A Dragons’ Den contestant who made history on the BBC One competition has now been accused of misleading patients and been reported.
Giselle Boxer walked away from the Den with six offers for the first time in the show’s history, after asking the Dragons, including guest Gary Neville, for a £50,000 investment and a 10 per cent stake in her business, Acu Seeds.
The entrepreneur, 31, explained that she set up her business, which sells £30 gold plated ear seeds kits, while on maternity leave, after being told she would never be able to have children due to her Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) diagnosis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome.
‘Four years ago, I was diagnosed with ME,’ she began, revealing that the diagnosis left her ‘mostly housebound, unable to walk for more than five minutes without having to get back into bed.
‘I was told by doctors that I would never recover, work again or have children.’
According to the NHS, ME is a long-term condition of which the most common symptom is extreme tiredness. Treatment for the condition aims to relieve the symptoms, and there is currently no cure.
Giselle went on a ‘personal healing journey’, with diet changes, acupuncture, Chinese herbs and ear seeds.
‘Using this combination, I believe, aided my recovery within 12 months,’ she said.
She continued by explaining that her products of ear seeds come from an ancient Chinese medicine tool based on acupuncture.
The tiny beads, once stuck onto the ear, send signals to the brain and body to relax the nervous system, and can naturally relieve pain, Giselle told the Dragons.
However, she’s now been accused of misleading patients.
The ME association has reported Acu Seeds to the Advertising Standards Agency, and written to the BBC and chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, and chairman of the health and social care committee, after claiming Giselle has misled people.
The letter says, according to Mail Online: ‘People who have ME/CFS are often on very low incomes and in the absence of any effective medical treatment are very vulnerable to these sort of unsubstantiated therapeutic claims.
‘They are fed up with the way in which unproven and expensive treatments are regularly being promoted to them.
‘This programme has therefore caused a great deal of upset and anger in the ME/CFS [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome] patient community.’
It goes on to say that none of the panel asked any questions about ‘whether there was any scientific evidence of safety and efficacy for this product’, with Dr Charles Shepard, Hon Medical Advisor for The ME Association, adding to the publication: ‘These sort of expensive commercial products and devices should not be promoted to very vulnerable sick people until they have been properly assessed for safety and efficacy in clinical trials – in exactly the same way that drug treatments are.’
Viewers have also hit out at the pitch, with TikTok user Ollie Benson calling it a ‘phony product’.
‘A product that has no scientific backing, no medical research, no clinical trials on, and she’s selling it to people that are so desperate to relieve their horrible symptoms that they’ll do anything, and she knows that,’ Ollie says in a video.
‘The BBC should be ashamed that she was allowed to promote this product on Dragons’ Den, and Steven Bartlett should be ashamed that he’s continuing to work with her, even know he must know that there is no scientific evidence that her product actually helps, and in fact, this whole thing has caused a lot of suffering for people with ME and CFS.’
Another TikTok user, Rebecca, says: ‘As if it’s not bad enough that she’s really bragging about buying them for £3 and selling them to us for £30 with her gigantic growth and net profits, well it turns out she’s also selling people in her club or the one she used to be in, snake oil. So, thanks Giselle.’
Kate Stanforth, another TikTok user, says: ‘Nobody should be allowed on TV making claims which aren’t scientifically backed, so this woman said that she made a full recovery within 12 months with the help of these Chinese ear seeds therapy things.
‘Where is the backing evidence that it was those ear seeds that worked, and did it for her? And also… 12 months being relatively stable from ME doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re cured, it can mean that you’re going through a really good time, but there’s always the worryof relapse.
‘So putting such a bold claim out there, that somebody has made a full recovery, is a really damaging thing.’
After demonstrating the seeds on Deborah Meaden, and hearing Sara Davies admit to having used ear seeds before, Giselle received an impressive six offers.
Gary was the first to throw in his money, saying the women in his family would ‘never forgive’ him walking away from the pitch without making an offer.
Deborah, Sara, Peter Jones and Touker Suleyman quickly followed suit, with Steven Bartlett putting in the final offer, but for 15 per cent of the business.
Giselle eventually chose to go into business with Steven, after she revealed she had been ‘told [she] was going to meet a man called Steven and that he was going to be really important’.
‘It was a complete dream come true,’ Giselle later told the camera, reflecting on her historic pitch.
In a statement sent to MailOnline, the BBC said: ‘Dragons’ Den features products from entrepreneurs and is not an endorsement of them.
‘Dragons’ Den shows real businesses pitching to investors to lift the lid on what happens in the business world.
‘This episode features an entrepreneur sharing their own, personal experience that led to a business creation.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Giselle Boxer, Steven Bartlett and the BBC for comment.
Dragons’ Den airs Thursdays at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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