Group that promotes bleach as 'cure' for illness planning another meeting in Ireland

The Irish Examiner/November 22, 2015

By Joe Leogue

A group that promotes industrial-strength bleach as a “cure” for serious conditions is planning to hold another seminar in Ireland next month.

The Genesis II Church of Health and Healing will hold a weekend seminar in Moone, Co Kildare, in December, for which attendees will be charged a “donation” of €350.

News of the seminar has prompted the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) to reissue its warning on the Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) — the chemical promoted by the Genesis II Church as a cure for autism, cancer, HIV, and other conditions.

The substance has been described as corrosive, toxic, and dangerous.

The Church is headed by self-appointed archbishop Jim Humble, a former Scientologist who claims to have discovered MMS as a cure for malaria in 1996.

The Irish Examiner first reported on concerns surrounding MMS in July 2014, and the product was subsequently the subject of a Prime Time investigation on RTÉ in April 2015.

The HPRA, formerly the Irish Medicine Board, yesterday repeated its warning that MMS is not authorised as a medicine for sale or supply in Ireland.

“Any manufacture, supply or sale of this product for the purposes of treating a medical condition is thereby illegal,” it said in a statement.

The body said it has been involved in a number of joint investigations with gardaí into the sale of MMS, and said it is not aware of any clinical trial data or other recognised research that suggests MMS is effective or safe when administered to humans.

“The HPRA advises consumers not to purchase or take this product,” it warned.

The body repeated its advice that consumers should not seek to purchase or take this product “as its safety, quality and efficacy in humans have not been independently established”.

“We advise anyone who may have taken this product or administered it to others to talk to their doctor. Any remaining quantity should not be taken,” it said.

The HPRA said it is currently pursuing a “number of avenues of enquiry” in what continues to be an open investigation into the manufacture, supply, and sale of this product, and so it cannot comment on the investigations.

“During its investigations, to date, the HPRA has carried out searches at a number of premises assisted, where necessary, by An Garda Síochána,” it said.

“In some instances, substances and/or equipment have been detained for further examination. In one instance an individual has challenged the legality of a HPRA search (carried out on foot of a court issued warrant). The HPRA has successfully defended its actions in two separate court appearances.”

The National Poisons Information Centre of Ireland and the Food Safety Authority have issued warnings on MMS in the past year.

“In the undiluted form, MMS is corrosive and toxic. The diluted product, if swallowed, is likely to produce effects similar to household bleach,” the National Poisons Information Centre warned.

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