‘Self-healing’ coach who was banned from working in Australia to speak in Ireland

Tim and Fiona O'Leary protesting in December 2023 in Cork against controversial naturopath Barbara O'Neill's 'health seminars'.

A controversial proponent of natural remedies who has been banned from providing any health services in Australia is due to embark on a series of events in Ireland and the UK despite criticism from scientists, health charities, and academic bodies.

Barbara O’Neill, who describes herself as a naturopath and nutritionist, lectures internationally on “natural self-healing”.

She has previously claimed that cancer is a fungus that can be treated with bicarbonate soda, that vaccines have caused an epidemic of conditions, including autism and cot death, and that pregnant women with Strep B do not have to take antibiotics.

Now experts have raised concerns in a letter to venues across Ireland and the UK where O’Neill, 73, is scheduled to speak.

The letter — which was organised by Dr David Robert Grimes, a science communicator and expert in Biostatistics at Trinity College Dublin — describes O’Neill as “a leading vector of medical misinformation”, adding that she repeatedly made “misguided medical assertions”, gave “unqualified advice” and promoted “abject demonisation of conventional medical treatment.” 

The letter notes that O’Neill charges large sums for retreats and telephone consultations, and raises concerns about the events due to be held at the Irish and British venues.

“At the event, she will spread dangerous health fictions to a susceptible audience, leeching off an illusion of legitimacy afforded to her by the surrounds of your respectable establishment,” the letter said.

Among those who have signed the letter are Orla Dolan, the chief executive of Breakthrough Cancer Research; Prof. Colin Doherty, head of Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine; Prof. David Colquhoun, a fellow of the Royal Society and University College London; and Sander van der Linden, professor of Psychology at the University of Cambridge.

Grimes, who has authored a book on medical misinformation, said O’Neill presented as a kindly grandmother dispensing natural wisdom.

“Medical misinformation kills, and we wrote the letter because we have seen first-hand the profound and tragic harms that health fictions inflict on vulnerable patients … We hope making people aware of this reality mitigates her ability to inflict harm elsewhere,” he said.

In 2019, the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in Australia concluded an investigation into O'Neill's professional conduct. 

Among its findings, the investigation found O’Neill “does not recognise that she is misleading vulnerable people by providing very selective information. The misinformation has real potential to have a detrimental effect on the health of individuals because Mrs O’Neill also discourages mainstream treatment for cancer, antibiotics, and vaccinations”. 

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She was permanently barred from providing any health services either voluntarily or in a paid capacity in Australia.

However, the ruling has not prevented O’Neill from running events in other countries and a multi-day event is scheduled for mid-October at the City North hotel and conference centre in Gormanston.

O’Neill and her husband Michael are also scheduled to appear at the Founders and Future festival at Glasgow University Union, with the event website noting the pair will be “headlining the main stage”.

Michael O’Neill told The Guardian newspaper the ban from the HCCC in Australia had “serious legal flaws” that were under investigation, and that “there are political moves to place the HCCC organisation under investigation for their clear bias against natural wellness practitioners”. 

He also stated: “Barbara never received a single complaint of harm from a patient, as the complaints were purely ideology, based on supposition, not facts. The HCCC is largely funded by pharmaceutical money and is a seriously conflicted organisation.” 

© The Guardian