Once again a quack is using legal threats to silence criticism. Read about it here. And once again the invertebrates running Netcetera have caved in.
Fortnately, the post has been reproduced elsewhere on the net. Here, for example.
One wonders what sort of legal team Mr. Obi has appointed. I have never before seen the phrase “to the tune of” used in a legal context. . Netcetera’s legal eagles cannot be much better, else they would have pointed out that they would only liable for the claim of £1,000,000 per day if it could be proved that the Quackometer’s criticism was (a) inaccurate and (b) had actually resulted in such losses to Mr. Obi’s “Royal College of Alternative Medicine”. Does he really expect anyone to believe he earns that much? I wonder what figure he puts on his tax returns?
Furthermore, the claim for “punitive” damages is even more ludicrous. These would only be awarded by a judge if Netcetera ignored a previous court ruling on the matter.
Obi shows the typical woo love of grandiose titles. Apart from styling himself “Professor Dr” Obi, the title of his college would appear to give the intention that it has royal support – plausible given Karl Battenburg’s ignorant witterings on sCAM – but the fact that it is based in Dublin is a dead give-away since Ireland has not been part of the UK since 1922 and has been a Republic since 1949. Obi is unaware of this and refers to Ireland as a British Commonwealth Protectorate!
Like many other dodgy health practitioners, Obi cannot distinguish between disagreement and defamation. He assumes that criticism of him is illegal – reminds me of Sue Young and the Society of Homeopaths.
The existance of people like Obi and his ridiculous “Royal College” is yet another demonstration that self-regulation of “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” is a non-starter. How could self-regulation deal with the likes of Mr. Obi? We have already seen that the Society of Homeopaths is unwilling or unable to regulate its own members. If CAM is to be allowed to continue, it must be under the supervision of a statutary body with statutary powers.
Tags: Andy Lewis, Joseph Chikelue Obi, Quackometer, Royal College of Alternative Medicine
January 23, 2008 at 11:14 pm |
Reminds me of the Society of Homeopaths in its entirety.
January 24, 2008 at 2:19 pm |
Obi reminds me strongly of Idi Amin. Not the real one, but the hilarious column in Punch in the 1970s. He is a total joke and can safely be ignored. Sadly Netcetera etcetera can’t see the joke.
January 24, 2008 at 11:49 pm |
How dare you call him “Karl Battenburg”? That ain’t no fruitcake!
January 25, 2008 at 10:02 am |
February 18, 2008 at 10:50 pm |
[...] Monty Python and the Holy Grail, web hosts Netcetera have bravely turned their tails and fled. On 23 January I described how a ludicrous quack, the self-styled “Professor Doctor” Joseph Chikelue [...]