The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (RLHIM), which offers alternative treatments from hypnosis to homeopathy, has been told to stop misleading patients.
The hospital, which is part of the NHS, issued two leaflets boasting about the efficacy of the ancient Chinese therapy, which involves inserting pins into pressure points on the body.
It claimed that acupuncture could treat a long list of ailments, ranging from gynaecological and urinary disorders to fertility issues, stress, depression, back pain, asthma and high blood pressure.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) consulted medical experts and found there was no robust evidence to back up the vast majority of the cures claimed.
It has ordered the hospital to withdraw the leaflets and to stop making claims for acupuncture that cannot be substantiated by good and independent evidence.
The ruling raises questions as to why millions of pounds taxpayers money is being used to fund alternative health treatments where there is little or no evidence that they work.
The first leaflet issued by the hospital stated: ‘Acupuncture is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a system of healing which has been practised in China and other Eastern countries for thousands of years.’
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