Product from Genesis II ‘healing church’ poses serious health risks, Therapeutic Goods Administration says, but it remains for sale on church website
Melissa Davey Wed 13 May 2020 THE GUARDIAN
RIGHT CLICK TO ENLARGE
The Genesis II Church of Health and Healing’s Australian chapter has been fined for selling a solution containing sodium chlorite, a chemical used as a textile bleaching agent and disinfectant, online as a Covid-19 cure. Photograph: MMS Australia
A “healing church” that promoted a solution containing industrial bleach as a cure for coronavirus has been fined more than $150,000 for multiple allegedly unlawful advertising offences.
On Wednesday Australia’s drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), said the Australian chapter of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing had been fined for selling and promoting a solution containing sodium chlorite, a chemical used as a textile bleaching agent and disinfectant.
The Australian website for the church, MMS Australia, falsely claimed the solution could treat, cure, prevent and alleviate diseases including Covid-19, HIV and cancer, the TGA said.
It has been revealed that Genesis II church US leader, Mark Grenon, wrote to Donald Trump just days before the US president claimed disinfectant could be a coronavirus cure.
The letter stated that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it “can rid the body of Covid-19”.
In a statement the TGA said there was no clinical, scientifically-accepted evidence showing the solution could cure or alleviate any disease. The use of the solution “presents serious health risks, and can result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration, which in some cases can result in hospitalisation”, it said.
The TGA also alleges MMS Australia implied a health practitioner had endorsed the product, and that the website included a testimonial endorsing the product from someone directly involved with the production, sale, supply and marketing of it.
MMS Australia has not removed the products from its website. It has updated the website to say those seeking miracle cures “should pray to The Lord for healing and guidance”. The website also says those seeking the bleach solution and other products urgently could add a $5 express shipping voucher to their online shopping basket to jump to the front of the queue.
“Our products, their descriptions and other information posted here are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease, and any apparent reference to same is inadvertent and purely coincidental,” MMS Australia said. “We do not believe in miracle cures, but in healthy, wholesome living and good nutrition to keep the temple of our souls, our bodies, clean and free of harmful chemicals and poisons. We also believe in the power of quiet contemplation, meditation and prayer.”
An Australian representative of the church’s MMS Australia Foundation previously told Guardian Australia: “Do you go into the Catholic church and question them about the wine or the bread that they serve in the Eucharist? No, so why doesn’t the world leave us alone? These are our sacraments and we should be free to use it and teach other people to use it.”
US orders group to stop selling bleach 'miracle cure' for coronavirus
Read more https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/21/bleach-coronavirus-us-orders-group-stop-selling
The TGA has been engaged in a long-running battle to stop false claims around the solution. Four people were taken to hospital in 2014 in Victoria after ingesting the solution, prompting the TGA to issue a warning that products with high concentrations of sodium chlorite are considered poison.
Victoria’s Department of Health has also issued warnings. At the time, a department spokesman said: “This isn’t like drinking bleach, it literally is drinking bleach.”
Dr Ken Harvey, an associate professor of public health from Monash University, said he welcomed the fine but it was not a strong enough deterrent given the product had been causing issues for years.
“Yes the TGA issued infringement notices but this is just essentially an invitation to pay the fine or go to court and argue their case,” Harvey said. “In the meantime the MMS website is still up selling the products, with a few extras disclaimers, and they are now trying to label it as some kind of religious sacrament.
“What the TGA needs to do is order the website be taken down and a safety and warning notice and apology put in its place. While an infringement notice is a good step, it hasn’t done anything to stop the website, which is still promoting and selling it.”
A “healing church” that promoted a solution containing industrial bleach as a cure for coronavirus has been fined more than $150,000 for multiple allegedly unlawful advertising offences.
On Wednesday Australia’s drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), said the Australian chapter of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing had been fined for selling and promoting a solution containing sodium chlorite, a chemical used as a textile bleaching agent and disinfectant.
The Australian website for the church, MMS Australia, falsely claimed the solution could treat, cure, prevent and alleviate diseases including Covid-19, HIV and cancer, the TGA said.
It has been revealed that Genesis II church US leader, Mark Grenon, wrote to Donald Trump just days before the US president claimed disinfectant could be a coronavirus cure.
The letter stated that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it “can rid the body of Covid-19”.
In a statement the TGA said there was no clinical, scientifically-accepted evidence showing the solution could cure or alleviate any disease. The use of the solution “presents serious health risks, and can result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration, which in some cases can result in hospitalisation”, it said.
The TGA also alleges MMS Australia implied a health practitioner had endorsed the product, and that the website included a testimonial endorsing the product from someone directly involved with the production, sale, supply and marketing of it.
MMS Australia has not removed the products from its website. It has updated the website to say those seeking miracle cures “should pray to The Lord for healing and guidance”. The website also says those seeking the bleach solution and other products urgently could add a $5 express shipping voucher to their online shopping basket to jump to the front of the queue.
“Our products, their descriptions and other information posted here are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease, and any apparent reference to same is inadvertent and purely coincidental,” MMS Australia said. “We do not believe in miracle cures, but in healthy, wholesome living and good nutrition to keep the temple of our souls, our bodies, clean and free of harmful chemicals and poisons. We also believe in the power of quiet contemplation, meditation and prayer.”
An Australian representative of the church’s MMS Australia Foundation previously told Guardian Australia: “Do you go into the Catholic church and question them about the wine or the bread that they serve in the Eucharist? No, so why doesn’t the world leave us alone? These are our sacraments and we should be free to use it and teach other people to use it.”
US orders group to stop selling bleach 'miracle cure' for coronavirus
Read more https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/21/bleach-coronavirus-us-orders-group-stop-selling
The TGA has been engaged in a long-running battle to stop false claims around the solution. Four people were taken to hospital in 2014 in Victoria after ingesting the solution, prompting the TGA to issue a warning that products with high concentrations of sodium chlorite are considered poison.
Victoria’s Department of Health has also issued warnings. At the time, a department spokesman said: “This isn’t like drinking bleach, it literally is drinking bleach.”
Dr Ken Harvey, an associate professor of public health from Monash University, said he welcomed the fine but it was not a strong enough deterrent given the product had been causing issues for years.
“Yes the TGA issued infringement notices but this is just essentially an invitation to pay the fine or go to court and argue their case,” Harvey said. “In the meantime the MMS website is still up selling the products, with a few extras disclaimers, and they are now trying to label it as some kind of religious sacrament.
“What the TGA needs to do is order the website be taken down and a safety and warning notice and apology put in its place. While an infringement notice is a good step, it hasn’t done anything to stop the website, which is still promoting and selling it.”
Australian 'healing church' defends bleach sales after US coronavirus cure claims
Exclusive: Group claims it should be allowed to promote its Miracle Mineral Solution on freedom of religion grounds
Ben Smee THE GUARDIAN Wed 6 May 2020
The Australian chapter of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing sells industrial bleach, or chlorine dioxide – marketed as Miracle Mineral Solution – online. The US branch of the church has claimed it can cure coronavirus, among other things. Photograph: Genesis II Church of Health and Healing Australian website
Representatives of an international group that calls itself a “healing church” and promotes industrial bleach as a cure for coronavirus say they should be allowed to continue selling the potentially toxic “miracle” solution in Australia on religious freedom grounds.
The ABC reported on Tuesday the Australian chapter of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing is selling chlorine dioxide – marketed as Miracle Mineral Solution – online.
The website selling the product in Australia states the solution is the formulation “approved” by church founder, Jim Humble, who has published claims that people with Covid-19 recovered after taking MMS.
Guardian Australia spoke with an Australian representative of the church’s MMS Australia Foundation, which is selling the solution online and operates from an address in Hervey Bay, Queensland. The man would not identify himself due to “hate mail and hate phone calls” received in recent days.
“Do you go into the Catholic church and question them about the wine or the bread that they serve in the Eucharist? No, so why doesn’t the world leave us alone?” he said.
“These are our sacraments and we should be free to use it and teach other people to use it.”
It has been revealed that Genesis II church US leader, Mark Grenon, wrote to Donald Trump just days before the US president claimed disinfectant could be a coronavirus cure.
The letter stated that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it “can rid the body of Covid-19”.
The group has previously claimed the bleach can be used to treat diseases including cancer, HIV/Aids, asthma, autism and Ebola.
Health authorities in the US and Australia have previously warned that MMS poses a “serious health risk if consumed by humans” and was not approved for any therapeutic use. The product has been linked to hospitalisations in several Australian states. Dr Tony Bartone, president of the Australian Medical Association, called for the product to be banned in 2014 ahead of a visit to Melbourne by Humble.
The church representative said chlorine dioxide was commonly used for water purification, and that bottles were clearly labelled poison and carried appropriate disclaimers. But he conceded that in large enough doses, the solution could be fatal.
“Here is the big lie which the ABC could not resist perpetuating. The big bleach lie. You take enough water, you drink enough water, you kill yourself. You kill yourself by drinking enough water.
“Similarly we kill ourself by taking our sacrament full strength. You take two maybe three drops and you dilute it in a lot of water.
“Ask yourself, who is doing all this in the background, who is trying to sink us? There are dark forces against us. There are spiritual dark forces trying to get a hold of us. We are under assault. We are inundated with hate phone calls and hate mail.”
A complaint to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, lodged by public health expert Ken Harvey, urges immediate action against the church and its MMS Australia website, and calls for “substantial fines”.
The church’s MMS Australia website includes a disclaimer that “we do not list or sell any therapeutic goods, as defined by legislation, and any apparent mention or reference to same is inadvertent and coincidental”.
“Our products, their descriptions and other information posted here are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease, and any apparent reference to same is inadvertent and purely coincidental.
Anyone seeking medical products, should consult their physician.”
‘Please don’t inject bleach’: Trump’s wild coronavirus claims prompt disbelief
Harvey’s complaint says the site also: “links to (and thus endorses) a number of videos, testimonials, protocols and other material invoking Jim Humble who alleges that MMS, ‘has proven to restore partial or full health to hundreds of thousands of people suffering from a wide range of diseases.
“These include prohibited representations such as Covid-19, cancer, coronary heart disease, depression and multiple sclerosis.”
The Therapeutic Goods Administration does not typically regulate water purification products, but has previously published warnings about MMS out of concern that some people are using the solution for therapeutic purposes.
It warns that using the solution for purposes other than water purification, or at higher concentrations, can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration.
‘Please don’t inject bleach’: Trump’s wild coronavirus claims prompt disbelief
During Thursday’s coronavirus briefing the president floated the idea of ‘an injection inside’ – and medical doctors were quick to denounce it
Poppy Noor THE GUARDIAN Fri 24 Apr 2020
1:58 Trump floats dangerous coronavirus treatment ideas as Dr Birx looks on – video
Donald Trump had barely distanced himself from statements that malaria treatment could cure the coronavirus before he had moved on to another, even more unorthodox suggestion.
On Thursday night White House officials shared pretty predictable findings: that sunlight and common cleaning supplies can kill a virus within minutes when applied to different surfaces. But then the president had to take it to another level.
“I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute,” Trump said. “One minute! And is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that. So, that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me.”
JIM CARRY
Reactions were, as one would expect, quite swift.
Medical doctors have been quick to denounce the idea of injecting cleaning products to clear the virus. Just watch Trump’s coronavirus response coordinator Dr Deborah Birx’s face turn from shock to bemusement as she hears his suggestion.
Daniel Lewis(@Daniel_Lewis3)
Here is Dr. Birx's reaction when President Trump asks his science advisor to study using UV light on the human body and injecting disinfectant to fight the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/MVno5X7JMAApril 24, 2020
If a qualified physician – who nonetheless has spent enough time with Trump to know his tendency to fabricate – is this shocked, it’s hard not to feel sorry for Trump’s base. Which story are they supposed to believe?
Matt Haig(@matthaig1)
Donald Trump supporters are struggling right now. They are having to simultaneously think Coronavirus is just the flu while also thinking it is a Chinese bio weapon designed to turn them communist all while standing in their kitchens injecting disinfectant into themselves. Hard.April 24, 2020
Many have analyzed the way in which Trump uses simple, accessible language in his speeches – around the level of what an eight-year-old could understand. Some are now suggesting his own processing capabilities might be in line with that.
Glenn Kirschner(@glennkirschner2)
Trump absorbs/processes info on a 3rd grade level. Doctors talk about the impact of disinfectant & UV rays on the virus on surfaces/outside the body. Trump’s inability to intelligently process info leads him to suggest putting dsinfectants & sunlight INSIDE the body. #unfit https://t.co/FGP6Hg84HoApril 24, 2020
Harvard’s toxicology Twitter account felt the need to issue medical advice online following Trump’s statement, giving a scientific reason for why you shouldn’t swallow bleach (you know, for when common sense won’t suffice).
Harvard Toxicology(@Harvard_Tox)
Please don’t inject bleach or drink disinfectant. Bleach injections cause hemolysis (where your red blood cells that carry OXYGEN break apart) and cause liver damage, and many disinfectants can cause dangerous burns or bleeding in your stomach. This tweet IS medical adviceApril 24, 2020
Comments such as these, which could potentially harm the public, should be taken seriously. But some took the slapstick approach (making memes) to help them digest.
David Mandel(@DavidHMandel\
pic.twitter.com/oJr8jgGbigApril 24, 2020
And it makes sense. Because at a time like this, you have to laugh, because truly there are no tears left.
Sarah Cooper(@sarahcpr)
How to medical pic.twitter.com/0EDqJcy38pApril 24, 2020
Employees at Clorox and Lysol must be thinking: “This is not the job I signed up for.”
Celeste Ng(@pronounced_ing)
I have a lot of sympathy for every PR people at every single disinfectant company who was told yesterday, “Look, we need to you write a serious non-profane press statement telling people not to inject bleach—in the next 10 min, please.”April 24, 2020
Neuroscientist Dr Sanjay Gupta, on the other hand, felt more sorry for the doctors who have to spend their time advising Trump.
New Day(@NewDay)
.@drsanjaygupta on Dr. Birx and officials' reactions to Trump’s comments about sunlight and disinfectant: “I don't know how they continue to do the job sometimes because they just have to spend as much time spinning around this stuff as they do actually talking about the science” pic.twitter.com/33sYsooSBAApril 24, 2020
Political pundits likened the speech to something that you might find on a satirical news website such as the Onion. The only thing more satirical, surely, is that this is real life.
Jim Pickard(@PickardJE)
this is not The Onion
this is not Brass Eye
this is actual news:
disinfectant manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser has put out a statement advising people not to *inject disinfectant* after the US president suggested it might help treat coronavirus https://t.co/a3lqPrFMvsApril 24, 2020
'Don't inject Lysol': maker of household cleaner hits back at Trump virus claim
‘Under no circumstance’ should Lysol be used in human body
President floated idea of product as Covid-19 treatment or cure
We must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” said a spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser. Photograph: Joshua L Jones/AP
The maker of a popular brand of household cleaner has urged users not to inject it into their bodies in the wake of comments by Donald Trump at the daily White House briefing that injections of disinfectant might be a treatment or cure for the coronavirus.
Lysol, which is owned by a British company, is widely used as a spray to clean household surfaces and has become a vital tool for Americans seeking to disinfect their houses and apartments during the pandemic.
But the firm was clear no one should do anything else with its product, despite Trump’s bizarre claims at his daily press conference on Thursday evening and which were denounced widely by health experts as “jaw-dropping”.
“We must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” said a spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser, the United Kingdom-based owner of Lysol, in a statement to NBC News.
“As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information,” the statement continued.
At Thursday’s White House coronavirus taskforce briefing, Trump had discussed new government research on how the virus reacts to different temperatures, climates and surfaces.
“Is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning?” Trump had mused.
Trump has a record of defying science – from pollution to the climate crisis – and also used the briefing to float the idea of treating coronavirus patients’ bodies with ultraviolet (UV) light.
When he turned to the senior member of the White House coronavirus taskforce present, health expert Deborah Birx, to ask if she had heard about light
Representatives of an international group that calls itself a “healing church” and promotes industrial bleach as a cure for coronavirus say they should be allowed to continue selling the potentially toxic “miracle” solution in Australia on religious freedom grounds.
The ABC reported on Tuesday the Australian chapter of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing is selling chlorine dioxide – marketed as Miracle Mineral Solution – online.
The website selling the product in Australia states the solution is the formulation “approved” by church founder, Jim Humble, who has published claims that people with Covid-19 recovered after taking MMS.
Guardian Australia spoke with an Australian representative of the church’s MMS Australia Foundation, which is selling the solution online and operates from an address in Hervey Bay, Queensland. The man would not identify himself due to “hate mail and hate phone calls” received in recent days.
“Do you go into the Catholic church and question them about the wine or the bread that they serve in the Eucharist? No, so why doesn’t the world leave us alone?” he said.
“These are our sacraments and we should be free to use it and teach other people to use it.”
It has been revealed that Genesis II church US leader, Mark Grenon, wrote to Donald Trump just days before the US president claimed disinfectant could be a coronavirus cure.
The letter stated that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it “can rid the body of Covid-19”.
The group has previously claimed the bleach can be used to treat diseases including cancer, HIV/Aids, asthma, autism and Ebola.
Health authorities in the US and Australia have previously warned that MMS poses a “serious health risk if consumed by humans” and was not approved for any therapeutic use. The product has been linked to hospitalisations in several Australian states. Dr Tony Bartone, president of the Australian Medical Association, called for the product to be banned in 2014 ahead of a visit to Melbourne by Humble.
The church representative said chlorine dioxide was commonly used for water purification, and that bottles were clearly labelled poison and carried appropriate disclaimers. But he conceded that in large enough doses, the solution could be fatal.
“Here is the big lie which the ABC could not resist perpetuating. The big bleach lie. You take enough water, you drink enough water, you kill yourself. You kill yourself by drinking enough water.
“Similarly we kill ourself by taking our sacrament full strength. You take two maybe three drops and you dilute it in a lot of water.
“Ask yourself, who is doing all this in the background, who is trying to sink us? There are dark forces against us. There are spiritual dark forces trying to get a hold of us. We are under assault. We are inundated with hate phone calls and hate mail.”
A complaint to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, lodged by public health expert Ken Harvey, urges immediate action against the church and its MMS Australia website, and calls for “substantial fines”.
The church’s MMS Australia website includes a disclaimer that “we do not list or sell any therapeutic goods, as defined by legislation, and any apparent mention or reference to same is inadvertent and coincidental”.
“Our products, their descriptions and other information posted here are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease, and any apparent reference to same is inadvertent and purely coincidental.
Anyone seeking medical products, should consult their physician.”
‘Please don’t inject bleach’: Trump’s wild coronavirus claims prompt disbelief
Harvey’s complaint says the site also: “links to (and thus endorses) a number of videos, testimonials, protocols and other material invoking Jim Humble who alleges that MMS, ‘has proven to restore partial or full health to hundreds of thousands of people suffering from a wide range of diseases.
“These include prohibited representations such as Covid-19, cancer, coronary heart disease, depression and multiple sclerosis.”
The Therapeutic Goods Administration does not typically regulate water purification products, but has previously published warnings about MMS out of concern that some people are using the solution for therapeutic purposes.
It warns that using the solution for purposes other than water purification, or at higher concentrations, can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration.
‘Please don’t inject bleach’: Trump’s wild coronavirus claims prompt disbelief
During Thursday’s coronavirus briefing the president floated the idea of ‘an injection inside’ – and medical doctors were quick to denounce it
Poppy Noor THE GUARDIAN Fri 24 Apr 2020
1:58 Trump floats dangerous coronavirus treatment ideas as Dr Birx looks on – video
Donald Trump had barely distanced himself from statements that malaria treatment could cure the coronavirus before he had moved on to another, even more unorthodox suggestion.
On Thursday night White House officials shared pretty predictable findings: that sunlight and common cleaning supplies can kill a virus within minutes when applied to different surfaces. But then the president had to take it to another level.
“I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute,” Trump said. “One minute! And is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that. So, that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me.”
JIM CARRY
Reactions were, as one would expect, quite swift.
Medical doctors have been quick to denounce the idea of injecting cleaning products to clear the virus. Just watch Trump’s coronavirus response coordinator Dr Deborah Birx’s face turn from shock to bemusement as she hears his suggestion.
Daniel Lewis(@Daniel_Lewis3)
Here is Dr. Birx's reaction when President Trump asks his science advisor to study using UV light on the human body and injecting disinfectant to fight the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/MVno5X7JMAApril 24, 2020
If a qualified physician – who nonetheless has spent enough time with Trump to know his tendency to fabricate – is this shocked, it’s hard not to feel sorry for Trump’s base. Which story are they supposed to believe?
Matt Haig(@matthaig1)
Donald Trump supporters are struggling right now. They are having to simultaneously think Coronavirus is just the flu while also thinking it is a Chinese bio weapon designed to turn them communist all while standing in their kitchens injecting disinfectant into themselves. Hard.April 24, 2020
Many have analyzed the way in which Trump uses simple, accessible language in his speeches – around the level of what an eight-year-old could understand. Some are now suggesting his own processing capabilities might be in line with that.
Glenn Kirschner(@glennkirschner2)
Trump absorbs/processes info on a 3rd grade level. Doctors talk about the impact of disinfectant & UV rays on the virus on surfaces/outside the body. Trump’s inability to intelligently process info leads him to suggest putting dsinfectants & sunlight INSIDE the body. #unfit https://t.co/FGP6Hg84HoApril 24, 2020
Harvard’s toxicology Twitter account felt the need to issue medical advice online following Trump’s statement, giving a scientific reason for why you shouldn’t swallow bleach (you know, for when common sense won’t suffice).
Harvard Toxicology(@Harvard_Tox)
Please don’t inject bleach or drink disinfectant. Bleach injections cause hemolysis (where your red blood cells that carry OXYGEN break apart) and cause liver damage, and many disinfectants can cause dangerous burns or bleeding in your stomach. This tweet IS medical adviceApril 24, 2020
Comments such as these, which could potentially harm the public, should be taken seriously. But some took the slapstick approach (making memes) to help them digest.
David Mandel(@DavidHMandel\
pic.twitter.com/oJr8jgGbigApril 24, 2020
And it makes sense. Because at a time like this, you have to laugh, because truly there are no tears left.
Sarah Cooper(@sarahcpr)
How to medical pic.twitter.com/0EDqJcy38pApril 24, 2020
Employees at Clorox and Lysol must be thinking: “This is not the job I signed up for.”
Celeste Ng(@pronounced_ing)
I have a lot of sympathy for every PR people at every single disinfectant company who was told yesterday, “Look, we need to you write a serious non-profane press statement telling people not to inject bleach—in the next 10 min, please.”April 24, 2020
Neuroscientist Dr Sanjay Gupta, on the other hand, felt more sorry for the doctors who have to spend their time advising Trump.
New Day(@NewDay)
.@drsanjaygupta on Dr. Birx and officials' reactions to Trump’s comments about sunlight and disinfectant: “I don't know how they continue to do the job sometimes because they just have to spend as much time spinning around this stuff as they do actually talking about the science” pic.twitter.com/33sYsooSBAApril 24, 2020
Political pundits likened the speech to something that you might find on a satirical news website such as the Onion. The only thing more satirical, surely, is that this is real life.
Jim Pickard(@PickardJE)
this is not The Onion
this is not Brass Eye
this is actual news:
disinfectant manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser has put out a statement advising people not to *inject disinfectant* after the US president suggested it might help treat coronavirus https://t.co/a3lqPrFMvsApril 24, 2020
'Don't inject Lysol': maker of household cleaner hits back at Trump virus claim
‘Under no circumstance’ should Lysol be used in human body
President floated idea of product as Covid-19 treatment or cure
We must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” said a spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser. Photograph: Joshua L Jones/AP
The maker of a popular brand of household cleaner has urged users not to inject it into their bodies in the wake of comments by Donald Trump at the daily White House briefing that injections of disinfectant might be a treatment or cure for the coronavirus.
Lysol, which is owned by a British company, is widely used as a spray to clean household surfaces and has become a vital tool for Americans seeking to disinfect their houses and apartments during the pandemic.
But the firm was clear no one should do anything else with its product, despite Trump’s bizarre claims at his daily press conference on Thursday evening and which were denounced widely by health experts as “jaw-dropping”.
“We must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” said a spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser, the United Kingdom-based owner of Lysol, in a statement to NBC News.
“As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information,” the statement continued.
At Thursday’s White House coronavirus taskforce briefing, Trump had discussed new government research on how the virus reacts to different temperatures, climates and surfaces.
“Is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning?” Trump had mused.
Trump has a record of defying science – from pollution to the climate crisis – and also used the briefing to float the idea of treating coronavirus patients’ bodies with ultraviolet (UV) light.
When he turned to the senior member of the White House coronavirus taskforce present, health expert Deborah Birx, to ask if she had heard about light
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