Barbara O'Neill - Health Camp Talk 04 Heart and Blood Matters

Barbara O'Neill (b. 28 July 1953[1]) is an Australian alternative health care personality, known for promoting dangerous and unsupported health practices and ideas.[2][3][1] She previously presented these treatments at alternative medicine organisations, wellness retreats, and Seventh-day Adventist Churches despite not having any recognised qualifications and failing nursing training.[4][5] She is married to Michael O'Neill, the founder of the Informed Medical Options Party, an anti-vaccination and anti-fluoride political group.[5]
In 2019, the Health Care Complaints Commission in New South Wales ruled that she is prohibited from providing any health-related services following several complaints from the public and health professionals.[1][4][5] An investigation found that she provided dangerous advice to vulnerable patients, such as telling those with cancer to forego prescribed chemotherapy for bicarbonate of soda, and to give infants unpasteurised goat's milk.[6] The investigation found that she also did not have any qualifications in a health-related field, and that she failed to meet the expected standards of unregistered health professionals.[4]

Activities
O'Neill has promoted herself as a naturopath, nutritionist, and health educator since at least 2004, despite lacking any relevant qualifications or training.[2][5][6] She has rejected the claim that her claims are unsupported, but admitted to not being able to provide any evidence when asked by the Health Care Complaints Commission.[4]

She ran the Misty Mountain Health Retreat near Kempsey with her husband, charging clients up to A$8,800 per stay.[5] She also provided paid telephone consultations.[3] According to O'Neill's website, she provided detox services claiming to aid recovery from heart disease, diabetes, hormonal imbalance, chronic fatigue, candida/fungus, drug addiction, cancer, heartburn, and obesity.[3]

Videos of her presentations have been viewed more than 700,000 times despite the HCCC ban.[3] As a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, she has also spoken at churches.[4] She previously worked at health retreats in Australia before she was barred from doing so by the HCCC, but continues to conduct them in New Zealand and the United States.[3][7] She has also published several books on health and nutrition which include dangerous claims and advice.[4]

The month following the HCCC's decision, O'Neill was scheduled to conduct a wellness program in the United States at a cost of US$2,350 per person.[3] O'Neill continues to deliver programs aimed at cancer patients in the United States as of July 2023 at a cost of almost US$6,000 per person.[8] O'Neill also delivers services in the Cook Islands.

Unsubstantiated claims
Cancer
According to the HCCC investigation, O'Neill falsely claimed to be able to cure cancer and urged clients not to use chemotherapy.[3][6]

O'Neill promoted the discredited claim that cancer is a fungus that can be treated with baking soda.[1][3][9] She has also claimed, without evidence, that one doctor had cured 90% of his patients' cancer with baking soda injections.[3][6] She also encouraged her clients to cure cancer by eating a low carbohydrate diet for six weeks.[6][10]

In late 2019, it was revealed that a Cook Islands man with stage four cancer had died after following O'Neill's advice, having declined medical intervention and attempting to treat his disease with bicarbonate soda, lemon juice, and boiled water. Supporters of O'Neill claim that he had been in remission for two years before his death.[11]

Anti-vaccination
O'Neill discouraged immunisation, claiming that all vaccines are harmful and the cause of a range of conditions.[3][4] In one of her YouTube videos, she stated that "children can be naturally vaccinated against tetanus by drinking plenty of water, going to bed early, not eating junk food and running around the hills".[2][3]

O'Neill has campaigned against the No Jab, No Pay initiative where most parental tax benefits are contingent on up-to-date vaccinations. She is also associated to the Informed Medical Opinions Party, a known alternative medicine and anti-vaccination political group who has drawn significant criticism from medical associations and health professionals.[12][13]

Antibiotics
In several of her YouTube videos, O'Neill discourages the use of antibiotics, promoting the disproven claim that they cause cancer. She has told pregnant women it is unnecessary to take antibiotics for Strep B because "no baby has ever died from Strep B catching out of birth".[3][6][4] However, the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' statistics show that 14% of newborns who contract early-onset Strep B die, and that antibiotics can reduce this risk dramatically.[3]

Infant nutrition
O'Neill has recommended that parents who are unable to breastfeed their infant use substitutes besides formula. These have included unpasteurised goat milk and a mix of almond milk and dates or bananas.[4][2][3] Co-author of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) infant feeding guidelines, Professor Jane Scott, has stated this advice is "definitely not safe," and that "there is a real danger here for infants as these will not support healthy growth and development".[10]