Doctors and campaigners have complained to the BBC and MPs about “unfounded” claims made on the TV show Dragons’ Den that Chinese medicine had helped a woman recover from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a disease with no known cure.
An open letter to the chairs of two select committees was organised by Action for ME after an episode of the programme, in which entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to a panel of investors, aired on 18 January containing “misleading and potentially dangerous information”.
Giselle Boxer, the founder of Acu Seeds, said she had recovered from ME in 12 months using “diet, acupuncture, Chinese herbs and ear seeds”, and had turned the last of these into a business.
The organisations, including the ME Local Network, PhysiosforME and various support groups, said in the letter to Caroline Dinenage, chair of the culture, media and sport committee, and Steve Brine, chair of the health and social care committee: “Given the episode in question was aired during primetime on BBC One, we worry that a larger audience will have heard this pitch which amounts to an unfounded claim that this form of alternative medicine can cure ME.”
The letter was also signed by Baroness Scott of Needham Market, who co-chairs a parliamentary group about the condition, and Dr Charles Shepherd, an adviser to the ME Association.
In her pitch, Boxer said she had been diagnosed with ME four years ago and “went from working in a top advertising agency, with a busy social life and exercising regularly, to being mostly housebound and being unable to walk more than five minutes without having to get back into bed”.
She said: “I was told by doctors that I would never recover, work again or have children. I went on a personal healing journey using diet, acupuncture, Chinese herbs and ear seeds. Using this combination, I believe, aided my recovery within 12 months.”
Boxer’s figures impressed the “dragons” and she was offered investment from every member of the panel. She chose to accept £50,000 from Steven Bartlett in exchange for 12.5% of her business, saying she was spiritual and had been told she would “meet a man called Steven and that he was going to be really important”.
Phil Youngs, who has had ME for 20 years, said Boxer’s story and her ear seeds business could lead to more stigma for a condition that some people already consider psychosomatic or fake.
He said: “As a community, we are now being questioned as to why we aren’t getting better if such a simple solution exists – bearing in mind that we don’t even know what causes the disease, never mind how to cure it.
“Picture someone going on [TV] claiming they could cure cancer, or ALS, or Alzheimer’s. They would be questioned immediately, by everyone on the panel. There would be public outrage. We know there is no cure for any of these diseases, there are millions and billions of pounds being spent on research every year.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “Dragons’ Den features products from entrepreneurs and is not an endorsement of them. Dragons’ Den shows real businesses pitching to investors to lift the lid on what happens in the business world. This episode features an entrepreneur sharing their own, personal, experience that led to a business creation.”
Boxer did not respond to a request for comment.
