Barbara O'Neill is an Australian naturopath and lecturer on health issues who, in 2019, was banned for life by the New South Wales

Health Care Complaints Commission The New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission (commonly referred to as the HCCC), is an independent statutory body created by the Parliament of New South Wales, Australia to receive, assess, resolve or prosecute complaints relating to he ...

(HCCC) from providing free or paid health services. The ban followed an HCCC investigation which found she lacked any health related qualifications, a degree, diploma, or membership in an accredited health organisation. It also found that she provided dangerous, unsupported health advice to vulnerable groups. This included advising parents to feed their infants raw

goat milk Goat milk is the milk of domestic goats. Goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply. Some goats are bred specifically for milk. Goat milk naturally has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream will stay in ...

almond milk Almond milk is a plant-based milk with a watery texture and nutty flavor manufactured from almonds, although some types or brands are flavored in imitation of cow's milk. It does not contain cholesterol or lactose and is low in saturated fat. ...

blended with dates or banana instead of formula, and recommending that cancer patients forgo chemotherapy in favour of

baking soda Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3−) ...

wraps and dietary changes. She is married to Michael O'Neill, the founder of the

Informed Medical Options Party The Informed Medical Options Party, formerly known as the Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party, was an Australian political party. The party's policies opposed compulsory vaccination programs and water fluoridation. Th ...

Activities

Although O'Neill has promoted her services as a naturopath, nutritionist, and health educator since at least 2004, she lacks relevant credentials. She has rejected the claim that her health advice is not evidence-based. She ran the Misty Mountain Health Retreat near Kempsey, NSW with her husband, charging clients up to

AUD The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Isla ...

$3,100 per week for treatments and health retreats. She also provided for-fee telephone consultations. According to O'Neill's website, she provided detox services claiming to aid in recovery from heart disease, diabetes, hormonal imbalance, chronic fatigue, candida/fungus, drug addiction, cancer, heartburn, and obesity. Her

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

videos were viewed about 700,000 times as of mid-October 2019. As a member of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

, she has spoken at many church venues. She has previously provided health retreats and wellness programs in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

and continues to conduct them in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Questionable claims

Cancer

According to the HCCC investigation, O'Neill falsely claimed to be able to cure

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

and urged patients not to use

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

. O'Neill promoted the discredited claim that cancer is a

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

. She urged her clients to treat their cancer with

wraps and claimed, without evidence, that one doctor had cured 90% of his patients' cancer with baking soda injections. She also encouraged her clients to treat their cancer with probiotics and by avoiding fruit and wheat for six weeks.

Anti-vaccination

O'Neill discouraged immunisation, claiming that vaccines are unnecessary. In one of her YouTube videos, she stated that "children can be naturally vaccinated against tetanus by drinking plenty of water, going to bed early, not eating junk food and running around the hills". She further claimed, without evidence, that "neurotoxins in vaccines have caused an epidemic of ADHD, autism, epilepsy and cot death". O'Neill has campaigned against the Australian

No Jab No Pay No Jab No Pay is an Australian policy initiative which withholds three state payments – Child Care Benefit, the Child Care Rebate and a portion of the fortnightly Family Tax Benefit part A per child – for parents of children under 20 years of ...

pro-immunisation initiative.

Antibiotics

In several of her YouTube videos, O'Neill discourages the use of antibiotics, claiming, without evidence, that they cause cancer. She has told pregnant women it is unnecessary to take antibiotics for Strep B because "no baby has ever died from Strep B catching out of birth". However, the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' statistics show that 14% of newborns who contract early-onset Strep B die, and that antibiotics can reduce this risk dramatically.

Dietary Advice for Infants

O'Neill has recommended that parents who are unable to

breastfeed Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that brea ...

their infant use substitutes besides formula. These have included unpasteurised goat milk and a mix of almond milk and dates or bananas. Co-author of the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded rese ...

's Australian infant feeding guidelines, Professor Jane Scott, has stated this advice is "definitely not safe," and that "there is a real danger here for infants as these will not support healthy growth and development". In O'Neill's opinion, parents should not feed their children solid food or grains until their

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...

have emerged. She has stated this nutrition advice is based solely on her personal experience.

HCCC Investigation

Between October 2018 and January 2019, the New South Wales

(HCCC) received many complaints about O'Neill's health advice. These included a complaint that the advice she provided regarding infant nutrition could cause death if followed, where she disclosed her directives were not based on any official guidance or evidence. The Commission found that some of her recommendations were based on ideas espoused by

Tullio Simoncini Tullio Simoncini (born 1951) is a former Italian physician known for alternative medicine advocacy. He is known for the claim that cancer is caused by the fungus ''Candida albicans'', and has argued that cancer is a form of candida overgrowth. He a ...

, an Italian former oncologist and

alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

advocate incarcerated following a conviction for fraud and manslaughter following the death of one of his patients. Some of her guidance was based on the views of doctors who were sued by patients for not providing appropriate treatment. When the HCCC noted these facts to O'Neill, she stated that she still intended to use their advice. The HCCC also found that O'Neill cannot recognise and provide health advice within the limits of her training and experience and had not maintained records of the advice she provided to clients. While O'Neill has claimed to have received diplomas in naturopathy, nutrition, and dietetics from two now defunct organisations, the HCCC found that she did not have any health related degree or diploma. O'Neill claimed that she was merely providing clients with information, rather than advice. She further stated that the advice provided was evidence-based, and that she had not claimed to be able to cure cancer. The HCCC ultimately found the O'Neill's actions had breached five clauses of the Code of Conduct for Unregistered Health Practitioners. On September 24, 2019, The HCCC indefinitely banned O'Neill from providing health services, regardless of whether or not she accepted payment for doing so. This precludes her from giving lectures, public speaking or seeing clients. A HCCC spokesperson said that O'Neill's activities were being monitored closely and the prohibition order applies in the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. He also stated, "In general, if the material is accessible in hose jurisdictionsonline, then it is considered to be delivering a health service", and that "Presenting health education in any form or delivering health services, would be a breach of her prohibition order." Following the decision, a petition was circulated calling for the HCCC to reverse its decision. As of October 2019, the petition had gained 36,000 signatures. Accompanying the petition, is a statement from O'Neill: “It looks a bit dark now, but the Great God of the Universe will not let His wonderful health truth to be eliminated, regardless of how men and women may try.” Since the ban, O'Neill has claimed she is a victim of a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

-style propaganda campaign.

Investigation into charity

In late 2019, O’Neill and her husband's Misty Mountain Health Retreat came under investigation by the

Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the regulatory authority for charities and not-for-profit organisations within Australia. The Commission was established in December 2012 as part of the ''Australian Charities ...

(ACNC) for alleged breaches of charity law. Under its health promotion charity status, the Retreat had received government grants and various tax concessions. In defending its status, the Retreat had claimed it had provided diet, exercise and health advice to

indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

and people with chronic and terminal illnesses. The Retreat had previously been called 'The Aboriginal Healing Centre'. The retreat charges up to AUD$3,100 a week for health and cancer "treatments". Although she has been banned from providing health advice in Australia, O'Neill's website states that "Barbara O’Neill, author, educator, naturopath and nutritionist (retired), is… available for public speaking to companies, community groups, or churches outside of Australia and is sure to please those looking for motivation to live a longer, healthier and happier life." The month following the HCCC's decision, O'Neill was scheduled to conduct a wellness program in the US at a cost of $2,350 per person.

Cook Islands

In October 2019, the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Secretary of Health Josephine Aumea Herman expressed concern after learning O’Neill had been running health workshops in

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings a ...

, and referred the matter onto the chief medical officer of the Cook Islands. Herman said: "We will follow up on this with her ’Neill so in the future she cannot practise healthcare here without the proper registration – which means an annual practising certificate in her country of origin, and other documentation. We must ensure the Cook Islands population remains safe."

References

External links

* HCCC
''Statement of decision'' (pdf)
on Mrs Barbara O’Neill - 24 September 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Barbara Alternative medicine Australian anti-vaccination activists Australian fraudsters Australian Seventh-day Adventists Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Medical controversies in Australia Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)