Urgent warning over church’s deadly 'coronavirus cure'
Experts are warning about a church promoting the consumption of bleach to cure ailments in the body, including the coronavirus.
Videos of the Genesis II Church leader and members spruiking chlorine dioxide as a mineral solution have emerged, prompting fears it could poison people.
A report on ABC’s 7.30 program found the church claimed it was a “wonderful detox” that could kill 99 per cent of pathogens.
The leader says in one video he wrote to US President Donald Trump about how chlorine dioxide and industrial bleach could help cure the coronavirus.
The president last month came under fire for questioning during a press briefing whether this method could actually be tested.
“I see the disinfectant that knocks it [the virus] out in a minute, one minute,” he said.
“And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”
In videos aired on 7.30, a number of people are seen putting a drop of what the church calls MMS (mineral miracle solution) into a liquid, saying “you put it in water, drink it. This is what I used for my mum”.
The church claims it is a cure for cancer, AIDS and diabetes.
MMS is not approved in Australia and Monash University Associate Professor Ken Harvey told 7.30 it was being promoted as a water purification treatment.
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration released a warning about MMS back in 2014 after a report that four people were hospitalised in Victoria after using the product.
“MMS is marketed as water purification drops and may be offered under different names, including Miracle Mineral Supplement. It contains 28 per cent sodium chlorite, which is a chemical used as a textile bleaching agent and disinfectant,” the safety alert said.
“Products containing this concentration of sodium chlorite pose a serious health risk if consumed by humans and should be labelled with warnings and the word ‘POISON’.
“MMS is not approved by the TGA for any therapeutic use.”
FDA’s urgent letter to Genesis II Church
Just last month the US Food and Drug Administration wrote a warning letter to Genesis II Church about “unapproved and misbranded products related to coronavirus”.
The FDA claimed it reviewed several websites between March 27 and 31, one of which states “the protocols described on this site are official sacraments of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing”.
The government body also said it was aware it was being sold in the US intending to cure, mitigate, treat, prevent or diagnose the coronavirus.
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In one post to the church’s website it claims 14 people diagnosed with the coronavirus in Europe recovered after taking MMS.
The FDA wrote MMS was an unapproved new drug and was being misbranded.
“There is currently a global outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus,” the FDA said.
“Therefore, FDA is taking urgent measures to protect consumers from certain products that, without approval or authorisation by FDA, claim to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat or prevent COVID-19 in people.”
Charles Barton, who runs the MMS Australia website, told 7.30 “the innocent and perfectly safe cleansing water we use in our protocols and sacraments are presented and described by the lying media to be dangerous industrial bleach”.
TGA told the program it was investigating the MMS Australia website.
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