The General Council and Register of Naturopaths (GCRN) has issued a statement on Australian ‘naturopath’, Barbara O’Neill, who was banned from practising for life by the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission.
The HCCC found that Mrs O’Neill, who had no formal training in naturopathy or any other health discipline, misled vulnerable clients with ‘dubious and dangerous health claims’, including that cancer was a fungus and could be cured by bicarbonate of soda and that pregnant women should not take antibiotics for streptococcus B infections because ‘no baby has ever died from Strep B catching out of birth’. Figures actually show that early-onset Strep B has a fatality rate of 14% in newborn babies, which is reduced by 80% with antibiotics.
President of the GCRN, Aliyyaa Spring-Charles, said: “I was horrified to learn about this case and saddened that the actions of one person, who was an unregistered naturopath, have tarnished the reputation of our profession.