When the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic hit the late in 2019, there have been a number of “cures” that have popped up all over the place.
From videos of people boiling ginger root and sunflowers to others going into a walk-in freezer to “freeze” the virus, some of these so-called “cures” are nothing short of silly.
But there is one “church” that has concocted a remedy that can actually harm people.
The “Genesis 2 Church of Health and Healing” is saying that a form of bleach is the “Miracle Mineral Solution,” or MMS. They think it’s a cure-all for everything from HIV to cancer, autism and even now COVID-19.
“The coronavirus is curable,” says Archbishop Mark Grenon in a recent video. “Do you believe it? You better!”
“Every week I’m putting in the G2 sacramental dosing for coronavirus,” says Grenon. “Six drops MMS activated, four ounces of water… small children we cut everything in half.”
But MMS is chlorine dioxide, an industrial bleach. It is made by mixing sodium chlorite solution with an acid (such as the juices of citrus fruits). This mixture produces chlorine dioxide, a toxic chemical that in “high oral doses” can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and life-threatening low blood pressure due to dehydration.
Sodium chlorite, the main constituent of MMS, is a toxic chemical that can cause acute kidney failure if ingested. Small amounts of about 1 gram can be expected to cause nausea, vomiting, shedding of internal mucous membranes such as those of the small and large intestine (producing so-called “rope worms”) and even life-threatening hemolysis in persons who are deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has set a maximum level of 0.8 mg/L for chlorine dioxide in drinking water. Naren Gunja, director of the New South Wales, Australia Poisons Information Centre, has stated that using the product is “a bit like drinking concentrated bleach” and that users have displayed symptoms consistent with corrosive injuries, such as vomiting, stomach pains, and diarrhea.
According to ABC News, the FDA has already issued a new warning to the church, calling its chlorine dioxide products “fraudulent and harmful” and giving them 48 hours to remove their claims from the internet.
“Chlorine dioxide products have not been shown to be safe and effective for any use, including COVID-19, but these products continue to be sold as…