Complaints received by the Commerce Commission about
‘SleepDrops’ and/or responding to one or more of the
keywords: “cure”, “curing”, “therapy”, “therapeutic”,
“treatment”, “medicinal”, “healing” and “relief” - collated
for OIA 18.210 and retrieved on 4 June 2019
Legend:
Enforcement Criteria:
C
Complainant
NFA
No further action
T
Trader
C
No or limited trader history
C2
Trader history exists
G
Conduct is unclear/ unlikely breach
Q
Appropriate for other agency or private action
V
Issues may not be timely
W
Other priorities/ need to balance resources
available
Details
Summary
Keywords: cure, therapy and therapeutic
Details: ENQ0521542 C uses an app called ‘MyHealth’ to manage health appointments. C
Subject(s): MyHealth was approach by someone claiming to be from ‘MyHealth’ who
asked questions about C’s health and tried to sell C a cure to a
Date: 11/01/2019
medical issue.
Outcome: NFA, G
Details: ENQ0515214 C is contacting the Commission because of its case against T:
https://comcom.govt.nz/case-register/case-register-entries/hrv-
Subject(s): HRV Clean
Water Limited
clean-water-limited
Date: 28/06/2018
T told C that its water system could cure eczema. C believes T is
misleading consumers.
Outcome: NFA, V
Details: ENQ0518366 C states that T provides the public with advice on how to deal with
Subject(s): Wendy
menopause. T introduces herself as “Doctor Wendy” and gives the
Sweet
impression that she is a medical doctor who holds PhD in aging in
women and/or exercise science. C states that T is not a medical
Date: 19/09/2018
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2
Details
Summary
Keywords: cure, therapy and therapeutic
Outcome: NFA G, C,
doctor, nor has she completed a PhD.
W
T claims to be a member of the NZ Register of Exercise
Professionals but C could not substantiate this on the
organisation’s website.
T claims to have won a number of awards but C could not
substantiate this on any of the relevant websites.
C believes that T’s advice is unethical and sometimes dangerous. C
states that T’s advice is not based on sound science and could very
well be harmful to T’s clients.
C states that the implication of most of T’s advice is that
menopausal symptoms are the individual's own fault because of
incorrect eating and exercise habits, and that by paying for T’s
program, women can become medication and symptom free.
Details: ENQ0525810 C states that T is a private clinic providing alternative medicine in
Subject(s):
the form of stem cell treatment. C is concerned that T are
RegenCellular
providing misleading information to consumers. C believes T
downplay the potential difficulty of the procedures and overstate
Date: 30/04/2019
the medical evidence for use of stem cells. C concerned that
Outcome: NFA, C, Q
vulnerable consumers with little medical knowledge will be misled
into believing that there is higher likelihood of benefit than current
medical literature supports, and lower likelihood of risk than what
exists.
Details: ENQ0520802 C has seen an advertisement for SleepDrops on Google ads which
Subject(s):
states they are “clinically proven”. C has not seen any evidence to
SleepDrops
substantiate this claim.
Date: 03/12/2018
Outcome: NFA, V
Details: ENQ0519634 C has attached a document containing the complaint, examples of
Subject(s):
T's representations and links to references. Refer to #3394707 for
SleepDrops
full document (11 pages). Excerpts below:
Date: 01/11/2018
On behalf of the Society for Science Based Healthcare, I would like
to lodge a complaint against SleepDrops for making unsupported
Outcome: NFA, V
therapeutic claims, using unverified testimonials, potentially
misleading customers with bad advice, and targeting children with
their range of homeopathic/herbal products for kids.
SleepDrops are a multi-million dollar business in New Zealand that
are currently looking at expanding overseas:
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Details
Summary
Keywords: cure, therapy and therapeutic
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&ob
jectid=11553628
Deceptive Advertising
From what I have seen of SleepDrops' marketing strategy, it
appears that they are aware of the restrictions in this country
regarding advertising of therapeutic products, including restrictions
placed by the Commerce Commission, the ASA and Medsafe, and
the company even admits that they have to be creative in their
marketing
Conclusion
The claims I have listed here are only a tiny fraction of what the
company have used on their website, social media pages and copy
on 3rd party pharmacy websites. A look at all the systematic
reviews for the ingredients in SleepDrops shows there is very little
positive evidence that the products would be effective for any
sleep condition.
The tactics that SleepDrops use for advertising their products, such
as attempting to circumvent regulations while still making the
claims they know they are not allowed to make, advertising to
children, and making multiple unsupported claims prefixed with
the word "support", seem to be in breach of the Commerce
Commission's Fair Trading Act. The claims that have been made
have not been supported by evidence, and I have searched in vain
on the SleepDrops website for links to scientific studies performed
on any of their products.
I hope that the Commerce Commission could look at this complaint
with some urgency, especially as SleepDrops are currently
crowdfunding for investment from New Zealanders and hope to
raise $2 million - some of which will be spent on expanding their
operations to other parts the world:
https://sleepdrops.co.nz/lets-get-the-world-to-sleep/
https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/investments/333-sleepdrops-sleep-
support-system-limited
Details: ENQ0523884 C states that T is engaging in door to door sales selling oil and
Subject(s): Emu Oil
makes a number of claims about pain relief. C is concerned that T is
targeting vulnerable consumers.
Date: 11/03/2019
Outcome: NFA, G
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Details
Summary
Keyword: treatment
Details: ENQ0524000
C states that T is making claims to consumers about the health
Subject(s): Ionza
benefits of alkaline water, similar to Kangen water.
water treatment
system
Date: 05/03/19
Outcome: NFA
Details: ENQ0519857
C states that T’s homeopathic product makes misleading and
Subject(s): Miers
factually questionable claims which cannot be proven.
Laboratories
C states that ingredients in the product are highly diluted and, at
Date: 08/11/18
that concentration, are more likely to not exist within the product
at all. C believes it is incorrect to classify them as “active
Outcome: NFA, G, H,
ingredients”. C states there is not any valid basis to assert that T’s
W
product is effective.
Details
Summary
Keyword: medicinal
Details: ENQ0521384
C questions whether there is such thing as “medical grade
Subject(s): Comvita
antibacterial Manuka honey” and would like T to substantiate this
claim.
Date: 19/12/2018
Outcome: NFA, G
Details
Summary
Keyword: healing
Details: ENQ0521794 C states that T claims her products have healing properties and
Subject(s): Better
advocates using them in lieu of conventional medical treatment.
Bods Timaru
C believes these claims deliberately misrepresent the health
Date: 10/01/2019
benefits of the product and/or individual ingredients, and the
manner of presentation is designed to appeal to consumers who
Outcome: NFA, G, C
are more likely to be vulnerable and desperate (e.g. consumers
who are unwell).
betterbodz.co.nz
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Details
Summary
Keywords: relief
Details: ENQ0522413 C states that T is making unverified medical claims about the pain
Subject(s): Brand
relief provided by the "Pain Erazor".
Developers
Date: 30/01/2019
Outcome: NFA
Details: ENQ0520711 C states that the advertisements for the "Pain Erazor" make
Subject(s): Pain
unsupported claims about pain relief and have no science
Erazor
supporting the claims.
Date: 29/11/2018
Outcome: NFA
Details: ENQ0525337 C ordered a healthcare product for pain relief online. The product
Subject(s): Health
which arrived was for joint health, not pain relief. T said the
Care NZ limited
packaging had changed but it was the same product.
Date: 29/04/2019
Outcome: NFA, G
General Enquiry
Details
Summary
Keyword: cure
Details: ENQ0516096 C enquired about the rules around about selling health
Date: 13/07/2018
supplements to the public and making health claims.
C is concerned about capsules being sold Facebook, likening them
to “magic beans” that claim to cure all sorts of ailments, including
cancer. C notes the capsules are expensive. C is concerned that the
public may be led astray and might mistakenly think the capsules
could cure incurable illnesses.
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