ASH apologises to Allen Carr's Easyway
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 
The following has just been brought to my attention.
I make no comment other than to speculate that the legal costs incurred will presumably be paid for with money provided by the taxpayer or ASH's principal donors, the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research.
"On 29th November 2006 the Director of ASH, Deborah Arnott, was interviewed by the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘PM’ in the context of a piece concerning the death of Allen Carr of Allen Carr’s Easyway International. During the course of the interview reference was made to Allen Carr’s open letter to Tony Blair which was published on www.allencarr.com and Ms Arnott was asked to express her opinion on the views expressed by Mr Carr who passed away that morning.
"Despite references during the interview to the studies mentioned by Allen Carr in his letter that indicated a 53% success rate for Allen Carr’s Easyway To Stop Smoking Clinics after 12 months, Ms Arnott stated that the 53% success rate had been “plucked out of the air” and “basically made up”.
"Following a complaint by Allen Carr’s Easyway International, Ms Arnott now acknowledges that two uncontrolled, observational and retrospective studies using self-reported abstinence have been published in peer reviewed journals and have reported success rates for the Allen Carr method consistent with an estimate of 53% after twelve months."
Full apology HERE.
Reader Comments (12)
“plucked out of the air” and “basically made up”.
You couldn't make that up! Deborah Arnott accusing someone else of fabricating statistics, amazing how she assumes everyone else operates in the same filthy, honesty-free way that she and her subsidised lie-factory do...
Simon and Mark have said it all. What else can you say?
Guys, must drop Debs and Mand a line to see if they will be doing the same with SHS.
Absolutely Dave, I bet she's scribbling away by (smoke-free) candle light as I type these words...
Oh look! The Red Arrows just flew out of my jacksy! :)
Dear Mark,
You may want to drop them a line too.
'amanda.sandford@ash.org.uk'
'deborah.arnott@ash.org.uk'
Dear Debs and Mand,
I trust you are well.
It has not been a good Autumn for you guys. Grovelling apology, smoke-easys, comfortable outside smoking areas and a general feeling of resentment at the nanny/bully state.
I have just reviewed your response on Allen Carr and I was thinking while you had the Basildon Bond out, could you apologise for you lies about SHS and most importantly the publicans who are now on the dole at 50 a week. Assume they employ 4 people each, bar staff, cleaners, that is 200 people a week, 10,400 people a year. It must be the best Christmas present they have had.
But of course you who get funded by the government with your copper bottomed salaries and pensions and have nothing to fear. I hope somewhere you may discover a conscience.
Regards
Nicely phrased Dave, I might just do that.
After all, this is the season of Good Will, and that should extend to helping the educationally and morally challenged... :)
...and yet, I thought that ASH sought to advise the government on best policy to 'help' people quit smoking. Is that not right? Don't they receive all that government funding because they are supposed to be some sort of 'authority' on the subject? Wouldn't you think that such an 'authority' would have researched the most effective methods in order to to give government accurate advice? Isn't Allen Carr's success rate somewhere in the stratosphere compared to the piddling success rate of the quit products commonly promoted?
Something stinks here and it's not 'SHS'.
Something certainly stinks here,perhaps its the 2 Baboons Sandford and arnott and all the others at the Monkeyhouse.
Give the money to Allen Carr International. I have 7 friends that have finished smoking including myself just by reading his book. Powerful stuff!
Government approach equals farce.
It stinks alright. I remember Arnott's R4 interview well. She was using it as an opportunity to sell NHS Stop Smoking. Who benefits from that? The 4% of guilty individuals this NRT plus hectoring approach might work for? More like J&J et al, whose NRT products are bought in great quantities by the NHS with taxpayer booty. Remember; a non-pharma solution is unprofitable to Arnott's paymasters and hence no solution at all.
Follow the money.
I've read some Carr and, whilst his anti-tobacco stance was rather uninformed and hysterical, I found his writing on the nature of addiction quite persuasive. And he wasn't a prohibitionist. He didn't support bans and didn't spout the SHS lie. He wanted to empower people who had made their own choice. And he made a few quid out of it. And why not? At least he was honest. On the day of his death, Arnott basically launched a character-assassination on the man, making much of the "commercial" nature of his enterprise.
She was not questioned as to who funds ASH.
As I remember, the vile Arnott even suggested that his exposure to SHS in his clinics may have contributed to, or caused his death.
Deborah Arnott and her kin just enjoy trying to make people as miserable as her.
Isn't it TOO delicious when thieves fall out?!!