Doctors, medical experts and charities have raised concerns about events by a controversial \u201cself-healing\u201d coach taking place in Ireland and the UK, saying her commentary poses \u201ctangible and sometimes life-threatening risks to patients\u201d.<\/p>\n
Barbara O\u2019Neill is a self-described naturopath and nutritionist who has written books on health and nutrition, shares videos on social media and lectures internationally about self-healing and natural remedies.<\/p>\n
She previously told vulnerable patients their cancer<\/a> was a fungus that could be cured with bicarbonate of soda rather than through conventional medical treatment, and discouraged vaccination and antibiotics.<\/p>\n In 2019, Australia\u2019s New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission banned her for life from providing any health services either voluntarily or in a paid capacity, including giving lectures in her native country.<\/p>\n The commission\u2019s investigation found O\u2019Neill never held any membership with any accredited professional health organisation and had failed to obtain any relevant health-related degrees or diplomas. <\/p>\n According to the investigation she also failed to keep records of consultations with clients, falsely claimed to be able to cure cancer, did not treat clients in a safe or ethical manner and posed a risk to the health and safety of members of the public.<\/p>\n She has a large audience on social media, with 3.6 million Instagram<\/a> followers and 356,000 subscribers on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n O\u2019Neill is due to speak at City North Hotel and Conference Centre in Gormanstown, Co Meath<\/a>, next week. Tickets for her event, which is taking place over three days, range from \u20ac70 for one day, to \u20ac195 for a three-day ticket. \u201cPremium\u201d tickets cost up to \u20ac115 per day, or \u20ac320 for the three-day bundle.<\/p>\n According to the agenda, the event will discuss depression, cancer, natural treatments, and DNA and the \u201ctrue cause of disease\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOur mission is rooted in the restorative power of God\u2019s love and the healing teachings of Scripture,\u201d the event page states.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are committed to nurturing the body, mind and soul, guiding individuals on a path to comprehensive well-being in alignment with God\u2019s intended design for health and wholeness.\u201d<\/p>\n In a letter to the Irish and UK venues that are hosting her tour, doctors, heads of charities and medical professionals raised concerns about the risk these events could pose to vulnerable individuals.<\/p>\n \u201cAs part of an international speaking tour, O\u2019Neill is due to speak to your venue in October 2026, something she is explicitly banned from doing in her home state. At the event, she will spread dangerous health fictions to a susceptible audience, leeching off an illusion of legitimacy afforded to her by the surrounds of your respectable establishment,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is ample evidence that such misinformation can and will harm patients, and O\u2019Neill has demonstrated a remarkable callousness about these harms. We appreciate that this is something with which you would likely want no association.\u201d <\/p>\n It added: \u201cWe strongly feel, however, that this information should help in reaching an informed course of action, and are happy to provide supporting evidence and further information if required. While ultimately the choice whether to host such an event or not is down to yourselves, we hope that this missive is helpful in elucidating why medical science and healthcare professionals have justified concerns, and the tangible and sometimes life-threatening risks to patients that exposure to such toxic fictions pose.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter was co-ordinated by David Robert Grimes, a science communicator and adjunct associate professor in biostatistics at Trinity College Dublin<\/a>, who has authored a book on misinformation.<\/p>\n