A PERTH breast imaging clinic and a former doctor have been fined a total of $100,000 after being convicted of false and misleading conduct by promoting their services as an alternative to mammograms.
BREAST Check was fined $75,000 and Alexandra Boyd was fined $25,000 in the Federal Court on Friday.
In misleading pamphlets, the clinic claimed either a Thermography Device alone or in conjunction with the Multifrequency Electrical Impedance Mammograph, known as a MEM device, could assess whether a person was at risk of breast cancer, and was a substitute for mammograms. Boyd was found to have been knowingly involved in the clinic’s deceptive conduct. In his judgment, Justice Michael Barker said the key issue was the potential to divert customers from using a medically recognised form of breast imaging and the potential harm that caused. “Even if only one consumer has been so diverted to their detriment, the consequences to a person’s health may be very serious, and at worst, fatal,” he said. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it was concerning that Breast Check made such significant health-related claims without a proper scientific basis. “If consumers relied on Breast Check’s representations instead of using conventional breast cancer investigation methods including mammography, then potentially, breast cancers could have gone undiagnosed,” Commissioner Sarah Court said. Breast Check, now called PO Health Professionals, no longer provides breast imaging services.