FDA warns that drinking bleach won't cure cancer or autism
- 5 years ago
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND — A miracle solution being touted as a cure-all for practically every major illness is apparently nothing more than a household cleaner.
The U.S. FDA had to send out a warning on Monday urging people to stop drinking Miracle Mineral Solution, MMS, and any chlorine dioxide solution, since it's pretty much bleach.
According to NBC, the bleachy solution was first promoted two decades ago by a former Scientologist, who went on to establish his own cult of health.
It was peddled years later to parents of autistic kids by a former Chicago real estate agent who is not a doctor. From there, it gained a following on social media, akin to the anti-vaxxers and flat earthers.
Contrary to what online snake oil peddlers want you to believe, it's not a remedy for cancer, autism, HIV, or any other condition — unless you count dying as a remedy.
Specifically, the FDA says MMS and all its other iterations can cause "severe nausea, vomiting, and life-threatening low blood pressure from dehydration."
Any sane human would take one whiff of the solution and flush it down the toilet. But apparently some folks are desperate or delusional enough to move past that, feed the noxious liquid to their kids, and expect good results.
Data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers indicates that there have been over 16,000 cases of chlorine dioxide poisoning in the last five years. Fifty of these were life threatening, and in eight instances, people actually went kaput.
The U.S. FDA had to send out a warning on Monday urging people to stop drinking Miracle Mineral Solution, MMS, and any chlorine dioxide solution, since it's pretty much bleach.
According to NBC, the bleachy solution was first promoted two decades ago by a former Scientologist, who went on to establish his own cult of health.
It was peddled years later to parents of autistic kids by a former Chicago real estate agent who is not a doctor. From there, it gained a following on social media, akin to the anti-vaxxers and flat earthers.
Contrary to what online snake oil peddlers want you to believe, it's not a remedy for cancer, autism, HIV, or any other condition — unless you count dying as a remedy.
Specifically, the FDA says MMS and all its other iterations can cause "severe nausea, vomiting, and life-threatening low blood pressure from dehydration."
Any sane human would take one whiff of the solution and flush it down the toilet. But apparently some folks are desperate or delusional enough to move past that, feed the noxious liquid to their kids, and expect good results.
Data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers indicates that there have been over 16,000 cases of chlorine dioxide poisoning in the last five years. Fifty of these were life threatening, and in eight instances, people actually went kaput.