Healing church accused of poisoning Australians with 'miracle drug'
A religious group that claims to have a cure for Ebola may be banned in Victoria, after its miracle cure landed people in the Australian state in the hospital.
Genesis II Church of Health Healing's Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) caused the poisoning of 10 Victorians in the past five years, Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported.
The group, led by Jim Humble, claims that MMS is the "answer" to cancer, HIV/AIDS, herpes, and "many more of mankind's worst diseases."
The product, also known as the Master Miracle is being sold online as a "water transformation treatment."
Variations of the solutions are apparently made from bleaching agents - including sodium chlorite, chlorine dioxide and calcium hypochlorite - used to whiten paper.
The Australian Medical Association's Victoria president Dr. Tony Bartone said the group should be banned and criticized the "snake oil salesmen" who preyed on vulnerable sick people with "magic potions."
"There's no evidence whatsoever and certainly no clinical trials to suggest this is anything more than a bleach," said Bartone.
Dr. Dawson MacLeod, from the Victorian Poisons Information Centre, said that MMS could spark 'potentially life-threatening illnesses' and warned the long-term effects of the solution to one's health.
The church, with headquarters in the Dominican Republic, was contacted by the Daily Mail Australia for comment.
The group responded by reposting an old video with Jim Humble denying that MMS is harmful to its users.
'This product [has been] sold widely in the United States for the last three years and nobody has reported low-blood pressure or dehydration,' he said.
Humble is travelling to five different cities through November, including Melbourne and the town of Ngatea in New Zealand, to talk about his 'Miracle Mineral Solution' (MMS).
Tickets to the seminar were advertised for $500 but organizer "Bishop" Paul Treacy said there was no fee and attendees were asked to donate only to the church.