US-linked Australian church fined US$98,000 for selling bleach as coronavirus ‘miracle cure’
- ‘There is no clinical, scientifically-accepted evidence showing that Miracle Mineral Solution can cure or alleviate any disease,’ says Australia’s drug regulator
- The fine comes weeks after US President Donald Trump was severely criticised for suggesting Covid-19 patients could be treated with disinfectant
The drug regulator said the MMS Australia church had received 12 fines, totalling A$151,200 (US$98,000), for promoting its “Miracle Mineral Solution” (MMS), which the Therapeutic Goods Administration said contained a high concentration of sodium chlorite – a chemical used as a textile bleaching agent and disinfectant.
MMS Australia is a branch of the US-based Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, which is subject to a US Justice Department injunction preventing it from selling or distributing its own version of MMS containing the bleach product chlorine dioxide.
MMS Australia’s website listed testimonials claiming – without evidence – that MMS can cure everything from Alzheimer’s to malaria.
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration said it had fined the church because it was “concerned about the harmful effects that can be caused by the ingestion of MMS”.
“There is no clinical, scientifically-accepted evidence showing that MMS can cure or alleviate any disease,” the regulator said.
“The use of MMS presents serious health risks, and can result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration, which in some cases can result in hospitalisation,” it said.
“As MMS Australia has promoted a number of its products as being for therapeutic uses, the products are subject to the regulatory framework established under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (the Act) and administered by the TGA.”