MMS – Misleading Malfeasant Swindling

Comment and Opinion

MMS Australia
and
Genesis II Church of Health and Healing

MMS – Misleading Malfeasant Swindling (16/5/2020)
There is this wonderful product called "Master Mineral Solution" (MMS) which can cure all sorts of medical conditions (including autism, apparently). It is rather expensive, as would be expected for the greatest and most useful medical treatment since the discovery of penicillin. To the rest of us it's chlorine bleach – the stuff we buy in 2.5 litre containers for a couple of dollars at the supermarket and use to keep our toilets sparkling or to remove mould from concrete paths (and is used by murderers in TV shows to remove bloodstains).

To people unfamiliar with the greed and lack of concern for customers shown by much of the alternative (to) medicine business it might seem almost unbelievable that a whole industry could be built around repackaging household cleaners and selling them for much more money. (I'm told that some MMS products are even more powerful because they are the chemicals used for chlorinating swimming pools, but the principle (if such a word can be applied here) still applies.)

It finally got too much for regulatory authorities and in April 2020 the US Department of Justice jumped on a pretend church that distributes the bleach and managed to get a court to order a ban on its sales. The trigger was when claims of a cure for the COVID-19 pandemic appeared.

You can read the complete DOJ story here, but the quote below gives a taste of the lies being told by the promoters of this nonsense.

In a civil complaint and accompanying court papers filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida today, the Department of Justice alleges that the defendants, Genesis II Church of Health and Healing (Genesis) and its principals, Mark Grenon, Joseph Grenon, Jordan Grenon, and Jonathan Grenon sell and distribute a product called Miracle Mineral Solution, also referred to as MMS. Genesis sells MMS through its websites claiming that it will cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent Coronavirus, which includes COVID-19, as well as other diseases including Alzheimer’s, autism, brain cancer, HIV/AIDS, and multiple sclerosis, among others. MMS is a chemical product which, when combined with the included activator, creates a powerful bleach product that the defendants market for oral ingestion. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously issued public warnings to consumers that MMS can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration. The Justice Department sought preliminary relief from the court.

The thieves at the fake church hit back under the headline "The Contempt of the Department of Justice against the 1st Amendment and God continues! What will 'the people' do?". It takes a significant amount of both hubris and chutzpah to claim that a government department ordering a scamster to stop scamming shows contempt for the concept of free speech. I'm also sure God is both surprised and amused to hear that the DOJ has been attacking Him as well.

Not to be outdone, Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration went beyond just saying "Don't do that" and actually imposed a fine on the local distributors.

You can read the TGA's media release here, but again a quote from the release is useful.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has issued twelve infringement notices totalling $151,200 for the alleged unlawful advertising of Miracle Mineral Supplement (also referred to as Miracle Mineral Solution) (MMS) and other medicines by Southern Cross Directories Pty Ltd trading as MMS Australia. The TGA is concerned about the harmful effects that can be caused by the ingestion of MMS, and has published an updated safety alert to warn consumers about claims made online about Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) for the treatment, cure, prevention or alleviation of disease, including COVID-19.

There is no clinical, scientifically-accepted evidence showing that MMS can cure or alleviate any disease. The use of MMS presents serious health risks, and can result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration, which in some cases can result in hospitalisation.

But leaving the best until last, here is what you see when you go to the web site of MMS Australia. As they say, "The crazy, it burns!".

Agreement for use of website By entering and using this site you expressly agree to the terms and conditions as stipulated herein, including but not limited to the registration of an account. This is a private website and any trade exchange is done by donation only, using functional Australian currency out of necessity. By using this website you agree that you will not make complaint, enquiry or give Notice to any alleged regulatory authority in relation to any information relating to this website, including but not limited to any names of items mentioned on this website or to any information relating any of the items on this website or to any information contained on this site whatsoever. If you hold a nexus to, including but not limited to being employed by, any alleged regulatory authority you must leave this website now, you are trespassing, you are trespassing, you are trespassing. If you hold a nexus to, including but not limited to being employed by or in contract in any capacity to, any alleged regulatory authority and you continue to trespass on this site that action will be taken as your agreement to being held liable before a Court for prosecution for trespass for an amount that will be determined at our sole discretion. If you do violate any of the express terms and conditions of using this website then you by your actions make admission to a knowing, voluntary and intentional breach of trust and to commissioning a tort. Further information is available for your perusal in our terms and conditions. Terms and Conditions Cookies may be used to speed up your interaction with the website, we have no interest in using them to collect data and/or information about you. Account registration is free.

Scammers gotta scam, thieves gotta thieve (6/6/2020)
Last month I mentioned action that had been taken in the US and Australia against a fake church that sells bleach to cure COVID-19, among almost all other medical conditions known to mankind. The Australian branch of the "church" was fined $151,200, which they have chosen not to pay, instead advising sick people to "pray to the Lord for healing and guidance".

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has decided that it won't be ignored this time and has initiated court action against the "church". I expect to see GoFundMe campaigns by supporters of quackery to help fund the "church's" time in court, and I also expect that the crooks running the business to take every action possible to avoid being held responsible. (I almost said "principals of the business" but that might confuse readers because they might have thought I was talking about principles, and this business doesn't have any of those.)

You can read about the court action here.

Have I mentioned that the people running the shell business called Genesis II Church of Health and Healing are just a pack of liars and thieves who think that calling their business a church might protect them from legal action (and also protect them from paying tax)? Just in case I've been a bit ambiguous, I'll make it quite clear that the operators of this scam are liars who want to steal money. A suitable treatment for their condition would be to attach blocks of calcium carbonate to their ankles and then drop them into the deep end of swimming pools disinfected with sodium chlorite. That should cure them.