A federal judge in Florida has ordered a church to stop selling a bleach-based product that it claims helps to cure COVID-19.
The Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, run by a former intercontinental missile engineer, is accused of falsely marketing what it describes as a “Miracle Mineral Solution” (MMS) to COVID-19.
According to the US courts, the church’s product contains chlorine dioxide, which is a chemical compound the the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned will turn into a toxic bleach when mixed with other substances, potentially proving deadly if consumed.
Prosecutors in the US Attorney’s Office in South Florida filed an injunction against the church, arguing that its claim puts “unsuspecting American consumers at risk by offering them unproven products.”
According to the prosecutors, the Church’s so-called solution is “unsupported by any well-controlled clinical studies or other credible scientific substantiation.”
Furthermore, the church does not only claim that MMS can help to combat Coronavirus. The group have long claimed that it can be used to deal with diseases like Alzheimers, autism, brain cancer, HIV/Aids and multiple sclerosis. Yet, in tune with the eruption of the Coronavirus pandemic, the group began marketing it as a cure for the disease in March.
The FDA sent a letter earlier in April to Genesis II Church over its questionable claims about the product.
The church’s Archbishop, Jordan Grenon, reportedly responded with his own letter, saying that, “we can say cure, heal and treat as a Free Church. Don’t need you [sic] approval or authorisation for a Church Sacrament… There will be NO corrective actions on our part … You have no authority over us! … Never going to happen.”
According to the company’s website, it was “formed to serve MANKIND directly” in order to “bring health to the world.”
The number of COVID-19-induced deaths continues to steadily climb in the Untied States. Currently, according to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 700,000 known coronavirus infections in the US - more than any other country. At least 35,000 people there have so far died.
