How Dragon's Den Backed A Scam

Last week on Dragons' Den, Giselle Boxer claimed ear seeds helped her myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) leading her to create her business Acuseeds. All 6 of the Dragons made offers, but Stephen Bartlett closed the deal. But should Dragons invest in pseudoscience - personally, I'm out.

Merch!
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[Alchemetica]

In under a minute the first red flag "I went from working in a top advertising agency" .

[EndersWorlds]

Good video, glad to see someone tackling exactly why this sort of TV 'endorsement' by proxy is so damaging. As someone with ME I'd just like to add that our primary symptom is not actually fatigue, it is post Exertional Malaise - which is a giant flare up of all our symptoms including feeling flu like and very unwell indeed, caused by going even slightly over our physical limitations, anything that uses energy counts - including talking, reading, and even THINKING for people at the very severe end! Thinking uses energy on a cellular level - how else would it happen after all.

I would appreciate it if more people could start making sure they mention Post Exertional Malaise since it really is the symptom that rules them all, so to speak. It is what rules my entire life and it's risky - trigger it often enough or big enough, and you don't really recover back to where you were, you stay stuck at a lower level of functioning, it literally makes you sicker than you were. Over time some people end up dead, because it's so incredibly difficult to control and keep inside your limits.

When 'over doing it' can simply mean you had an upset tummy and went to the loo a few times too many that day, or had to pick something up from the floor, or simply moved around in bed a bit too much that day, it is unbelievably difficult to stay inside your limits and prevent triggering PEM, many people don't manage it and therefore deteriorate over the years getting sicker and sicker. It's so poorly understood by medical staff that going to hospital becomes something to fear.

Research is coming along though and I love that this video talks about how we need more people investing in genuine medical entrepreneurship, moving real, science evidence backed treatment forwards. In all areas, but hopefully soon for ME too.

[rachelidoless]

Its looking like the BBC have broken advertising rules, an article published today says the ASA have said there is a clear problem and have gone straight to enforcement rather than doing the usual initial investigation. ME patients deserve real scientific research and protection from predatory businesses such as Acu Seeds. Giselles story has changed so much over the past few years that many people even doubt the validity of her personal story which her pitch on the tv show was based around.

[chrissscottt]

That's the cynical side of investment strategy where punters bet on whether a product will sell rather than whether or not it works.

[matthewjenkins]

No way that anyone who had genuinely experienced 4 years of ME/cfs, would propose a 10x markup on a cure they miraculously discovered..

[jeffmcdonald]

As someone who's life has been destroyed by ME, and who has been working with my countries best professors to treat it. This is incredibly heart breaking. We need real help, from real science. There is a plethora of snake oil already. The fact is, ME is incurable. A mere 5% of people recover (who probably didn't have true ME to begin with). If this woman's product really did heal people, it would be worth 100 times the value. This is why I don't watch TV; it is so fake to the point that people don't know what's real and what's not. Dumb does not begin to describe this farce.

[stephenbrough]

Near the end you pointed out that she was probably more interested in the exposure than the investment - But doesn't that mean that the BBC are effectvely ADVERTISING products? I thought they had strict rules against that. A nice little loophole for them to make cheap TV.

[MEagenda]

ASA says there was “likely to be a clear problem under the rules”. He [Michael Marshall from The Good Thinking Society] said it raises questions about the BBC’s due diligence in allowing Acu Seeds on the show." Daily Mirror reporting on 31 January, 2024

[EminenceIncorperated]

Thanks for bringing awareness to this. Due to M.E. being neglected while being such a brutal and life ending disease means that there are loads of grifters with no morals who prey on incredibly sick people.👍

[Hliosphan]

Very very sad. Just goes to show the BBC have entirely lost whatever it was that I loved about them when I grew up watching them. I'm wondering why I even pay my TV License any more, barely watch any BBC nowadays, not even the news.

[IMBlakeley]

To steal a line from the great Tim Minchin, "You know what they call alternative medicine that works?" "Medicine"

[michaelgilday]

Goes to show why so many people no longer care if the BBC ceases to exist and what a waste of money a licence fee really is. I am old enough to remember when the BBC was the only channel worth watching but that is a very long time ago.

[stephenbrough]

It seems some business people are more interested in what they can sell than whether it's a worthy product or even completely useless - or worse than useless. They know how gullible some people are. Debora bangs on about how she won't invest in things that clash with her ideals, her beliefs, and how big she is into all the environmental stuff - so if something has a tiny bit of plastic content that isn't biodegradable, she'll kick up a fuss and by declining a proposition for this apparent reason, she still benefits massively by the viewers who actually believe she's some kind of angel on their wavelength. I suspect they have all managed to pull the wool over their own eyes to enabe them to do the same to others, so they can "believe" in a product. I find them all a bit pretentious but then again I suppose they are effectively "actors"playing a role to some extent, because this is an entertainment show first and foremost.

[bectoons]

The disclaimer in white text is on the streamed episode, but wasn't included on the original airing on 18th Jan. BBC doing the barest minimum after AcuSeeds sales have hugely increased since the show went out - preying on the desperate.

[jurjenbos]

"When you pray upon investor's hopes that don't know any better, you go to prison. When you pray upon customer's hopes that don't know any better, you go on Dragon's Den." Powerful words, Ben!

[evilferris]

5:45 "oh, I have ear seeds regularly. [Big toothy grin]
Better than SNL delivery for the stupidest sentence from the entire bunch.

Great video. Dragons Den has gone down the pan this year, they're desperate to invest in anything and everything now, suddenly it doesn't matter if its a gimmick or if it's never made a profit, and this silly and potentially harmful product highlights that.

[wolfcrossing]

Your analysis and precis were spot on! Excellent.

[DulceN]

Thank you for this video. I just found this channel through the dark oxygen video and subscribed. I’m an European living in the USA and benefit from the military health system (the closest we have to universal health care in this country). Those ‘ear seeds’ remind me of a (free) treatment I was offered at a naval hospital for chronic pain due to Fibromyalgia and what seems like symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was told that it is used in combat medicine and consisted of tiny gold plated (or gold?) cylinders with a pointy end that were inserted in certain points of the ear lobes, piercing the skin. They were not permanent and eventually fell off. Needless to say, they had no effect whatsoever on my pain level but I had to try them although I do not care for acupuncture.
It is despicable that scams like the ‘ear seeds’ and so many others are allowed on any form of tv stations or social media, making a mockery of people that are really suffering and desperate.

[frcfun]

Dr Ben, for this video, just a massive THANK YOU! ❤