The boss of the health clinic where celebrity Tim Robards works as a chiropractor is deleting extraordinary and unproven health claims from his website after The Weekly Online exposed concerns they were likely in breach of national law.
Nick Wood, founder and director of Health Space, told The Weekly Online he would remove or change any “incorrect” claims relating to infertility, babies and children and seek advice from the national health regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
“The website needs some work,” he said, after defending some of the content. “I wrote all the content for this a long time ago. The ‘helpful tips’ [section] I haven’t looked at for literally a decade.”
Earlier today, he said external copy writers had also worked on the company’s website a couple of years ago. “I haven’t read it word for word,” he said, “I’ve got better things to do. I delegate stuff. But I take full responsibility for it.”
In the past couple of months, AHPRA and the Chiropractic Board of Australia have issued repeated industry-wide warnings of possible prosecution over advertising claims that may be “false, misleading or deceptive or create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment”.
Wood said ex-Bachelor TV star Tim Robards – who was previously a co-owner of two Health Space clinics but now works as a chiropractor at one clinic in Sydney’s Potts Point – was not involved in treating any babies or children. “He has no say in the [running of] the clinic,” he says.
Among Health Space’s original health claims highlighted by The Weekly Online were that chiropractic care could treat infertility, benefit unborn babies during pregnancy and was appropriate for children with conditions like colic, allergies, bed-wetting and ADHD.
Shortly after Wood spoke to The Weekly Online today, some claims and material began to disappear from the “Mums and Bubs” helpful tips section of the Health Space website.
Describing Health Space as “industry leaders” with 15 clinics, Wood initially defended some of the material relating to infertility, babies and children on his website. However, on further questioning, he acknowledged a claim that chiropractic care could “treat infertility” was “incorrect”.
On suggesting chiropractic care for newborns, developmental milestones and childhood conditions like bedwetting, allergies and ADHD, he said, “We are not saying we can fix these things – but if you have got these things, take them in.”
While he acknowledged high-quality research supporting chiropractic care for health conditions aside from back pain was lacking, Wood said, “There are so many case studies where people go to the chiro and have amazing results.. Chiros do a lot more than click backs.”
When asked how chiropractic care might help children with colic, allergies, behavioural issues or ADHD, Wood said, “We don’t really know the science behind it” but it was worth giving it a go.
He said Health Space offered multiple integrative therapies alongside chiropractic services. Babies were most often brought in by parents because of sleeping, feeding and digestive complaints, he said.
Wood, a chiropractor and kinesiologist, said vaccination was not an issue Health Space got involved with, as it’s out of the company’s scope of practise.
He didn’t wish to comment on whether his own child would be vaccinated but said it was “a huge schedule of vaccination” in Australia.
