BBC RECRUITED Dragons’ Den star Giselle Boxer to showcase ‘unproven’ ear seeds that saw her reported to ad standards
Read Giselle's reaction to trolls slamming her business below
A DRAGONS’ Den star accused of giving patients “false hope” has revealed BBC researchers approached her to take part in the show.
Giselle Boxer, 31, has been under fire this week after she said ear seeds helped treat her horror disease.
Giselle asked for £50,000 for a 10 per cent stake in her business – Acu Seeds – during her appearance on the popular show.
Acu Seeds sells needle-free acupuncture kits for ears – which she claimed helped her recovery from ME
Gisselle suffered from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) – also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – which affects around 250,000 people in the UK.
But since the programme aired on Thursday, doctors and charities have slammed the BBC and Giselle for promoting an alternative medicine with no scientific evidence.
Giselle has now told how BBC researchers approached her to come onto the show and pitch her medicine.
Giselle told the : “Funnily enough they [the BBC] contacted me and I received an email from a researcher there and I initially thought it was a spam email.
“We went through the different stages of the application process and there was so much due diligence and they really looked into every part of my business before I went in to pitch to the Dragons.”
She said her recovery inspired her to set up the business with the aim of helping others with similar conditions.
She told the panel: “I was told by doctors I would never recover, work again or have children.
“I went on a personal healing journey involving diet, acupuncture, Chinese herbs and earseeds.
“Using this combination, I believe, aided my recovery in 12 months.”
Dr Charles Shepherd, medical adviser for the ME Association, told the BBC and the Advertising Standards Authority the episode had “caused a great deal of upset and concern”.
“People with ME are fed up with the way products like this are regularly being promoted when there is no sound evidence from proper placebo-controlled clinical trials to confirm that they are safe and effective,” he added.
The ME Association letter to the BBC also slammed the Dragon’s lack of questioning on “whether there was any scientific evidence of safety and efficacy for this product”.
Giselle made BBC history when all six Dragons wanted to invest in her business.
Giselle ended up securing a partnership with Dragon Steve Bartlett who agreed to pay £50,000 for a 12.5 per cent stake in Acu Seeds.
Other doctors have slammed Acu Seeds and the show too.
“To give severely suffering patients false hope is unethical; to take money from it is despicable,” said Dr Edzard Enerst, an MD and PhD who specialises in researching alternative medicines.
He told The Sun: “Promoting treatments that do not work is dangerous mainly because people who trust this information will treat diseases in this way and thus prolong their suffering or, in a worst-case scenario, hasten their death.
“I feel disappointed every time a BBC programme is being used to promote quackery.
“I would have thought that the BBC has enough researchers to run a quick check that takes less than 10 minutes to protect consumers from potentially harmful misinformation.”
What are the signs and symptoms of chronic fatigue symptom (CFS)?
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a long-term illness with a wide range of symptoms. The most common symptom is extreme tiredness.
CFS is also known as ME, which stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis.
It can affect anyone, including children, but is more common in women, and tends to develop between your mid-20s and mid-40s.
As well as extreme tiredness, people may have other symptoms, including:
- Sleep problems
- Muscle or joint pain
- Headaches
- Sore throat or sore glands that aren’t swollen
- Problems thinking, remembering or concentrating
- Flu-like symptoms
- Feeling dizzy or sick
- Fast or irregular heartbeats (heart palpitations)
Source:
A BBC spokesperson said Dragons’ Den “features products from entrepreneurs” and “is not an endorsement of them”.
They added: “Dragons’ Den shows real businesses pitching to investors to lift the lid on what happens in the business world.
“This episode features an entrepreneur sharing their own, personal experience that led to a business creation.”
In recent days, people have blasted the business on social media, calling it “exploitive”.
One person on Instagram said: “This is so disappointing.
“What flagrant exploitation of ill people who are in search of a real cure.”
A second wrote on X: “I’m raging.
“I think the show should be taken off air.”
They added: “Imagine if this was hailed as a cure for cancer? Or MS ? Or Alzheimer’s, or, you name it.”
While another said: “I’ve now had two people get in touch to recommend AcuSeeds based on Dragons’ Den.
“They mean well, but it makes me furious at the show.
“The reach they’ve given her has been huge and it’s to the detriment of ME/CFS awareness.
“Imagine what could have been done with that platform?” they added.
Giselle has tried to address the barrage of criticism her company is currently facing and claims she never said the ear seeds healed her.
She wrote on social media: “I have never said that ear seeds are a cure for ME I have always said that ME is a complex condition and that combination healing approaches is what I believe supported my recovery.
The mum and entrepreneur has asked people to stop “taking anger out” on her.
She has claimed she deals with constant abuse.
The “product is not used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease”, according to the Acu Seeds .
On its FAQs page, it reads: “Ear seeding is a holistic treatment that can support healing but they are not a magic pill.”
What are Ear Seeds and how do they work?
WHAT ARE EAR SEEDS?
Ear seeds act as tiny acupressure devices.
It is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that is thought to promote comfort and relaxation.
People may use them to help with pain, insomnia, substance abuse and mental health issues ranging from anxiety to grief.
HOW DO THEY WORK?
A practitioner places the seeds on the outside portion of your ear.
Once in place, you massage them two to three times a day – gently applying presseuire to the seeds and moving them in small circles.
This is meant to promote the release of natural endorphins that may help with certain conditions.
Early research suggests ear seeds might help people deal with chronic pain, but much more research is needed to prove this, according to
