Amazon removes books promoting dangerous bleach 'cures' for autism and other conditions

Authored by cnbc.com and submitted by mvea

Amazon has removed more than a dozen books that unscientifically claim a homemade bleach, chlorine dioxide, can cure conditions ranging from malaria to childhood autism. The books include directions for making and ingesting the concoction, which doctors and federal regulators have warned is dangerous.

Amazon confirmed Tuesday that it was no longer selling the books on the topic of chlorine dioxide — a hazardous mix of sodium chlorite and an acid activator such as citric acid, also marketed as Miracle Mineral Solution, or MMS. The Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers that the so-called cure amounts to industrial bleach, has no possible health benefits and can cause permanent harm.

The shelved titles include "MMS Health Recovery Guidebook" and "Introducing MMS," both written by Jim Humble, a former Scientologist and the self-appointed archbishop of a religion devoted to chlorine dioxide. For years, he has claimed the bleach could cure AIDS, cancer, diabetes and almost every other disease. NBC News was unable to reach Humble for comment.

Anti-vaccination advocate Andreas Kalcker's "Forbidden Health," which promotes chlorine dioxide as an autism cure, was also removed. Kalcker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move comes a week after an NBC News report on parents who use chlorine dioxide in a misinformed effort to reverse their children's autism, a developmental disorder with no known cure.

In March, after a critical report in Wired, Amazon banned two autism "cure" books, which included Kerri Rivera's "Healing the Symptoms Known as Autism," a guide in which she introduced Humble's bleach recipe to parents of autistic children.

Amazon, Facebook and YouTube have scrambled in recent months to answer calls from lawmakers and public health advocates to curtail the spread of anti-vaccination and other health misinformation on their sites. In April, Facebook deleted several chlorine dioxide pages and groups with thousands of members, citing a policy against content that promotes illegal drugs. That same month, YouTube deleted scores of videos and channels with millions of views dedicated to chlorine dioxide, explaining that they violated standards against "content intended to encourage dangerous activities that have an inherent risk of physical harm."

A spokesman for Amazon declined to provide details on Tuesday's takedown, or whether it may be part of a larger effort to clean up health misinformation on its marketplace.

Watch: An analyst explains why he says Amazon's stock will hit $3,000 in a few years

FUN_LOCK on May 29th, 2019 at 12:53 UTC »

My wife had a tool at work that wasn't quite what she needed, so she sent me a picture of it and asked if I could 3d print her a slightly modified version. I asked her to send me a list of chemicals it was likely to come in contact with so I could look up reactivity data with different plastics I had available.

One of them was chlorine dioxide. Used properly its a useful bleaching agent and a powerful disinfectant.

You had to scroll down pretty far to find good info though. The first 5 or so search hits were all pseudoscience miracle cures. It's terrifying how good the crazies are at pushing dangerous nonsense to the top of search results.

SimonTheCruncher on May 29th, 2019 at 12:36 UTC »

How does a book like this even make it through editing and publishing, to be sold.

Abedeus on May 29th, 2019 at 11:56 UTC »

I mean, drinking enough bleach will cure any condition, including life itself.