ACCC institutes proceedings against commercial breast imaging providers
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Safe Breast Imaging Pty Ltd and its sole director Joanne Firth, alleging false and misleading conduct in relation to the provision of breast imaging services.
The ACCC has also instituted separate proceedings against Breast Check Pty Ltd and Dr Alexandra Boyd alleging false and misleading conduct in relation to the provision of breast imaging services.
Safe Breast Imaging and for a certain period of time, Breast Check, used a device known as the Multifrequency Electrical Impedance Mammograph to capture images of a customer’s breasts. Breast Check also used a digital infrared thermographic camera to capture images.
The ACCC alleges that Safe Breast Imaging and Breast Check represented that the breast imaging services they provided:
were an effective means of assessing whether a customer was at risk from breast cancer and the level of that risk;
could assure a customer that they do not have breast cancer; and
were an effective substitute for mammography services.
The ACCC alleges that these representations were false.
The ACCC also alleges that between May 2009 and August 2011 Safe Breast Imaging falsely represented that its breast imaging service included the provision of a customer report prepared by a medical doctor. The ACCC alleges that in many instances the reports provided to customers by Safe Breast Imaging were not prepared by a medical doctor.
The ACCC is seeking declarations that Safe Breast Imaging and Breast Check contravened the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the Australian Consumer Law and that Ms Firth and Dr Boyd were knowingly concerned in the conduct. The ACCC is also seeking:
injunctions
pecuniary penalties
an order that corrective letters be sent to affected consumers
an order for findings of fact pursuant to section 83 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010
costs; and
an order that Ms Firth be disqualified from managing a corporation for a period of five years.
A directions hearing has been scheduled for both matters before Justice Barker at 10:30 am on Friday 13 January 2012 in the Federal Court in Perth.
