Chiropractor fined $29,500 for making cancer cure claims
Mr. Limboro was a chiropractor in Sydney. On his website, he made the following claims within some articles:
“Cancer is 100% preventable.”
"... Another kind of cancer prevention that is believed to most effective and beneficial is chiropractic treatment.”
“By having a regular visit to a chiropractor, people can rest assured that are [sic] prevented from having cancer.”
“Chiropractic focuses on treating any misalignment in your posture (which mostly is in the spine) which is believed to be the cause of all diseases in the body, including cancers. When the posture problems are solved, the cancer can also be cured.”
During court, a medical expert reported, “...there is no credible evidence that: misalignment of the spine is a cause of any form of cancer; that chiropractic treatment can prevent any form of cancer; or that chiropractic treatment can cure or treat any form of cancer.” Further, the Chiropractic Board of Australia put out a statement which said that there was insufficient evidence that chiropractic methods can improve organic diseases or infections, "ADHD, autistic spectrum disorders, asthma, infantile colic, bedwetting, ear infections and digestive problems."
Mr. Limboro argued that he had no idea that his articles made those claims because he outsourced his articles to another person. He also argued during cross-examination that he did not think his domain name, www.cancercuresydney.com.au, was misleading because the term 'cure' can also mean 'pickled'. Further, a witness of Mr. Limboro, who was also a chiropractor stated, “Chiropractic may or may not cure cancer, who knows? It is just medical dogma that says it can’t – we’re not allowed to say so. You don’t know, in 20 years’ time we’ll know that chiropractic does help.”
The court held that Mr. Limboro was guilty of 1) advertising services in a misleading way, and 2) using testimonials in advertisements. He was fined $29,500. He was also held unfit to be a chiropractor and he was banned from practicing for 2 years.
Further Reading
Case Name: Health Care Complaints Commission v Limboro [2018] NSWCATOD 117