British Boob Cream Manufacturer Threatens To Sue Doctor for Criticizing Product

Earlier this year Boob Job®, a topical cream produced by the British beauty product manufacturer Rodail, hit the European market as a breast augmentation in a bottle. The company claims that by rubbing the cream on the breast and decollete areas the breasts will increase up to a half cup size, tightening and firming the breast tissue. How? It claims to work with your fat cells, blocking them as they move throughout the body after eating to stay in the areas the cream has been applied, namely the breasts.

At least one British plastic surgeon was skeptical of the cream manufactured by Rodial.  Dr. Dalia Nield stated that she found the manufacturer’s claims “highly unlikely.”  The physician also expressed concern that Rodail  had failed to publish details of the tests carried out on the cream, even noting that the product could pose a health risk.

In response to the physician’s criticisms, the manufacturer of the boob cream has threatened to sue her.  It looks like Dr. Neild could be facing a long battle with the makers of BoobJob.

This case is similar to that of Dr. Simon Singh, a best-selling science writer who was sued for libel after he criticized the British Chiropractic Association.  Singh was sued over an article he had written criticizing the British Chiropractic Association for endorsing claims that chiropractors can treat  colic, ear infections, prolonged crying and asthma by adjusting infants’ spines.  After two years of litigation, the chiropractic association dropped the suit.

In the states, libel is a defamatory statement expressed in a fixed medium (e.g. written).  Generally, defamation is a false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to someone’s reputation, and published “with fault,” meaning as a result of negligence or malice.  In England, the law on libel is still developing.  For now though, British libel laws are plaintiff-friendly as the courts do not recognize many of the speech protections secured by the First Amendment as interpreted in New York Times v. Sullivan and its progeny.

This is especially scary because bloggers can be sued in London regardless of where the blogger lives,  or where the blog was posted.  As such, Siouxsie will refrain from expressing any opinion on the boob job cream.  But if you are reading this post and considering buying BoobJob, please don’t.  Instead, spend your money on a killer bra.  This will be much more appreciated than the measley half-cup size increase promised by BoobJob.

Here is a link to a petition to reform libel laws in Britain.

~ by siouxsielaw on December 9, 2010.