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HPCSA's boo-boo on Noakes case

1 Nov 2016

In its haste to get the news out as quickly as possible on a Friday afternoon, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) got it badly wrong when it issued a media statement heralding Professor Tim Noakes' guilty verdict by the council's professional conduct committee (PCC).

Shortly, afterwards, the council issued a retraction saying the proceedings would only be concluded in April next year. Tucked at the bottom of the release is a one-liner saying: “The previous statement is retracted and we apologise for incorrectly stating that Prof Tim Noakes was found guilty by the professional conduct committee.”

Source: ThePaleoDiet.co.za

Noakes was brought before the council giving “unconventional” and “dangerous” medical advice in February 2014 after a woman had asked him on social media whether he’d recommend a low-carb, high-fat diet to breast-feeding mothers.

According to the Weekend Argus, Adam Pike, an attorney for Noakes, reacted angrily to the initial statement. “This is deliberate. It’s an intent to destroy the reputation of one of South Africa’s greatest scientists. It’s symptomatic of how the matter has been run. This is so irregular and so incorrect on so many levels.”

Meanwhile, the head of the PCC, Joan Adams, has distanced herself from the whole debacle by issuing a press release, saying: “This (guilty verdict) is devoid of truth… The PPC will deliberate in April 2017 after hearing argument.”