AECC University College newborn feeding clinic continues to make misleading claims about treatment of babies by chiropractors

I have previously written about how inappropriate it is to have chiropractors working in a newborn feeding clinic. In order to address this, I complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about the misleading advertising claims made by the AECC University College Newborn Feeding Clinic. In response to my complaint, the ASA got the AECC University College to make changes to their claims. However, it was quite clear that the changes made were merely superficial and did nothing to address the underlying issues with chiropractors “treating” infant feeding problems. I therefore complained to the ASA a second time, and again AECC University College was found in breach of advertising guidelines.

The AECC University College made some further changes to their advertising in response to this second complaint. However, in reality, it is virtually impossible for the information about the clinic to align with the available evidence because the entire clinic is based on chiropractors treating babies. There is no evidence base that supports chiropractors treating babies for feeding problems or any other health condition. The only way that the AECC Newborn Feeding Clinic could become evidence based is by removing chiropractors entirely. The AECC aren’t going to do that because they are a chiropractic college. Therefore, the AECC will keep tweaking the wording of their advertising until the ASA no longer finds issues with it. Will the AECC still be misleading the public when this point is reached? Absolutely! The entire basis of the clinic relies on deceiving the public into taking their babies to see a chiropractor for help with feeding problems.

Advertising guidelines do not prevent chiropractors from treating babies but it is clear that clinics like this are misleading the public. It is time that the chiropractic regulator, the General Chiropractic Council (GCC), stepped in to protect the public from these unsuitable treatments by applying a minimum age limit for chiropractic treatment.

Last updated 03/12/20