTS volunteers, and concluded that the ads could encourage false hope in those suffering from the named conditions and therefore were irresponsible.
We acknowledged that HOTS had offered to make amendments to the ads, and to remove the leaflet from their website. However, we considered that their suggested amendments were not sufficient for the ads to comply with the CAP Code.
On these points, ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code rules 1.3 (Social responsibility), 3.1 and 3.6 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.47 (Endorsements and testimonials), 12.1 and 12.6 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
4. Upheld
We understood that HOTS volunteers were instructed to give a letter to the recipients of prayer which told them they should not stop taking their medication or following the advice of medical professionals. We also noted their offer to add a prominent reference along the lines of that letter to their website. However, we considered that, because both the leaflet and the website made claims that through the prayer offered by HOTS volunteers people could be healed of specific medical conditions for which medical supervision should be sought such as arthritis, asthma, MS, addictions, depression and paralysis, the ads could discourage people, and particularly the vulnerable or those suffering from undiagnosed symptoms, from seeking essential treatment for medical conditions for which medical supervision should be sought. We concluded the ad breached the Code.
On this point, ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code rule 12.2 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told HOTS not to make claims which stated or implied that, by receiving prayer from their volunteers, people could be healed of medical conditions. We also told them not to refer in their ads to medical conditions for which medical supervision should be sought.