Light penalty for vile trickery
April 25th 2009 04:03
Caveat emptor — buyer beware — even if you are terminally ill with cancer.
You have to wonder how people can stoop as low as Jillian Margaret Newlands, of the northern Queensland city of Mackay. Talk about preying on the weak and vulnerable.
Newlands charged up to A$2,000 for a cancer treatment which involved an injection of a mixture of citric acid and sodium chlorite administered in her garage. Newlands, who had no formal medical, nursing or naturopathic qualifications, had no registration as a practitioner of anything and did not even sterilise her equipment properly, told patients her injections were a "miracle mineral supplement" which could cure cancer.
Some might say that anyone silly enough to believe that is a fool ripe for parting from their money. Newlands, however, went from selling snake oil to morally indefensible misdeed when she advised at least one patient to forgo chemotherapy treatment.
Someone alerted the Queensland Health Quality Complaints Commission which investigated and then referred the matter to the Office of Fair Trading. It in turn sought an injunction under the Fair Trading Act 1989 to prevent Newlands from "misleading and deceiving consumers”, and the court duly agreed.
Newlands' penalty is payment of about $12,000 in court costs and a ban from ever again making any claims she is able to treat, cure or benefit any person suffering from cancer.
I think the law has failed us. I think the law has badly let down every cancer sufferer taken in by the heartless greed of this reprehensible woman. The court has effectively said, "Ha! Caught you. Let that be a lesson to you. Don't do it again and you can pay the costs."
It won't be a lesson. Newlands is a pitiless, cold-hearted con artist, and as with all such people has a big bag of dirty tricks. She's out there somewhere right now planning her next rort.
Buyer beware.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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