Lord Robert Winston 'plagued by complaints' over 'dangerous remedies'

Lord Robert Winston 'plagued by complaints' over 'dangerous remedies' The treatments are often linked to conditions like prostate health and erectile dysfunction A TV doctor has warned social media advertisers are using his image to sell “completely dangerous remedies” to erectile dysfunction and prostate issues. Lord Robert Winston said he had been “plagued by complaints” from members of the public who had seen the adverts online. Technology minister Baroness Lloyd of Effra said the watchdog Ofcom is responsible for tackling issues such as fraud, which is a “priority offence” under the Online Safety Act. Lord Winston, whose programmes have included Child of Our Time and The Human Body, said: “For about three months now, I’ve been plagued by complaints from members of the public who have seen videos and digital images of myself promoting certain medicines on Instagram and Facebook. “These medicines generally refer to erectile dysfunction and other issues with the prostate.” Speaking in the House of Lords, the Labour peer and IVF pioneer added: “I wonder what we can do about this kind of advertising because people have been paying money for these completely dangerous remedies.” Responding, Lady Lloyd said: “Fraud is illegal and a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, and platforms are required to act where services are used for scams or misleading advertisements. “It is (in) Ofcom’s hands to ensure there is compliance with the Act and the duties under that Act. And we have made it very clear to Ofcom that we support it taking that kind of enforcement action.” According to Meta, the company behind Instagram and Facebook, the firm took down more than 159 million scam adverts last year. It detected 92% of scam adverts before anybody reported them, and 10.9 million accounts linked to scam operations were removed. An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Online fraud is getting increasingly sophisticated and combating it is a priority for Ofcom. We are working at speed to develop new rules for paid-for fraudulent ads on the most widely used social media and search services, which we’ll consult on in July. “And platforms must already have measures in place for tackling user-generated fraud”.