A “DANGEROUS” health guru who has been banned from practising in Australia is hosting £795-a-ticket seminars in Scotland, including at Donald Trump’s Turnberry hotel.
Barbara O’Neill, who markets herself as an international speaker on natural healing, was banned from giving health advice or treatment in Australia after an investigation found several of her teachings were found to be dangerous.
It was revealed that the 72-year-old had no relevant formal qualifications and had never been a member of any accredited professional health organisation.
Her advice included claims that cancer was a fungus that could be cured by bicarbonate of soda, rather than chemotherapy, and that mothers should feed their babies raw milk despite medical advice warning it can contain bacteria harmful to infants.
O’Neill will attend two Scottish hotels next month, Trump Turnberry and Crieff Hydro, to offer her online fans the chance to meet her in person.
The six-day course at the US president’s hotel will set attendees back £795, with accommodation packages also available for fans at an additional cost.
Margaret McCartney, a Scottish GP, warned people that following so-called experts with non-scientific advice and methods can be harmful.
She told the Daily Record: “People are, of course, entitled to believe what they want.
“But if you are making a decision about your health, I’d recommend consulting with people who follow the principles of evidence-based medicine. This is especially true in areas of vaccination and cancer.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who don’t offer scientific advice and are capable of doing real harm to people through inaccurate information and scaremongering.”
She added: “When we make decisions about our health, it’s crucial that we have access to high-quality and unbiased information. Otherwise we may think we are making wise choices when we are not.”
Advertised on the Good Food Project website with the slogan “Let Food Be Thy Medicine” the events include a series of 20 lectures by O’Neill and guest speakers over the six days as well as Q&A sessions.
Despite experts warning the dangerous advice and practices offered by O’Neill, singer Susan Boyle has reportedly previously attended a wellness event and spoke in O’Neill’s defence last year.
In 2019, the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in New South Wales found that O’Neill had given potentially dangerous advice regarding antibiotics and vaccinations, along with her advice on cancer and raw milk for babies, in lectures, online seminars and articles published on her website.
O’Neill claimed in one lecture that “the human body was designed to heal itself and does not need to be vaccinated”.
She added: “If you stop taking the flu shot, it will prevent you from getting Alzheimer’s disease.”
Banning her from practising, the HCCC said it was “concerned that Mrs O’Neill does not recognise she is misleading vulnerable people, including mothers and cancer sufferers”.
According to the watchdog's investigation, it found that O’Neill had falsely claimed in one lecture, without evidence, that a doctor had a 90% success rate curing cancer with sodium bicarbonate injections.
The HCCC found that while O’Neill was a trainee nurse in a psychiatric hospital in the 1970s, she was never a member of any accredited professional health organisation and had no relevant health-related degrees or diplomas.
On her website, she describes herself as an “author, educator, and an international speaker at large on natural self-healing, who has raised eight children and loves to help mothers with their children’s health”.
