Sport scientist Professor Tim Noakes will “certainly continue to spread information on Twitter”, after he was cleared of unprofessional conduct by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).
“If the capacity of Twitter to spread information effectively and cheaply in this way was ever to be regulated, we come closer to the state described by George Orwell in his book 1984 I will certainly continue to spread information on Twitter,” Noakes told the Cape Times.
Noakes faced losing his licence to practise as a doctor when, in 2014, he had advised Pippa Leenstra on Twitter to wean her newborn baby on to a low carbohydrate, high fat (LCHF) diet.
“Advocate Adams’ ruling is that simply answering a tweet as a doctor does not establish a doctor/patient relationship. This is important, since if it did, one would not even be able to answer a simple question like: Doc, should I stretch before the Two Oceans Marathon, or is it advisable to sleep eight hours a night?”
Claire Julsing-Strydom, a former president of the Association for Dietetics in South Africa (Adsa), had lodged the complaint, and testified that Noakes had given unconventional medical advice in his tweet, which had not been based on evidence.
Adsa president Maryke Gallagher said the hearing, although divisive, has placed significant awareness on the importance of nutrition.
In a statement she said: “We respect Professor Tim Noakes for his work as a sports scientist. He is a well respected A-rated scientist and is respected in academic circles. His work is pioneering and he has always tested conventional thinking. But, we have differed with Professor Noakes on this issue. We have no personal gripe with Professor Noakes. Our concern has always been about the health of babies,” Gallagher said.
In February 2014 Leenstra had tweeted Noakes and nutritional therapist Sally-Ann Creed about whether it was safe for mothers to be on the Banting diet while breast-feeding.Noakes had replied on Twitter: “Baby doesn’t eat the dairy and cauliflower.
“Just very healthy high fat breast milk. Key is to ween baby on to LCHF.”