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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered 150 British homeopaths to stop claiming to cure autism.
Five homeopaths are being sued for publicity. Discontinue "therapy", which is not supported by scientific evidence and may be harmful to children.
The National Autistic Society praised the advertising body's decision, saying that autism was not a disease to heal, but was an integral part of the identity of many people.
Cease, or complete elimination of autism spectrum expression, is supposed to be a method to rid children of toxins – including vaccines and drugs – that some homeopaths claim to cause autism. The therapists claim to be able to cure autistic children by using homeopathic remedies and dietary supplements.
The treatment consists of giving children four to five times more zinc than the Ministry of Health recommends and 200 times more vitamin C. Excessive amounts of vitamin C can cause diarrhea and vomiting. Cease therapists claim that this answer is proof that the child's body is purging toxins.
ASA CEO Guy Parker told BBC Radio 4 that concerns have been expressed about false and potentially dangerous treatments advertised online by Cease practitioners.
He said: "We sent out notices to 150 Cease therapists in the UK. We made it clear that they should not affirm, directly or implicitly, in their ads, including on their own websites, that their treatment could cure or cure autism. Those who will not house their homes will be subject to new sanctions. "
Experts say that therapy can be both psychologically and physically damaging. Prof. Nicola Martin of London South Bank University, who advised the Westminster Autism Commission, said, "It's really dangerous to give parents the idea that the way to love and nurture autistic child is trying to cure their autism. "
Carol Povey, director of the autism center at the National Autistic Society, said, "Many autistic people feel that their autism is an essential part of their identity. It is deeply shocking for anyone to claim that untested or even harmful therapies and products can "cure" autism – and particularly appalling when people are targeting vulnerable families.
Emma Dalmayne, who has been advocating for anti-counterfeiting legislation for autism for five years, said: "As an autistic adult, it disgusts me that these charlatans are taking advantage of parents. "
In the UK, a minority of therapists are members of the Society of Homeopaths, which is regulated by the Professional Standards Authority. The company said the therapy could be renamed to avoid being misleading and that it would take steps to avoid new, unfounded allegations.
Cease was invented by a Dutch doctor, Tinus Smits, who died of cancer in 2010. Andrew Wakefield, a former gastroenterologist, was struck off the British medical register in 2010 for his utterly discredited claim that the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella was at the origin of autism.
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