Chlorine dioxide, or industrial bleach, is being actively sold by Amazon as a treatment for COVID-19, despite the US Food and Drug Administration's warning that bleach can actually kill, and ignoring the labels that the liquid is not for internal use.
People have been apparently misguided by the many comments in the review section of the website, which provide them with accurate doses of chlorine dioxide ("miracle mineral solution", or MMS, as they refer to it) "needed" for treatment and examples of their family members and friends who cured the virus using bleach.
MMS has been promoted as a cure for all diseases, not only COVID-19, including Alzheimer's, autism, brain cancer, HIV/AIDS, and multiple sclerosis, among others.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 16,000 cases registered of chlorine dioxide poisoning, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centres. In South America, there have been deaths due to bleach consumption, including a five-year-old child.
The FDA has previously issued public warnings to consumers that MMS can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration. In mid-August, it warned consumers about the potentially life-threatening side effects of MMS.