TV1 show breached accuracy standards: BSA

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TV One's Breakfast show has been rapped by the Broadcasting Standards Authority over inaccurate statements made by a medical researcher.

The offending comments were made on a show in March when the researcher, Dr Shaun Holt, was interviewed about the effectiveness of chiropractors.

His remarks raised the ire of the New Zealand Chiropractors' Association which complained to Television New Zealand that the programme was not accurate, impartial and objective.

The association said that Dr Holt had been "highly critical of the safety and efficacy of chiropractic".

TVNZ had failed to disclose that Dr Holt "had a serious conflict of interest" arising from his ownership of Clinicanz Limited, which tested prescription medicines and natural health remedies.

This provided him with "a direct financial motive for attacking chiropractors, because chiropractors provide health care without recourse to prescription medicines", the association said.

The BSA assessed the complaint under Standard 5, which relates to accuracy, of the Free-to-Air Television Code of Broadcasting Practice.

TVNZ said that Dr Holt, a general practitioner, was a regular contributor to the programme. He was an honorary research fellow of the New Zealand Medical Research Institute and had carried out more than 100 clinical studies, and written more than 50 publications in medical literature.

His comments on chiropractic were his opinions, and framed as such in the interview, TVNZ said.

The BSA said Dr Holt had made a number of strong, unqualified statements about what scientific research said about chiropractic therapy.

It concluded that his statements were not distinguishable as his opinion, but were presented as statements of fact to which the accuracy standard applied.

- NZPA