FDA says Texas church is selling a fake, and potentially deadly, coronavirus remedy

A remedy touted by a church in Texas won’t cure coronavirus, and it could kill you.

The Genesis 2 Church of Healing claims its “Miracle Mineral Solution” will treat COVID-19 among other diseases, according to Bloomberg Law. It is actually a chemical called chlorine dioxide, which is commonly used as an industrial swimming pool cleaner, KTRK in Houston reported.

The Genesis 2 Church in Angleton, Texas, is the latest company to receive an order from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning that if the company does not stop advertising the solution as a remedy for coronavirus, the agency will seize the product and/or take the company to court, according to Bloomberg Law. This is not the first time the company has been warned about the solution; the Harris County District Attorney’s Office ordered the person connected with the company to stop selling and distributing the solution three years ago, KTRK reported.

“Chlorine dioxide products have not been shown to be safe and effective for any use, including COVID-19, but these products continue to be sold as a remedy for treating autism, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and flu, among other conditions, despite their harmful effects,” the FDA said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg.

Chlorine dioxide can damage the liver, kidneys and heart, sometimes resulting in death, KTRK said. The FDA gave the company 48 hours to respond before taking legal action, according to Bloomberg.

The “Miracle Mineral Solution” is just one of many fake drugs claiming to help treat coronavirus during this pandemic, BBC reported. After President Donald Trump said hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat malaria, could be used to help coronavirus patients, large quantities of a counterfeit version of the drug began circulating throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and sometimes Niger, according to the BBC.

Health experts have expressed concern that if governments do not take united action, the circulation of fake drugs will get worse, the BBC reported.

“We risk a parallel pandemic, of substandard and falsified products unless we all ensure that there is a global coordinated plan for coordinated production, equitable distribution and the surveillance of the quality of the tests, medicines and vaccines,” Professor Paul Newton, an expert in fake medicines at the University of Oxford, told BBC. “Otherwise the benefits of modern medicine will be lost.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 6:46 PM with the headline "FDA says Texas church is selling a fake, and potentially deadly, coronavirus remedy."