The United States District court for the Southern District of Florida has entered a temporary injunction halting the online sale of Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), that the government calls an “unapproved, unproven, and potentially dangerous coronavirus treatment product.” The complaint alleges that the defendants, Genesis II Church of Health and Healing and its principals, Mark Grenon, Joseph Grenon, Jordan Grenon, and Jonathan Grenon, sell and distribute a product that claims without proof that it will cure diseases such as COVID-19, multiple sclerosis, brain cancer, Alzheimer’s, AIDS, and autism, among others.
The defendants sell and distribute this product. MMS contains sodium chlorite that, when combined with the activator included with the product or with citrus juices, creates chlorine dioxide, a powerful industrial bleach that has caused serious and potentially life-threatening side affects. The FDA has repeatedly warned consumers that MMS can cause “nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration.”
A warning letter sent to the company on April 8, 2020 told them that they are violating federal law by distributed unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs in state commerce. According to the FDA, the defendants “not only continue to sell MMS with claims that it cures, mitigates, treats, or prevents Coronavirus, which includes COVID-19, but they have also expressly stated that they will not take corrective action.”
U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan said in a statement, “We will zealously pursue perpetrators of fraud schemes seeking to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only are these products potentially harmful, but their distribution and use may prevent those who are sick from receiving the legitimate healthcare they need.”
After consuming chlorine dioxide products, consumers have reported problems to the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System. Those serious side effects include respiratory failure, changes in the electrical activity of the heart that may lead to potential fatal abnormal heart rhythm, life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration, acute liver failure, low blood cell counts that have required blood transfusions, severe vomiting, and severe diarrhea.
