AN AUSTRALIAN LIFESTYLE blogger who claimed to have cured brain cancer through “nutrition and holistic medicine” is facing legal action following an investigation by a consumer watchdog.
The action follows the huge fallout after Belle Gibson admitted to never having had the condition in March of last year.
Her bogus claim had led to her enjoying success with wellness app The Whole Pantry, its partnering website and a book of recipes published by Penguin.
In the book it was claimed that Gibson had been given between six weeks and eight months to live – and that after initially trying conventional treatments like radio-therapy and chemotherapy, had set carried out a “quest” to heal herself naturally.
The lies surrounding her condition began to unravel after doubts were raised about her age and other details in a report in The Australian. She later admitted to Australian Women’s Weekly that none of her claims were true.
Gibson had also claimed that proceeds from her book would be donated to charity.
This action is being supported by watchdog Consumer Affairs Victoria, who has said that it considers the book “misleading and deceptive conduct and made false and misleading representations in breach of the Australian Consumer Law (Victoria).”
Penguin Australia – who published Gibson’s book – has contributed $30,000 (€19,400) to the Victoria Consumer Law Fund, and have been made to commit to more vigourous practices around checking health claims and statements around natural therapies.
The publisher had previously said that it had published the book “in good faith” but had not substantiated the claims made in the book.
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