How so?

The COVID pandemic has changed the way we evaluate health technologies in four important and distinct ways.

1. Practicality replaces glitz.  The “Wow factor” is what mattered in the past.  “Look how cool this laser is that can identify your heart rhythm from 300 feet away!” “This headset lets me see how food travels through my body in real time!”   Technology can still be cool, but now the question is how will I use it?  Wearables that measure important variables like blood pressure will get more attention than new imaging tools that simply provide a clearer picture.
2. Prevention takes precedence over therapeutics.  COVID has demonstrated to us the importance of our personal health.  For too long, we made our jobs and other commitments our top priority.  Going forward, one’s personal health will become a major focus, especially as it relates to prevention.  How will a particular technology let me take control of my own health?  Nowadays, I am now more interested in a toilet that can monitor my urine for signs of diabetes or my stool for colorectal cancer than a device that creates holograms.  Once one gets pass the “icky” factor of some tools,  we will evolve to truly personalized preventive medicine.
3. Rigorous outcomes rule the day.  Everything now will be measured by how did it change patient outcomes.  Sure, it a device might show a new way to measure blood glucose – but what impact does it have on quality of life, co-morbidities, and life expectancy?
4. Consumer centricity rather than physician centricity.  In the past, technology has been focused on the health system and doctors.  It’s been a B-B approach.  That won’t go away, but more and more tech innovations will put the health consumer in charge.  For instance, I won’t be wearing a device that sends all the information to my doctor, but rather there will be more interpretation of all the data from wearables with direct communication to the patient.  This may require changes in regulation by the US Food and Drug Administration with a more practical definition of what constitutes a “medical device.” 

The real future of  digital health is when tech tools  continuously collect health data points and help interpret the information and provide preliminary diagnoses to patients.   The doctor isn’t going to be left out of this equation, but the difference will be that the patient will no longer be left out.  It’s the patient who will be at the center of how these technologies function from start to finish.

I’m sure I still going to be wow-ed this year and be entertained by the advancements we have made, especially during the last two years. But I’m also going to ask tougher questions on innovation, especially as relates to the purpose and impact.

The post Four Ways COVID has Changed Health Tech appeared first on Medika Life.

Ask a room full of people any of the above and a lot of hands would go up. They would, of course, all be wrong. The reasons are relatively simple and straightforward, the logic undeniable and yet millions of Americans still pursue these drugs, in some instances forfeiting their lives in the process.

To understand why the evidence for the success of these drugs as a treatment for Covid isn’t compelling, we need to establish a few facts first. For instance, take the following question. Just how much risk is there of Covid killing you? It seems like a simple question to answer, but in truth, it is anything but.

Case Fatality Rates, CMR, and IFR

The probability that someone dies from a disease doesn’t just depend on the disease itself, but also on the treatment they receive, and on the patient’s own ability to recover from it. This makes interpreting data complex and very nuanced.

Catching SARS-CoV2 and developing Covid isn’t a death sentence, not for most of the people who contract it. Global figures based on PCR testing reflect over 222 million cases to date. Of these cases, 4.5 million have proved fatal. The press will tell you this works out roughly at a risk ratio of around 2%, commonly referred to as the Case Fatality Rate (CFR), where the number of deaths is divided by the number of cases. The press is wrong.

Not to be confused with the Crude Mortality Rate (CMR), CFR is far from perfect in determining your personal risk from Covid. There are a few problems using CFR, the most obvious being the reported number of infected in a population. Cases could underreport infections as not everyone is tested and some patients present as asymptomatic (no symptoms).

CFR can decrease or increase over time, as responses change; and that it can vary by location and by the characteristics of the infected population, such as age, or sex. For instance, older populations would expect to see a higher CFR from COVID-19 than younger ones. For similar reasons, the Crude Mortality Rate or CMR is also not a reliable indicator.

So if neither the CFR nor CMR are a good indicator for risk, where do we turn. The scientific community (not the press and media) uses another measure called the Infection Mortality Rate, or IMR. This is the number of deaths from a disease divided by the total number of cases. If 10 people die of the disease, and 500 actually have it, then the IFR is [10 / 500], or 2%.

Confused?

To work out the IFR, we need two numbers: the total number of cases and the total number of deaths, but some of you may already have figured out that we don’t know the true number of cases and probably never will. We cannot test everyone and many are, as discussed earlier, asymptomatic, so researchers will use a ‘best guess’ in their calculation. Far from ideal, but we have no other method.

Despite what some press and media reports imply, the CFR is not the same as, or, even similar to the IFR. If the CFR is 2% then in reality the IFR for Covid will be far lower. For the purposes of this piece, let’s assume it to be 1%. For every 100 confirmed Covid cases, 1 patient will die.

And that is where the rub lies for treatments of the infection, particularly treatments that rely on early-stage administration. Drugs like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin and treatments like monoclonal antibody infusions. It is only possible to tell if these drugs work in a clinical setting.

Pepsi® is the miracle cure

If all the 100 infected patients were to self-administer Pepsi® at home, 99 would statistically survive and 1 patient would die. People would sing the praises of Pepsi® and stores would be looted as a naive population stockpiled Pepsi®, just in case. The unfortunate patient who died would have had to stop drinking Pepsi®. Being intubated has its drawbacks.

The press and general public would of course be able to extrapolate these data and expand them to reach the following conclusions. Pepsi® is effective against Covid, offering you up to 99% protection. It isn’t an effective treatment in the late stages of the disease, so make sure you order your Pepsi® early from Americas’ Frontline Doctors (AFLDS). Sound familiar?

Obviously the above is an analogy, please don’t rush out and buy Pepsi® in the mistaken belief it will help your body combat Covid. The point is that exactly the same principle applies to ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. If 99 out of 100 people were going to survive no matter what, then arguably you could ascribe their recovery to literally anything, including Pepsi®, Coke, Dr. Pepper’s, or tap water.

There are however mouth-watering sums of money to be made out of a gullible public that has in large part lost confidence in the system. A public that is in many ways its own worst enemy, spreading news of miracle cures online and belittling science and themselves in the process.

If you are one of the true believers, I hope you’re still reading and I’d recommend reading the above again. Let it really sink in.

Clearly, this problem isn’t merely limited to ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. It affects all early-stage treatments and there are carefully controlled situations where the real efficacy of the treatments can be assessed and monitored, but these are also fraught with pitfalls.

Is there any way of proving that drugs or treatments do help?

Yes and no. Speak to almost any frontline doctor that’s been embedded in the Covid wards since the start of the pandemic and they’ll tell you the following. HCQ and ivermectin make no difference to the mortality rate of patients in their wards.

This, you can correctly argue, could simply be because the patient is too far gone by the time they are admitted for the drugs to have any effect. True, but in that case, please refer to the preceding argument.

Ideally, patients would need to be identified in the early stages of infection, treated with the drugs, and then have the viral load in their systems monitored. This method assumes that we have established viral loads across all patient populations and variants. We cannot identify deviations from the disease’s natural progression without these control data.

Sadly, a trial of this nature would be unable to correctly identify if the treatments actually ‘cure’ the patient or if they simply speed up the patient’s natural ability to recover. Something, let’s remind ourselves, 99 out of 100 were going to do in any case. Again, this problem isn’t mutually exclusive to ivermectin and HCQ, it affects the assessment of all Covid treatments.

To be able to confirm without a doubt that a treatment is effective against the onset of death from Covid, the treatment would need to prove effective in reducing mortality in admitted patients. That is the gold standard and doctors will tell you, it doesn’t apply to either ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine.

Sorry.

Vaccines however do work. That 1% can be reduced to 0.05% if you simply get vaccinated. That’s a proven fact.

The post The Simple Truth Ivermectin and HCQ Supporters Fail to Acknowledge appeared first on Medika Life.

Into this breach, have stepped the scammers. They are without morals and are concerned only with profiteering from the misery. If the fake medicines they sell you lead to your death, they couldn’t care. If they take your life savings to sell you a space in a hospital that doesn’t exist, they couldn’t care. They have your money and that is all that interests them. Indian newspapers are rife with stories of woe and horror, showcasing the darker side of humanity.

The IndianExpress has just published a story entitled, Covid-19 patient dies after getting fake remdesivir injections, culpable homicide charges have been invoked against the accused. An article in The Hindu highlights just how cybercrooks are stealing from the vulnerable. In a recent case, a person lost ₹40,000 to a cyber crook who asked for money to arrange an ICU bed at a private hospital and after taking the money in advance, switched off his phone. The article below, another death linked to black-market remdesivir.

How to Stay Safe

We are indebted to Sugandh Rakha for the following advice he is sharing on social media, via Twitter in an effort to support his thread and address these con-artists and keep victims safe, we’ve reprinted the content of the Twitter thread below for ease of access. You can unroll the entire thread here. This information is reprinted with his consent and we encourage readers to share this as broadly as possible. For the most part, Sugandh advocates common-sense steps and no matter how desperate you become, take a moment to verify details and ask friends for their advice.

Tips to avoid Remdesivir/Tocilizumab/Covid-19 scams:

• Do a Twitter search and Google search on the phone number and account number provided to you. Check if there are other people complaining about the fraud. Fraudsters will validate their own numbers, so watch out for scam alerts.
• Remdesivir needs to be kept between 2–8 Celsius at all times. Hence, even if you get the injection from the black market, it would have probably lost its efficacy due to incorrect maintenance of cold storage.
• If you have never spoken to the seller on phone or in person, that’s a red flag. Scammers tend to use WhatsApp messages/SMS only. This helps multiple people operate the same number. Business accounts are also very common. Insist on talking to them on phone (not WhatsApp call).
• Ask a trusted friend to cross verify. Tell him/her to pose as an independent buyer.
• Check this thread for known Scammers. If you find any scammers or black marketers add them to this thread.

Editors note: Facebook also provides a reverse search for telephone numbers. We recommend using it as another tool, simply enter the telephone number in the Facebook search box.

Things scammers/black-marketers commonly say:

1. “This is from a family of a patient that didn’t survive.”
2. “I will courier the injection to you.” Even if they do courier it, the product’s efficacy would probably have been lost because of the summer heat during the travel.

Here is the original thread, and you can expand this directly to Twitter if you’d like to contribute to the conversation or add scammer numbers, you could be saving a life. Medika Life will check this thread and add the numbers you contribute to this article, please be sure to include the area you live in.

India’s government has issued a notice that it has attached all legal supplies of remdesivir and tocilizumab. These are being channeled to hospitals and this is your safest option for securing medication. Speak directly to your nearest clinic or hospital. Here’s another Twitter thread on the announcement.

Stay safe and try and protect your loved ones by avoiding dangerous fake medications sold by online scammers. If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is and if you’ve fallen victim to a scammer, please share the experience. It will save others.

Please also keep in mind that almost all these medicines that are being sold need to be very carefully stored and transported to ensure they retain their effectiveness. Black market products, even if they are “legitimate” are almost always rendered useless because of failure to store or transport the medicines correctly. It is also a very simple operation to replace the contents of a vial with something else. You have no guarantee at all if you choose to buy from a scammer, no matter how convincing they sound.

The post Covid Patients in India Warned About Scammers Selling Fake Medicines and Cures appeared first on Medika Life.

A very relevant GcMAF history

GcMAF first sprang to internet notoriety in 2015, with an alternate health and conspiracy publication, Natural News, claiming the following.

A particular cure named GcMAF (short for “Gc protein-derived macrophage activating factor,” which is a chemically altered form of a natural protein that allegedly stimulates the activity of a specific kind of white blood cell) “has the potential to be a universal cure for cancer”

It didn’t take long for GcMAF to attain messianic status in the world of online hocus pocus and make-believe medical cures. Natural News continued in the same article;

“[GcMAF] is also believed,” the web site reported, “to be capable of treating and reversing autism, HIV, liver/kidney disease and diabetes.” Rumor has it that GcMAF has the potential to be a cure for even more diseases, such as herpes, as well.”

Despite the numerous research articles published in reputable medical journals (most now retracted) claiming to validate GcMAF as effective in the treatment of cancers, GcMAF does not cure cancer, or for that matter, any other ailment. It was, and possibly still is, a drug for which there is no clear clinical evidence to suggest efficacy for anything. Hints of promise have never translated into actual results.

How it came to be considered by some as the cure-all for cancer, is another tale entirely, and one well worth following. In a 2017 expose by Snopes, ably assisted by the Anticancer Fund (ACF), GcMAF was finally exposed. In the article, its creator and main proponent, Dr. Nobuto Yamamoto. was shown to be guilty of falsifying clinical trials in a concerted decades-long effort to sell the lie of GcMAF.

The seriousness and implications of Yamamoto’s fraud have widespread implications for the medical community, its publications, and the processes it depends on to validate new medicines. It has highlighted how a once-respected member of the medical community can go rogue, using the system’s “fail-safes” against it. The GcMAF saga shouldn’t be forgotten. It serves as a permanent reminder of unaddressed industry loopholes, most of which remain in place.

The result of publishers not removing flawed research results in yet more papers, based on the theories promoted in the original disproven research. Here is a classic example, where two of Yamamoto’s papers on GcMAF have been referenced by researchers, in a recent paper entitled “Potential role of GcMAF in suppressing the severity of COVID-19-induced immune responses: Lesson learned from HIV”.

Two questions to the publications involved. Why have you refused to retract Yamamoto’s erroneous papers and where is the peer review process that would identify the research in the paper referenced above to be flawed? Allowing erroneous and flawed studies to persist endangers the public.

You can find the complete Snopes Article here. Entitled, “How a Retired Scientist’s Questionable ‘Institute’ Convinced the Internet That Cancer Was Cured”, it makes for fascinating reading and we recommend it as a case study in professionally perpetrated pharmaceutical deception. Yamamoto had enjoyed a long and distinguished career till GcMAF, making the motivation for the fraud that much harder to determine, and experts remain divided on his true motivation.

In November of 2009, Yamamoto successfully sold his patents for GcMAF and related intellectual property to an Israeli biopharmaceutical company, Efranat Macrophage. The company, after initially embracing Yamamoto, gradually distanced itself from him, rebranding GcMAF as EFF-022 and going as far as changing the drug’s name mid-trial.

While the medical community gradually turned their backs on GcMAF, the alternate health and conspiracy sections of the internet were far from done with their new darling, having seen the marketing and sales potential for this new “miracle” cure.

From fake medicine to alternate health cure-all

Enter David Noakes, UK founder of Immuno Biotech Ltd, and Dr. Jefferey Broadstreet. In November of 2018 Noakes, was sentenced to 15 months in prison by a UK court over charges of manufacturing, selling, and supplying an unlicensed medicine, as well as money laundering. He was arrested again in London in 2020 for extradition to France.

The unlicensed medicine, Globulin component Macrophage Activating Factor (GcMAF), a product manufactured from human blood, was advertised as a cure for conditions, such as cancer, HIV, and autism. Between the years of 2012 and 2015, it has been estimated that Noakes made approximately £10 million through sales of GcMAF. It was sold online, through websites across Europe.

Jeffrey Bradstreet, a controversial American doctor involved with Noakes’ Immuno Biotech. had previously published a number of papers suggesting that GcMAF could “cure” children with autism, and his suicide following a raid on that company and his own clinic spawned conspiracy theories about the government’s and Big Pharma’s merciless goal to hide a cure for cancer.

The raid on Immuno Biotech’s production facility that preceded Bradstreet’s death revealed that materials used in their production of their GcMAF (i.e., blood plasma) were explicitly labeled that they not be administered to humans or used in the production of drugs.

Japan also got in on the act. Today, the company, Saisei-Mirai is still at it, rebranding GcMAF as MAF, they now sell the product as a cure-all and have highlighted Covid-19 as one of the diseases MAF can cure or treat.

Saisai-Mirai created and patented what they call “second-generation GcMAF,” announcing the therapy in a misleading advertisement in the journal Nature Outlooks that was formatted to look like a peer-reviewed study (and has been cited as such). There is no clinical evidence to support any of the claims made by the company or any other company that still sells the product.

Saisai-Mirai also sells its GcMAF concoction from another site, Heart Products Online Pharmacy, and competition to sell GcMAF is so aggressive within the alternate health industry that it has gone to pains on its site to discredit a competitor, gcmafplus (see below) by posting the following ironic warning.

-FAKE PRODUCTS WARNING-

3rd Generation GcMAF was developed by Saisei Pharma for which we hold patents. There are fake GcMAF products sold online in Australia by a company which is registered in Hong Kong. Please be aware that 3rd Generation GcMAF products are only produced by Saisei Pharma. Any other products from other companies are fake products.

Rebranded for the alternate health sector

Now widely sold globally as a “supplement” GcMAF evades efforts to remove it from the public space. As a supplement, it escapes strict regulation and with clever marketing that avoids alluding directly to medicinal claims, the product still generates millions in global sales. Every cent of that turnover is provided by desperate, exploited people, willing to risk anything in search of a cure.

Perhaps the most eloquent description of this abusive practice is best left to Alex Kasprak, author of the Snopes articles referenced above;

Aside from the safety issues created by the undervetted promotion of GcMAF by online profiteers, the viral promotion of conspiracy theories suggesting that sinister government or corporate entities are purposely keeping GcMAF from the public means that those who search online for cures for cancer, AIDS, or other ailments in the wake of terrifying diagnoses are likely to find information about GcMAF and led into believing in what is almost assuredly a false ray of hope. That ray of hope would be misleadingly supported by the appearance of legitimate-looking research presented by an institute run from a retired scientist’s home:

The criminal intent that drives these companies continues unabated. The Australian/Hong Kong/US-based GCMAF Plus has turned it into big business, and the very existence of the site, the terminology used for marketing, and the clear intent of selling an unproven treatment for autism and cancer, is a massive indictment of the medical regulation that exists in the aforementioned countries. This company is selling unproven treatments and misleading vulnerable members of the public.

These customer recommendations are plastered across the website’s front page.

Interestingly, in their disclaimer, the website states the following;

Furthermore, users of this product who have children in their home, must take care as they are 100% responsible in ensuring that their child /children do not touch and/or eat the product. The sellers and/or manufacturers are in no way responsible for any acts of children under or outside of their parent’s care.

The potential diseases the website highlights for treatment are mind-blowing and how this does not put off any potential customer defies reason.

According to their website, the company resides in Hong Kong (Neich Tower, Gloucester Rd. Hong Kong) and their products are manufactured and delivered from inside Australia. Medika has reached out to the two accreditation companies’ certificates shown in the footer of the website to enquire as to their validity and the companies’ motivation for issuing them.

No address other than a US /care-of address, PO Box 639, Kirkland, WA 98083–0639, WHOIS privacy, is shown on the site and Medika had contacted the company for further details.

Medika intends to register formal complaints with Paypal, the website’s payment processor, and licensing and regulatory authorities in the countries in which this website operates and sells, starting with the US FDA and DOJ. Consider yourself warned. Shut down your business now. Your unethical, sickening marketing tactics and exploitation of sick and vulnerable members of the community are at an end.

Interestingly, our research for the originating company behind this website led us to https://akesisoncology.com/, otherwise known as Akesis Life, another alternative medical scam run out of Thailand, offering a variety of unproven cancer treatments, including GcMAF. Medika was unable to establish if the two companies are indeed linked. Suffice it to say, if you suffering from cancer, save yourself money and heartache and don’t book a trip to Thailand.

GcMAF is still freely available on the internet and can even be ordered off Amazon, proof of the power and manipulation of discredited research by unethical agents from the alt-health sector. It also speaks volumes to the desperation of people suffering from cancer, autism, and the whole spectrum of diseases the drug claims to treat. GcMAF has been banned across Europe, but can still be ordered from foreign websites.

Covid and GcMAF

Finally, adding another disease to its long list of magical properties, GcMAF sellers have focused on Covid-19 and although it may have bolstered sales, this “addition” may also lead to a much-deserved death knell for the drug.

Much of the Covid-19 related research is based on Yamamoto’s older GcMAF studies, rigorously proven to now be flawed, and yet these studies still persist in certain publications, that have patently refused to retract, notably Translational Oncology and AIDS Research & Human Retroviruses. The dangers of their dogged refusal are clear and the consequences have now been made glaringly obvious. Mistakes compound further mistakes and in medicine, this can be deadly.

GcMAF is not a magic bullet and does not offer relief, treat or cure Covid-19 symptoms or the disease itself. There is zero clinical evidence to support any claims and any substantive papers published are theoretical and use the original flawed materials and papers as reference.

It is very worrying that Medika authors, with no pharmacological training, can identify these issues and yet they seem to elude publications like Elsevier. Again, proper, sufficiently educated independent peer review is glaringly absent and if we are to rely on these publications for authenticity, they need to be fit for purpose.

Is it dangerous?

The risk for reaction exists with the use of any drug. Although the drug has not been shown to exhibit serious side effects within certain dosages, you may as well be drinking water. To repeat, in case you hadn’t gotten the message by now, the drug does none of what it claims.

Additionally, unscrupulous manufacturers will cut costs any way they can, using ingredients in their formulations that aren’t approved for human consumption. You have zero guarantees of ingredient purity as supplements are very loosely regulated and this results in a free-for-all. In fact, you’ve no idea at all what is put into the bottle of cream, lotion, tablet, or extract you are sold. Why would you choose to trust these companies?

If you’ve been taken in by the GcMAF scam, please don’t feel bad. Many medical and scientific people were conned and some still haven’t seen the light. Always check with a registered medical healthcare provider before you start using any alternate medication or supplements and if you have doubts, check online. There are numerous companies like Medika Life that highlight dangerous practices and products.

The post GcMAF, a Cancer Cure Con That Just Refuses to Die, Returns to Cure Covid appeared first on Medika Life.

“This stuff works. myoleander.com #COVID19” . . . See opportunities for #botanical to not only treat #COVID19 but to also prevent #SARSCoV2 #infection” — Tweet from Phoenix Biotechnology

This is the story of how a pharma company has milked a practically useless compound for the last 20 years, misleading its investors and offering the public hopes of miracle cures for everything from Alzheimer’s, to cancers and Covid. In July of 2020, they made the ultimate play, approaching the White House in the hopes President Trump could be sold another version of hydroxychloroquine to treat covid patients. They failed. Here then, the tale of Phoenix Biotechnology and their wonder drug, Oleander 4x.

What do you do when your star new product, Oleander 4X, and the wild claims you’ve made around its efficacy gets flagged by the FDA? How do you respond to an official warning letter from the FDA listing and condemning your fake claims and misleading marketing practices? You do what Avila Herbals and Phoenix Biotechnology have done. 

You register the product for yet more clinical trials with the National Institute of Health, of course. Anything to keep up appearances and buy a few more months of sales, or if you’re a pharma company, extend the opportunity for further investment.

Trials that are funded by you (Phoenix Biotechechnology), controlled by you and will run under the auspices of medical experts you employ. No reason at all to treat the results of any data produced as highly suspect. Worth mentioning is that the current trial (other failed trials are listed below) simply seeks to assess the safety of your product in human use. The same product that you’ve been aggressively peddling as a cure-all for the last few months to any American who’d listen. 

So, much like water, the product, Oleander 4X, will be shown to be safe to drink, or not. Any pharmacological effects aren’t to be studied in this trial and with good reason as, as I will show. 

This is the same product, in essence, that Phoenix submitted(PBI-05204) for trials as a potential cancer treatment in 2016. I would have thought establishing safety in humans (2020 trial) would have come before you started dosing terminal cancer patients in 2016?

There are no existing human trials of your drug that have established safe dosage in humans, are there? In fact, you’re not even certain if there are side effects yet, are you? Hard to tell when your trial volunteers are terminally ill and dosed with a cocktail of serious cancer chemicals. Despite this, you still feel selling and marketing your product as a cure-all is justified. 

Based on what exactly, if you don’t mind me asking? Where is a shred of scientific evidence that Oleander 4X does anything that you claim?

I’ve checked your website and, at best, you insinuate possible treatments you’ve somehow extrapolated from non-referenced and in-vitro studies. I call bullshit. 

I would suggest, in the politest way possible, that your companies, their associated directors, board members, and “medical experts” have in fact been lying for the last 20 years, that you have misled the public in an effort to peddle your snake oil and mislead potential future investors. Your website’s News page reads more like a wish-list of imagined cures in a world where proof of efficacy isn’t required, merely ‘maybe’s’ and ‘looks like’ will suffice. They won’t, and I would suggest your investors to date have been grossly guilty of a serious lack of due diligence or complicity.

Phoenix Biotechnology is guilty of selling fake cures to gullible members of the public. You are peddling an unapproved drug with unproven claims. Claims are not evidence and you are well aware of your product’s continued failures.

Either company is welcome to provide actual data from registered and peer-reviewed studies validating the medical claims you make relating to Oleander 4X (shown below)and I will happily print a full retraction. I have reached out to the registered directors of both companies offering them an opportunity to respond to the above. Remember, representing data in a way meant to intentionally mislead the reader is as good as lying.

The following are medical properties your companies have claimed for Oleander 4X, either on your websites or on social media (accounts now deleted)

• AN ALL-AMERICAN NATURAL COMPOUND TO CONTEND WITH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC[,] A Promising Response to the Coronavirus-2019 Threat[,] Proposing an entirely U.S.-developed, -sourced and -manufactured treatment for “envelope viruses” — including Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) — that can be available in great scale now at a low price-point.
• PBI’s research to date suggests that the extract prevents key viruses from correctly forming their protective “envelope”, rendering the virus progeny non-infective; the virus is then unable to overwhelm the host and its ability to spread itself is severely impaired. In this way, oleandrin may help “flatten the curve” and curtail the pandemic. Due to its efficacy against the viral envelope, it is considered a platform solution with wide-spectrum applicability to address multiple viral pathogens and their mutations” (bold text in original).
• “We are naturally inquisitive scientists, and so we continually experiment with new formulae to develop exciting breakthroughs. When the Guile coronavirus pandemic hit the start of 2020, we knew we couldn’t sit by without investigating possible avenues that might help the world overcome this devastating virus. We’ve partnered with Phoenix Biotechnology to make a homeopathic medicine called Oleander 4X.” Below this appears a button that hyperlinks to the website myoleander.com with the text “Visit Myoleander.com” followed by “We felt that in our farm we could potentially develop something that could help turn the tide against our invisible enemy — and we did just that.” — Source Avilaherbs.com

On Phoenix Biotechnology’s social media website https://twitter.com/PhoenixBioInc: (now closed)

• In a November 19, 2020 post, you state: “What we’ve been trying to tell everyone since March. This stuff works. myoleander.com #COVID19” . . . See opportunities for #botanical to not only treat #COVID19 but to also prevent #SARSCoV2 #infection.”
• In an additional September 11, 2020 post, you state: “Thanks @HegKong for the mention. It is truly shocking we still have not received an IND number on something that has proven to be more efficacious than the 53,000+ potential CV19 treatments tested at UTMB. The science is there. The safety is proven.” accompanied by an embedded Tweet dated September 11 stating “New potential natural treatment for COVID-19 derived from the Oleander plant proposed.”

On Avila Herbals’ social media website https://twitter.com/AvilaHerbals:

• In a November 24, 2020 post, you state: “Oleander 4X is a homeopathic remedy for flu-like symptoms. . . . NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE Oleander 4X is an OTC homeopathic . . . myoleander.com”

Claims included in the FDA complaint point to a now-defunct Twitter account https://twitter.com/PhoenixBioInc What happened there? Innocent folk don’t suddenly move their accounts or close them. 

We haven’t yet dealt with Avila Herbals (the growers, manufacturers, and retail arm of Oleander 4X) and I’ll get to them in a minute. First, we need to examine Oleander itself, as a herbal extract and what is actually known about the drug.

Oleander and its known safety profile

Deaths attributed to Olendear are easily found online. This reference lists three as well as exstensive warings related to Oleander or Anvirzel, a brand name associated with drug.

• Death of an adult diabetic man: Due to consumption of oleander leaves.
• Death suspected from daily intramuscular injections: In a 43-year-old cancer patient, who used intramuscular injections of Nerium oleander extract for 2 months.
• Accidental poisoning: In a woman who attempted to self-medicate for thyroid disease.

According to an article in PubMed, the common oleander is one of most poisonous plants that have been shown to contain nondigitalis cardiac glycosides. Oleander is an idiom for plants of the N. oleander L, N. indicum, and, Nerium odorum, species. Common names include soland, lorier bol, rosebay, and rose laurel and kaner. 

The plant also has shown toxicologic importance for accidents when used in folk medicines, when adults unknowingly eat parts of the plant, or food that has come into contact with the plant, such as hot-dog sticks, and in homicides or suicides. 

The cardiac glycosides in oleander produce more gastrointestinal effects than those in digoxin, and the symptoms range from nausea and vomiting to cramping and bloody diarrhea. Also, it causes irritation to the mucosal membranes, resulting in burning around the mouth and increased salivation. Confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, weakness, visual disturbances, and mydriasis are central nervous system manifestations of toxicity.

The most serious side effects of oleander poisoning are cardiac abnormalities, including various ventricular dysrhythmias, tachyarrhythmias, bradycardia, and heart block.

Multiple reliable medical sources stress that Oleander should not be used outside of clinical trials. In addition, they categorically state that Oleander doesn’t have the medical evidence to support any claims for treating the following:

• To treat congestive heart failure
• To treat hepatitis C
• To treat AIDS
• To treat COVID-19

Clinical trials of PBI-05204

A Phase 2 clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology entitled “Clinical trial of novel agent PBI-05204 in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (mPDA)” established thatPBI-05204 was a non-starter for the treatment of mPDA. 

Conclusions: PBI-05204 did not meet its primary endpoint for OS in this study.

A second clinical study, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02329717, was commissioned in 2016 with the following stated objective. ‘Efficacy and Safety Study of PBI-05204 in Patients With Stage IV Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma’. To date, no action has been taken and no patients have been recruited.

Another study in Dallas at SMU in 2019 suggested Oleander was effective against IVT. In a study entitled, The Botanical Glycoside Oleandrin Inhibits Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type-1 Infectivity and Env-Dependent Virological Synapse Formation, the drug was examined for efficacy in-vitro.

This suggestion (suspicious by its very nature) was immediately latched onto by Phoenix and bandied about all over its website and across social media. In-vitro is a world away from reproducing similar results in vivo, as any responsible scientist will tell you.

The Longest Road

Imagine milking a cash cow for 20 years. I am certain it reaches a point where you are simply unable to walk away from it without compromising yourself and your fellow board members. Perhaps that is the position Phoenix Biotech now finds itself in. 

Whatever the reason, they are all intimately aware of their product’s continued failure to prove itself useful at anything. Oleander isn’t going to be recognized as medicine by the FDA in 2020 or in 2030. It simply doesn’t work and if anyone is aware of this, it is Phoenix. It is, after all, their product and no sensible person can refute the mountain of evidence pointing to the drug’s failure.

The business structures attached to Oleander are convoluted and complicated, with offshore companies and layered structures of businesses within businesses. Here for example, is an SEC document from 2011, 20-F SEC Filing, filed by NERIUM BIOTECHNOLOGY INC on 6/28/2011documenting just how convoluted. Nerium Biotechnology manufactures Anvirzel™ which is essentially PBI-05204 or oleander. 

Can you blame the FDA and investors for struggling to keep up? You might argue at this point that all is fair in love, war, and business, and really, where is the harm? That is easily answered. Aside from a clear intent to mislead, Phoenix has tried to actively market their oleander snake-oil as a cure for Covid, based on little else other than a petri dish experiment. 

They have knowlingly tried to sell the public a highly toxic drug, using their web of investors and political influence.

If anyone doubts this is about money, read the Marketwatch report here on Phoneix’s efforts to pitch Oleander to the Whitehouse as a Covid cure. 

Oleandrin, an extract from the highly toxic oleander plant, which was pitched to the president by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in July. It should be noted that Lindell, a Trump supporter, owns a financial stake in Phoenix Biotechnology, which is developing the experimental oleandrin product. And Carson, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is a personal friend of his.

The tweet below from August of this year, highlights Andersons Cooper’s attack on Mike Lindell, accusing him of selling Snakeoil during a CNN interview shortly after.

Enter Avila Herbals

No, I hadnt forgotten about them, just wanted to ensure our long and winding road ended here. So who is Avila Herbals and how do they fit into all this? Why are they featured in the FDA warning letter? Let’s do a little digging, should we?

A visit to the Avila Herbals website will lead you to myoleander.com, run by Avila and referenced in the FDA complaint. You can view their About page here. They go to great lengths to assure you they are FDA registered. Yes, as a manufacturing facility, which coincidentally produces CBD, Avila’s main business and another steadfast favorite of the alternate health sector. A small disclaimer in the footer reminds you that Oleander is not FDA approved.

Homeopathic Products: Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence. Not FDA evaluated.

I’ve highlighted the word “claims” in their disclaimer above. Its a very important word,and one that most choose to ignore. A claim is simply that, a claim. Anyone can make any claim they wish, the claim does not require any basis in fact, something worth while remembering the next time you peruse a product or drug.,

Move over to their storefront on the site and you can purchase Oleander 4X on the product page. There is no mention made of the incredibly toxic side effects of an overdose from Oleander and the risk to life. There is also no mention made of the fact that safe dosage in humans has not been established for their product. The screenshot below from myoleander.com is from their About Oleander page.

Lets examine each of these three statements in turn.

Extracts of Nerium oleander have been studied for decades.

Oleander 4X provides temporary relief of symptoms associated with flu, such as muscle or body aches, headaches, chills and fever, cough, congestion.

Where is the clinical proof for this statement? Studying something in no way suggests a product is safe. This is a misleading statement that is intentionally framed to suggest the product is safe because it has been studied. If it’s been proven safe, why is your company currently engaging in clinical trials with the sole purpose of ascertaining if it’s safe? Surely a responsible and ethical retailer would first ensure safety before recklessly marketing to the public?

Oleander-4X is a whole leaf extract, which has been shown to be safe. Oleander-4X is 100% vegan, and does not contain high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners.

Again, where is your proof of how the product has been shown to be safe? Another intentional effort to mislead the public regarding the safety of a dangerous product.

Extracts of Nerium oleander have been used safely, with minimal side effects in thousands of people in the United States.

Oleander-4X is an all-natural homeopathic drug that can easily be taken sublingually (under the tongue).

Really, thousands you say? Where is the evidence for this statement? Have you contacted these users? Now suddenly you mention minimal side effects? Care to share the real dangers this drug poses with the public. Obviously not if you’re touting it as a cure-all.

Follow the money

In a press release, dated 28 October, Theresa Obiso, CEO of Avila Herbals announced their intention to manufacture Oleander 4X on behalf of Phoenix Biotechnology. According to the press release, Avila has a vested interest to the tune of $4.5 million in Oleander. It’s only natural they would want to see it succeed and establishing it in the alternate health market as a cure-all would be in the companies interest. The release states;

Since Q2 CY2020, Avila Herbals and its partners have invested over $4.5 million dollars into the development and commercialization of these products in the New River Valley of Virginia.

The press release also reiterated Phoenix’s misleading statements regarding Oleander.

To date, Phoenix has identified potent antiviral activity against Ebola and Marburg viruses, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex viruses, HIV and HTLV-1, and SARS-CoV-2.

I would suggest that the timing of this shared venture was hugely influenced by the Covid pandemic and that both companies viewed Oleander 4x as the perfect cash cow. Continued failure to introduce oleander, in its various guises and under different pseudonyms, into the pharmaceutical arena in the US has meant that the only viable market left to exploit is the natural healthcare one. An arena where homeopathy rules supreme and evidence of efficacy is an alien concept.

Has Avila simply fallen foul of Phoenix’s 20-year-old marketing ploys or are they actively engaged in furthering the Oleander fairy tale?

There has been an orchestrated campaign to take Oleander 4X mainstream and it had proven quite successful. This, from an article in the Palm Beach Post, entitled ‘Oleander extract sales rocket after Ben Carson touts it for COVID. But is it safe?’ on the 22nd of November.

“We just launched this product at the end of October, and sales are up over 65,000%,” said Richard Obiso, a doctor of biochemistry who two years ago co-founded the Virginia-based manufacturing company Avila Herbals with his wife, Theresa Obiso, a doctor of microbiology.

Carson later admitted he survived Covid because of proper medical intervention, but that didn’t stop him tweeting initially that Oleander 4x had made him feel ‘much better’. Not surprisingly, he was hospitalized as a consequence of his Covid infection and no doubt, drinking Oleander played a role in that. Our bodies don’t tolerate poisonous materials well, particularly when we are fighting a viral infection. The article continues;

“It is a common misconception to think that plants, being natural, including oleander, may be safer alternatives to pharmaceuticals,” Molina said.

But that hasn’t stopped Palm Beach County-based Carson, who, along with President Donald Trump and My Pillow founder and multi-millionaire Mike Lindell — who is on the board of directors of Avila’s partner company Phoenix Biotechnology — from pushing the idea that oleander extract can help treat or cure COVID-19.

Phonix is starting to run out of options. Their application to the FDA to market Oleandrin as a supplement was declined in September this year. It would appear that even Phoenix is starting to fall foul of its own marketing strategies. Confusion surrounding the different names it has used over the last twenty years no longer simply serves to “baffle with bullshit’, it’s also come home to roost, as the FDA’s response showed.

In a follow-up call with FDA, the agency suggested to Phoenix Biotechnology that the safety data provided in the NDIN failed to meet “formal requirements because it was based upon safety data for PBI-05204, and not based upon a determination of safety for our dietary ingredient when used under the conditions described in the notification (or the package labeling),” according to Matos.

The FDA also pointed to Phoenix’s ridiculous use of a clinical trial on terminal cancer patients to claim product safety.

“Furthermore, studies performed in advanced cancer patients generally cannot establish the safety of your ingredient in its intended population of normal healthy adults, and you did not provide any information to indicate that such extrapolation between different populations would be scientifically valid,” Abdel-Rahman added.

However you choose to package it, and whatever your motivation may be, Oleander 4x remains an untested and dangerous drug that needs to be removed from the public sphere with all haste. 

The post Oleander 4X Snakeoil. The Story Behind a Fake Covid Cure appeared first on Medika Life.

It hasn’t been tested, at least not in meaningful ways that would allow traditional medicine to give it the green light. Additionally, current pressure in the public sphere from groups of Kratom supporters reeks of ulterior motives and their strategies look remarkably similar to those used by the anti-vaccination campaigners. 

So what is the truth? Is the drug a godsend, as users would have you believe? Is it a dangerous narcotic that needs to be banned, or is it perhaps something more important? A medicine, waiting to be formally recognized. I asked a few users from within the Kratom community to share their stories. I’ve received many but wanted to share the two below as they highlight the two different benefits of the drug claimed by its supporters, namely pain relief and release from opioid addiction. 

To be clear, I am not an advocate for Kratom, not as it currently distributed. I do however believe the drug offers a real window of hope to many suffering from chronic pain and it is my firm belief that action needs to be taken to both protect users and to ensure. availability of a clean and safe, clinically trialed product. I’ll discuss the routes to this below. 

Let’s hear from Keith first, a Kratom fan and potentially, a life long devotee. He has been using the product for a while and his story is reflective of many Kratom users. Here. unedited, is his response to my request for information. 

Hi Robert. I am a 48 year old Catholic School Teacher in NYC the last 24 years. Had terrible DDD and didn’t want to use any Rx drugs. Found Kratom in 2011. Got my pain down so much I put a full gym in my house. Down 120lbs. Healthiest I’ve ever been. Kratom has been a God send. I saw what opioids did to my dad and swore never to take them. Found it in a simple Google search and now I’ve been on network news 3x (NBC, CBS, PIX11) and have contributed to many interviews and podcasts. I have to say, your statement that it’s deadly is misleading. Sure, theres some bad apples out there, but I am getting pure, lab tested, cGMP Kratom. Never abused it. I drink 2 cups of tea a day with a few grams of it in each. My entire family (wife is a Doctor. Mom an RN) support Kratom after seeing the amazing results. Energy, focus, motivation…All fantastic. Zero side effects. Zero WD. Have to have a good honest source with labs. I look forward to a productive conversation\debate.

Next up is Kendell. Kendell was addicted to opioids and experienced life threatening symptoms from Tramadol use. This is his experience with Kratom, verbatim from his response. 

I’m responding to your request for kratom input. I can’t speak to other advocates, but me personally, I use kratom for 3 things. TO manage chronic pain from scoliosis, to keep me away from medications of the opioid class, specifically tramadol, and to manage the mild depression that goes along with my tramadol withdrawal. I’ve been using it for a total of a year this december, so I’m new compared to most other kratom users. One of your reporters wrote a very negative article on kratom claiming it to be a legal narcotic that people can buy at gas statations, he’s right, it can be bought at gas stations, but it’s no more a narcotic than coffee is. Others will probably send you good scientific proof of this, so all I can do is share my own personal kratom story. Read here at kratomherald.com/real-life-kr…. We don’t ordinarily respond so passionate to reporters but this article was particularly unpleasant, with a host of assumptions, mainly that all kratom users are drug addicts looking for a legal high or to get around the regulations on opioid pain meds. Kratom is a partial bias gProtein agonist at the mu opioid receptor, so yes it does bind at the same site as opioids, but it binds differently. Most opioids are full agonists, and cause a huge release of dopamine into the nucleus acumbuns, leading to addiction. Kratom’s alkaloids don’t affect this area of the brain, and one of them, mitragynine, reverses the downregulation of opioid receptors caused by chronic opioid use, and also reduces the upregulation of cAmp, cyclic adenasine monophosphate, which happens when you use opioids for a long time. We fight for kratom’s legality because we don’t see any other choice, but we aren’t ordinarily so harsh with reporters unless they treat kratom advocates rather badly, as this one did.

In case you’re wondering about that nasty reporter, guilty as charged. You can read the article he is referring to here. 

That feedback was not what I had expected, given the drug’s bad reputation and FDA advice. It wasn’t the end of it though. My DM’s on Twitter soon filled with similar stories and this has led me to a few conclusions I will share below. First off though, let’s have a closer look at some of those ingredients Kendell was referring to. It’s important, as these alkaloids are at the very heart of the Kratom controversy.

The two primary alkaloids of Kratom that are in contention are Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine. We’ll start by examining each of these ingredients individually.

Mitragynine

According to a ScienceDirect article (reproduced in part below), Kratom is a psychoactive compound (drug) found in the leaves of M. speciosa. It can be consumed in fresh, dried (leaf or powder), or concentrated liquid extract form. The use of M. speciosa as a narcotic is not new; however, the extraction and refinement of the alkaloids from the plant into Kratom is relatively neoteric (new).

This is an important point and lies at the heart of regulation. There is a world of difference between chewing on a leaf and extracting and refining the active ingredients. It is very likely that this practice has led directly to regulation and bans imposed globally (see countries listed below).

A common route of administration is by chewing the fresh leaves at a dosage of normally 10 to 30 leaves per day. Kratom can be ingested as crushed dried leaves by taking the powder, drinking as a tea, or by smoking the leaves or the extract. Mitragynine is the major alkaloid (up to 66% in the extract) in kratom and is the principal compound responsible for analgesic activity due to its potent opioid agonist property

Recently, 7-hydroxymitragynine, a minor constituent (2%) of M. speciosa, was isolated and demonstrated potent antinociceptive activity in mice. It is now considered to be a major contributory factor for the analgesic properties of M. speciosa due to its selectivity for μ- and κ-opioid receptors. The presence of an hydroxyl group at C-7 increases the potency of 7-hydroxymitragynine to be 13- and 46-fold higher than morphine and mitragynine, respectively. This clearly indicates that this is one of the main pharmacological markers of kratom products’ quality and potency.

In addition to analgesic activity, mitragynine is also a key component for the anti-inflammatory properties of kratom by suppressing prostaglandin E2 (PGE-2) production in the cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) pathway [73].

This all sounds very promising but is there a downside, According to the research documents, yes.

Mitragynine has been shown to demonstrate a wide range of adverse effects. Opioid-like adverse effects have been observed and include constipation, dry mouth, and loss of appetite. There have also been reports of patients suffering from intrahepatic cholestasis after two weeks of kratom use and seizure and coma which might result from opioid agonist action of the major components in kratom.

Studies in mice showing serious conditions after administration, for example, elevated blood pressure and hepatic enzymes after a single dose, impaired cognition and behavior from long-term use, and acute lethally hepatotoxic and mild nephrotoxic effects after high dose administration. Kratom extracts and mitragynine have also been shown to possess cytotoxicity to some human cancer cell lines namely SH-SY5Y cells (neuronal cells).

In conclusion, the author cites the following;

A study looking at ‘kratom dependence syndrome’ has suggested that as it is a short-acting μ-opioid receptor agonist, therapeutic agents such as dihydrocodeine and lofexidine are effective in aiding detoxification. Further studies on kratom toxicology and other natural NPS are crucial to understanding the harms associated with this material due to their increasing popularity.

7-Hydroxymitragynine

7-Hydroxymitragynine is a potent opioid analgesic alkaloid isolated from the Thai medicinal herb Mitragyna speciosa. The following is again courtesy of ScienceDirect and the link will take you to the article, parts of which I have highlighted below.

In clinical studies conducted on mice, Subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of 7-hydroxymitragynine produced a potent antinociceptive effect mainly through activation of μ-opioid receptors. Tolerance to the antinociceptive effect of 7-hydroxymitragynine developed as occurs to morphine. Cross-tolerance to morphine was evident in mice rendered tolerant to 7-hydroxymitragynine and vice versa. Naloxone-induced withdrawal signs were elicited equally in mice chronically treated with 7-hydroxymitragynine or morphine.

7-Hydroxymitragynine exhibited a potent antinociceptive effect based on activation of μ-opioid receptors and its morphine-like pharmacological character, but 7-hydroxymitragynine is structurally different from morphine. These interesting characters of 7-hydroxymitragynine promote further investigation of it as a novel lead compound for opioid studies.

Important research by a mouse does not a man maketh. How these ingredients react in humans still needs to be established and clinical trials are already underway, but are very limited and have no doubt been affected by the Covid pandemic. 

The Alkaloid Takeaway

Clearly, we are dealing with two very promising and potentially lethal (If abused) compounds here, a fact which has no doubt prompted the countries listed below to act against Kratom. Remember the extract comment earlier. We aren’t simply dealing with a leaf you chew anymore. We’ve now extracted the useful bits in concentrations that are untried and untested. These are potent concentrates in quantities previously not available through simply chewing a leaf. 

Further study is definitely warranted, given the initial research and user feedback, but this raises a particularly interesting question, one which should be at the forefront of most people’s minds.

Where is big pharma? Why do they apparently express very little interest in the plant or its compounds? Make no mistake, combatting pain is big money. The only market more lucrative, and arguably one they have created themselves, is dealing with opioid addiction, one of the biggest challenges American healthcare faces in the coming decade. There are two possible answers to this question.

The first is simply this. They may have already evaluated the compounds and not seen the financial viability in further development, given the clinical risk profile associated with (perhaps unfairly so) both ingredients. The second is that they may simply view any opioid-related products as tainted, given their current market saturation and the associated negative press surrounding opioids. Simply put, if the drug works, pharma is all over it.

The conspiratorialist that lives on my shoulder would also like to raise a third possible scenario. Existing treatments for opioid addiction, developed at huge cost and generating massive income for big Pharma may have seriously affected decisions to explore a cheaper alternative. Pharmaceutical companies don’t down-sell. It is simply not in their makeup. 

Next, let’s examine global regulation and then look at the nutrition and health sectors’ role in Kratom distribution in the US.

Global Regulation and Bans

This is a definitive list of countries across the globe that have either ruled Kratom to be a regulated medicinal drug (available from your doctor on prescription) or classified it along with other illegal substances, such as heroin and cocaine, meaning possession of the drug is illegal. The information below was sourced from this webpage.

European countries

Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom,

Worldwide

Ironically, Indonesia. It is the world’s largest producer of Kratom but use and possession are illegal. Shipping it off to users globally is however encouraged. China and Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Middle East (all countries), Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, and Argentina all regulate Kratom. 

USA (States)

Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Vermont, and Wisconsin have called for a ban on sales. It’s is freely available in most other States or can be ordered online. 

That makes a total of 45 countries (excluding American states) globally that either ban or regulate Kratom as medicine or a controlled substance. Many of these countries have only recently (within the last decade) applied bans or stricter regulation, indicating a growing awareness globally of the dangers of Kratom’s two psychotropic substances in unregulated use. The fact the plant is now sold as an extract has undoubtedly also impacted this decision-making process. 

The Business Side of Kratom

In 2016, Kratom exports from the region of West Kalimantan, Indonesia conservatively reached $130 million in annual profits. Most of these exports were to the USA and in the subsequent years till 2020, profits and volumes have risen annually, but not for much longer. 

A law was passed in late 2019 in Indonesia banning the further production of Kratom. Farmers have been given a five-year “window of grace” to switch over to another crop, but you can be sure production will be ramped up in that period. Make hay will the sun shines. 

The world will soon be facing a Kratom supply problem. This is great news for countries with the right climate and lax legislation. As shrinking demand drives up Kratom prices, the supply chain will be rubbing its hands in glee, in anticipation of the financial windfall to follow. To sell your product though, you require a legal marketplace to peddle your wares, and America’s lax regulatory system allows the perfect climate for exploitation.

To clarify, Kratom is currently sold and marketed by the natural products sector. A sector Medika views as a real danger to public health. These are the same companies and individuals that encourage the sale of Covid cures, bleach-based treatments and that make a plethora of ridiculous claims about the products they sell. 

They are unscrupulous, driven by profit, and a complete lack of ethical responsibility to the users who buy their snake oils. They are also largely unregulated. 

If anything, every effort should be made to ensure Kratom distances itself from this market. The accompanying reputation of dishonesty and deception the natural products market brings with it will do nothing to further Kratoms case to be recognized as a real medicine with legitimate benefits. 

Enter the AKA (American Kratom Association). This not for profit is essentially a group of lobbyists petitioning anyone and everyone for the right to legally choose to use Kratom. Their pitch is essentially this. Fund us and we will ensure that you retain the right to have access to your drug. 

Again I take issue with the tactics being employed by the AKA. Confusing freedom of choice and the safety of the patient is misleading and a clear effort at diversion. Diversion from what though? Could the AKA simply be a tool of the natural products industry to secure future sales? This is simply my suspicious nature at this point smelling smoke, but further investigation is, in my opinion, warranted. If I am wrong, I’ll be the first to hold up my hands.

There are supposedly over 25 million Americans who currently use Kratom if the figures the AKA give out are to be seen as reliable. This figure is an indicator of the size of the market in America and any product with this potential reach is worth its weight in gold to the retailers selling it. 

The looming issue around supply will only serve to drive up prices and poses a further potential risk. The development of synthetic versions of the two key ingredients to ensure availability and dilution of existing formulations to stretch existing stock. 

As there is currently a lack of regulation there is little to stop manufacturers from lacing or watering down formulations with a myriad of potentially life-threatening cocktails. That’s 25 million potential fatalities waiting for us, not so far down the road. 

The AKA’s efforts to ensure self-regulation and quality control, impossible and unenforceable within the natural health sector, in my opinion, may simply be an attempt to avoid regulation from a higher authority. Yeah, I know. Cynical, but sadly a very real possibility. 

I intend to reach out to the AKA to discuss these issues in more depth in a later article. 

What’s the Value of the Kratom Industry in the US 

Great question, but I am not certain anyone has reliable figures. How could they? Product quality differs wildly as does presentation. Kratom takes the form of anything from vapes to powders, teas, and tablets, and with a user who requires the product on a daily basis in varying strengths, the numbers are huge. 

The actual active ingredients or alkaloids in the product are often not measured or represented correctly and as there is no testing of products made available to the public, it’s pretty much a question of going on what the label says. Labels sadly are often misleading. Particularly when you’re dealing with the unregulated natural products industry. Fancy packaging isn’t an indicator of quality or content. No matter what the marketing blurb says. 

Protecting current users

If there are in fact 25 million Americans using Kratom then the issue truly is pressing. Finding a way forward that protects both the users and assures them continued access to Kratom matters. Particularly to those individuals that rely on Kratom to combat chronic pain. 

Banning the drug is short-sighted and counterproductive to its acceptance as medicine if that is where it truly belongs and mounting evidence suggests that to be the case. 

Make a claim, substantiated or not, relating to the use of Kratom and its ability to relieve pain or assist users to kick an opioid addiction and you’ve just moved the product into the realm of medicine. Let’s be completely clear about this point. There is no getting around it. Kratom is a medicine that hasn’t as yet been labeled as such. 

You can dress it up any way you like, it will always come back to this one simple fact. What Kratom purports to do and what you claim as users, makes Kratom a medical drug, a medicine. 

If it’s to be sold OTC or under the supervision of licensed doctors remains to be seen. My gut feel tells me that it is going to require medical supervision, particularly for patients looking to escape the vicious cycle of opioid addiction. 

Dosing and safe levels need to be established. Interactions with other medications need to be listed and monitored. Long-term usage brings its own risks and with it, the need to monitor for symptoms that would indicate problems. For all of the above, you require the hand of a trained medical professional. Not an online Quack with a degree in bullshit and shelves of herbal products waiting to be sold.. 

These individuals are neither properly trained nor do they have the best interests of the patient at heart. Admittedly, neither does every doctor, and it is the duty of the patient to recognize poor care and seek an alternate care provider. 

How do we get Kratom reclassified?

Human trials are an essential part of any medication’s journey to acceptance by the FDA. There aren’t any short cuts. Not unless your name is Covid and you’re threatening the globe. Kratom may be controversial but it’s definitely not in that league so it’s going to be subject to lengthy scrutiny. 

What may very well benefit the drug is its widespread usage in the US. We have, in effect, got real live clinical trials underway and some of these subjects have years of exposure to the product in varying degrees. 

The whole scope of usage is covered. From the occasional mild dose to daily cocktails that would send an elephant into a coma, we have data at our fingertips. Data that could easily be harvested and would reveal the drug’s true risk profile. 

Additionally, testing of users for blood toxicity and related safety concerns centered around the liver and high blood pressure would be easy to determine. As would dependency. 

It is our intention, through our MOBILIZE Health platform to enable a start to the collection of this data. We will, over the coming days, reach out to research groups involved currently in assessing Kratom’s alkaloids. 

Hopefully, harvesting data, data which current users are all too keen to share, will help this novel drug find a safe path onto the shelves of pharmacies across the country. 

In doing so, this will also ensure the safety of current and future generations of Kratom users. Feel free to register a free account and add your comments below to join in the conversation. We value your opinions.

The post Kratom, the Undiluted Truth. Is it a Dangerous Drug or a Godsend? appeared first on Medika Life.

Heel Inc. are unscrupulous and ruthless in their exploitation of gullible and desperate members of the public and people seeking real solutions for often terminal conditions. In the late ’80s, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that Heel Inc. (then called BHI) was one of the most flagrant law violators among homeopathic marketers and they banned further imports of their products into the USA. You can read their full history in this very detailed post on their company and business practises.

 In 1997, the Albuquerque company was renamed Heel Inc, which now manufactures and distributes both BHI products and Heel products. Heel products are primarily marketed to practitioners, whereas BHI products are primarily marketed to consumers. The company also prints and produces possibly the most misleadingly titled publication in the history of health publishing, ‘ Journal of Biomedical Therapy’.

The company enjoys large sales in India, an area known for its fondness of alternate medicines and ‘cure-alls’. Heel’s most recent marketing success under their Dr Reckeweg brand (the companies founder) has been India’s embrace of one of their products for the treatment of Covid-19. The product is Dr. Reckeweg Arsenic Alb-30. So successful has their campaign been, that some Indian provinces have even approved its use.

The product is diluted arsenic, commonly used in homeopathic circles for the treatment of digestive disorders and other conditions. If you doubt the dangers of this product, read this clinical study on the effects of arsenic from homeopathic treatments. The image below is from a company that markets Heel Inc’s brand in India.

It may seem shocking to some people that Arsenic would be considered a treatment for Covid, but don’t forget that recently, and evidence suggests the practice continues, Americans were ingesting MMS (Bleach) for preventing Covid. Heel’s catalog of products is massive, over 1000 different lines, and their marketing is targetted, deceptive and highly effective. They have seen the space in the market provided by the homeopathic quacks and have moved in with the intent of dominating it.

Heel Inc. and the FDA

In January 2005, the FDA ordered Heel Inc. to stop making illegal claims for five products claimed to be effective in preventing or treating influenza. In 2010, the FDA and FTC jointly ordered Homeopathy for Health, of Moses Lake, Washington, to stop claiming that BHI Bronchitis, BHI Bronchitis for Children, BHI Flu Plus with Influenzinum, and Heel Gallium Heel were an effective anti-viral for respiratory flu, such as the then-current swine flu. The FDA also placed these products on its Fraudulent Products List.

Numerous prior actions, product import seizures and warnings were issued to Heel Inc. prior to this by the FDA, many of which can still be accessed online. In 2014, Heel announced that it would stop marketing within the United States and Canada after August 31, 2014. Its press release attributed the decision to two class-action suits that has caused a “substantial financial burden.” You can read the full details of these actions here.

In truth, Heel was bought out in 2014 by MediNatura Inc. (another US-based company), and the products were simply routed through this business. A visit to Medinatura’s web site shows three featured products on their front page, advertised as fighting, guess what? Cold and Flu symptoms.

Heel in Germany

You know you’ve been around awhile when the street your business is located in is named after the person who founded the company. Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH (Heel) is situated in Dr. Reckeweg-Straße in Baden-Baden. Its an institution in Germany and it speaks volumes to the marketing drive and market penetration of the company. The companies growth has also been ably abetted by Europe’s more lenient approach to homeopathy.

How does Heel feel about their products being marketed as Covid cures? They are delighted, I’m sure. Restricted by legislation in Europe and the USA with regards to claims they can make about the quackery they sell, India and Asian markets are ripe for exploitation. These markets are more loosely regulated, the customer is more susceptible to pseudoscience and less likely to sue if he meets an unfortunate end swallowing arsenic. What’s not to love?

If you can knowingly sell fake hope to terminal cancer patients and other seriously ill people, then a little cure for Covid isn’t even going to register on the ethics scale.

For those on the fence, there is absolutely no scientific proof of the value of homeopathic treatments and they most certainly cannot cure Covid or any of the other dizzying array of conditions claimed by their quack resellers. If you are ill, seek qualified medical advice from a certified medical doctor or healthcare provider.

The post Heel Inc. (Dr.Reckeweg): Homeopathy, Quacks and Covid Cures appeared first on Medika Life.

If you would like your local retailers to stop selling this drug to your children and other vulnerable members of the community, there is a link at the end of this article to report the drug and actions you can take to have the product removed from shelves.

What is Kratom?

According to a very detailed analysis of the plant on Wikipedia, Mitragyna speciosa (commonly known as kratom) is a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. It is indigenous to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, where it has been used in herbal medicine since at least the nineteenth century. Kratom has opioid properties and some stimulant-like effects.

As of 2018, the efficacy and safety of kratom are unclear, and the drug was unapproved as a therapeutic agent due to the poor quality of the research. FDA and other investigations suggest that any applications for licensing would fail, based on the drug’s current safety profile and reported interactions with other medications and substances, reactions that are often fatal.

In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that there is no evidence that kratom is safe or effective for treating any condition. Some people take it for managing chronic pain, for treating opioid withdrawal symptoms (no shred of clinical evidence exists to support this), as a herbal cure-all sold on various websites as a treatment for pretty much everything, from the common cold to cancers, or for recreational purposes.

The onset of effects typically begins within five to ten minutes and lasts for two to five hours. It’s worth noting that most opioid users end up taking both opioids and Kratom (or cycling), clear evidence that Kratom is useless as a treatment against opioid addiction.

Common and more serious side effects include;

• nausea
• itching
• sweating
• dry mouth
• constipation
• increased urination
• loss of appetite
• seizures
• hallucinations
• respiratory depression (decreased breathing),
• seizure
• addiction
• psychosis

Other serious side effects may include high heart rate and blood pressure, trouble sleeping, and, rarely, liver toxicity. When use is stopped, withdrawal symptoms often occur. Deaths have occurred with kratom both by itself and mixed with other substances. Serious toxicity is relatively rare and generally appears at high doses or when kratom is used with other substances.

Kratom is a controlled substance in 16 countries and, in 2014, the FDA banned importing and manufacturing of kratom as a dietary supplement. As of 2018, there is growing international concern about a possible threat to public health from kratom use. In some jurisdictions, its sale and importation have been restricted, and several public health authorities have raised alerts.

The real danger posed by Kratom

Availability is a key problem. Your child can stop in to shop at a gas station and buy the product off the shelf. A fact verified today by my colleague in Texas. It also doesn’t show up on regular drug tests, so many deaths associated with Kratom go unlisted.

If in some weird alternate universe Kratom is shown to possess any real medical benefits (none have been discovered or scientifically validated as yet) it would still require a lengthy regulation process for certification by the FDA. This process exists to protect consumers against products exactly like Kratom. In 2013, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued a warning about Kratom, stating that there was no proven medical use for the drug.

To be 100% clear on this. Kratom is considered highly dangerous by the FDA and many other countries’ drug licensing authorities. It can lead to death, dependency, and a host of other nasty conditions. It is a psychedelic, so please don’t feed me bullshit about pain management. Get stoned enough and your pain tends to magically evaporate for the duration of the high. The effects reduce with each usage, leading to increased dosages and almost guaranteed addition.

Kratom also won’t cure any diseases or conditions, no matter what the quacks and con-artists selling Kratom promise you.

New drugs often enjoy a honeymoon period with the public, a window where they can be freely distributed simply because legislation has not yet been enforced to protect the public. Cocaine was legally sold across the counter not so many years ago. The system isn’t perfect and it is slow to react. Sadly, death and addition are an all too common byproduct of this window.

There is a reason doctors don’t (or shouldn’t) keep their patients permanently stoned up the yazoo and there is a reason America has a MASSIVE problem with opioid addiction. Psychotropic and psychedelic drugs aren’t the answer for management of chronic pain. In fact, they aren’t a medical solution for just about anything.

If you’re a late-stage cancer patient or other, bedridden and on death’s door, that is a different issue. Don’t confuse chronic pain with end of life scenarios.

On overdose and related interactions

There have been multiple reports of deaths in people who had ingested kratom, but most have involved other substances. A 2019 paper analyzing data from the National Poison Data System found that between 2011–2017 there were 11 deaths associated with kratom exposure. Nine of the 11 deaths reported in this study involved kratom plus other drugs and medicines, such as diphenhydramine (an antihistamine), alcohol, caffeine, benzodiazepines, fentanyl, and cocaine. Two deaths were reported following exposure from kratom alone with no other reported substances.

In 2017, the FDA identified at least 44 deaths related to kratom, with at least one case investigated as possible use of pure kratom. The FDA reports note that many of the kratom-associated deaths appeared to have resulted from adulterated products or taking kratom with other potent substances, including illicit drugs, opioids, benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, and over-the-counter medications, such as cough syrup.

Also, there have been some reports of kratom packaged as dietary supplements or dietary ingredients that were laced with other compounds that caused deaths. The FDA also seized various Kratom products that were contaminated with Salmonella. Still think your local retailer should be selling this?

Figures above provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse

The FDA and Kratom in the US

According to a 2019 statement on the FDA website the FDA stated the following regarding Kratom.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use Mitragyna speciosa, commonly known as kratom, a plant which grows naturally in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. FDA is concerned that kratom, which affects the same opioid brain receptors as morphine, appears to have properties that expose users to the risks of addiction, abuse, and dependence.

There are no FDA-approved uses for kratom, and the agency has received concerning reports about the safety of kratom. FDA is actively evaluating all available scientific information on this issue and continues to warn consumers not to use any products labeled as containing the botanical substance kratom or its psychoactive compounds, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. FDA encourages more research to better understand kratom’s safety profile, including the use of kratom combined with other drugs.

To date, they have taken the following actions against the product’s import into the US.

• In September 2014, U.S. Marshals, at the FDA’s request, seized more than 25,000 pounds of raw kratom material worth more than $5 million from Rosefield Management, Inc. in Van Nuys, California.
• In January 2016, U.S. Marshals, at the FDA’s request, seized nearly 90,000 bottles of dietary supplements labeled as containing kratom and worth more than $400,000. The product, manufactured for and held by Dordoniz Natural Products LLC, located in South Beloit, Illinois, is marketed under the brand name RelaKzpro.
• In August 2016, U.S. Marshals, at the FDA’s request, seized more than 100 cases of products labeled as containing kratom and worth more than $150,000. The products are distributed by Nature Therapeutics LLC, which does business as Kratom Therapy and is located in Grover Beach, California. The seized products are marketed under the brand name Kratom Therapy.

The FDA has issued warnings to companies. The companies receiving warning letters use websites and social media to illegally market kratom products, making unproven claims about the ability of the kratom drug products they distribute to cure, treat, or prevent disease. Examples of claims being made by these companies include:

• “Kratom acts as a μ-opioid receptor-like morphine.”
• “In fact many people use kratom to overcome opiate addiction.”
• “Of course, people who are using kratom to overcome a preexisting opiate addiction may need to use kratom daily to avoid opiate withdrawal.”
• “Usage: It is for the management of chronic pain, as well as recreationally.”
• “Kratom is frequently used as a natural alternative to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, diabetes, chronic pain and fatigue…Kratom has been reported to have taken the place of brand name drugs like Hydrocodone or Oxycodone for individuals, all the way to weaning people off of Heroin.”
• “Some researchers have even claimed that kratom can protect you against cancer!”
• “Kratom is used for energy, to increase attention/focus, to relax, and also to treat pain and addiction. Here is just some of what our customers have used kratom to treat . . . Chronic Pain, Migraines, Opiate Addiction, ADHD/ADD, Anxiety, Depression, Arthritis, Insomnia, and much more!”

Health fraud scams like these can pose serious health risks. These products have not been demonstrated to be safe or effective for any use and may keep some patients from seeking appropriate, FDA-approved therapies. Selling these unapproved products with claims that they can treat opioid addiction and withdrawal and other serious medical conditions is a violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

There are a lot of advisories issued by the FDA on this drug, you can find an extensive list in the footer of the article linked to above.

Reporting This Drug

You can use this link provided by Medwatch to report the drug and any adverse interactions you, or someone you know, may experience.

MedWatch Online Voluntary Reporting Form

What can you do about retailers making these products freely available in your town or city? If they are large chains, reach out with a formal letter to their head office, notifying them of the dangers of Kratom, and copy in your local government and press. For smaller private retailers, try dropping off or sharing information on the dangers of the product and if they show disregard for your children’s safety and others within their community, consider boycotting the stores.

The post Kratom is an Unregulated Addictive Drug That Kills appeared first on Medika Life.

In fact, much to my surprise after spending days online hunting down these quacks and charlatans for our Medika Quack Scale, I discovered that the FDA has a list on an obscure page of all the businesses, companies, and individuals they’ve sanctioned over fake Covid-19 claims. in 2020. All 139 of them.

If you are in any doubt, and you should be, about any claims made by an individual relating to a product’s ability to boost your immune system against Covid or to directly combat the virus, have a quick look through the listed products on the FDA page. Keep in mind, if these individuals or companies have lied to you about these products, all their other claims and products should also be viewed as suspect.

FDA Page: Fraudulent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Products.

Additional COVID-19 related warning letters can be found on the Agency’s Internet Pharmacy Warning Letters webpage. According to the page;

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is issuing warning letters to firms for selling fraudulent products with claims to prevent, treat, mitigate, diagnose or cure coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We are actively monitoring for any firms marketing products with fraudulent COVID-19 prevention and treatment claims. The FDA is exercising its authority to protect consumers from firms selling unapproved products and making false or misleading claims, including, by pursuing warning letters, seizures, injunctions or criminal prosecutions against products and firms or individuals that violate the law.

You can also report any products or website by visiting this FDA page. Always educate yourself on a product or treatment, particularly vitamin and homeopathic – natural products that make claims. The internet provides a number of resources and you should always seek out information from recognized medical websites.

Medika is building a list of untrustworthy retailers that profit from selling snake oil, fake cures, and making fictitious claims about their products. You can view our Rotten Retailers List by following the link. The video below explains the FDA approach to health fraud.

There is also another fantastic resource on the FDA site that lists loads of links and offers advice and breaking news on how the FDA is dealing with health fraud. Visit the page here

The post Fraudulent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Products appeared first on Medika Life.

The almost unimaginable tragedy of his young life is repeated daily, in secret, in towns and cities across America, and other countries, by parents with autistic children. They are attempting to cure an incurable condition with a treatment protocol that is both illegal and ineffective and that has led to the death of many children. They have been spurred to this point by unscrupulous and disavowed doctors like Roby Mitchell and self-appointed “Health Experts” like Kerri Rivera.

Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), as one of the bleach “treatments” is more popularly known, is actively traded by sellers with prime promotional space on Facebook and other social media. For years, they have sold and promoted their products on public Facebook pages, in advertisements, and in private social media “support groups” as well as YouTube channels. They also enjoy cross-promotion with others such as Joseph Mercola’s “Natural News” website. We have stood by and blissfully ignored the problem, and to a large degree, still do.

The horrible fate these innocent children suffer is inseparably linked with bleach.

The story of Bleach

We all use it, or should, to clean our drains, our toilets and as a general disinfectant around the house. It is a brilliant product and used correctly, dramatically decreases germs and bacteria mellowing out in hard to reach places in your house. It is even effective against Covid-19 on household surfaces and is considered “food safe”, meaning it is suitable to use on surfaces where food is prepared. Every single bottle produced commercially bears the following symbol or their countries equivalent.

It’s a universally recognized sign that even children understand. It shouts “POISONOUS”, don’t drink or ingest, and yet, for some reason, where bleach and its associated byproducts are concerned, the symbol doesn’t discourage idiots and desperate individuals from ignoring the clear signs of danger. They ingest bleach and Chlorine Dioxide or feed it to their children.

This article will seek to expose the lies behind the poison that is promoted as medicine by quacks and self-declared health experts. To understand how we could possibly have arrived at this point it is necessary to first examine the checkered history of this product.

Understanding Bleach and Chlorine

Bleach, or more accurately, Chlorine bleach is “chlorine to go,” providing a convenient vehicle for delivering the germ-busting power of chlorine chemistry. Chemically speaking, chlorine bleach is a water solution of sodium hypochlorite.

Common household laundry bleach, used to whiten and disinfect laundry, is typically either 5.25 percent (“regular strength”) or 6 percent sodium hypochlorite (“ultra-strength”). As a surface disinfectant, chlorine bleach is approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for use in safe food production. It is also used to help prevent the spread of infections in homes, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and daycare facilities.

Chlorine bleach is made by mixing chlorine and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), in a kind of reversal of the chlor-alkali process. Household bleach is actually a mixture of chemicals, Its main constituent is a solution of ~3-6% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), which is mixed with small amounts of sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and calcium hypochlorite.

Roughly four percent of North American chlorine is used for water treatment—a pervasive use that helps protect the public from serious waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid fever. Similarly, a very small percentage of chlorine produced is used to help manufacture over 93 percent of pharmaceuticals sold in the U.S. These include medicines that help patients manage heart and respiratory disease, ulcers, anemia, and depression.

A small percentage of the chlorine manufactured in the US is utilized to make chlorine bleach. The U.S. EPA recognizes the use of Chorine Bleach as a safe means to purify contaminated water. Regular, unscented household bleach can be used to disinfect water. The procedure to be followed is usually written on the label. If not, find the percentage of available chlorine on the label and use the information in the following table and mixing directions from the U.S. EPA as a guide.

Your normal drinking and tap water already contains chlorine. It should be stressed that the above household purification of water is for emergency purposes and only in instances where your water source has been contaminated. Continued consumption over a long period of water treated at the levels indicated above will affect your health.

The EPA is perhaps at fault at not crossing all the their T’s and dotting their I’s. In fairness to them, no one could have foreseen how this product would be hijacked by the alternate health fringe.

What is Chlorine Dioxide?

Now we know how bleach is made, let’s look at the real problem, labeled as Chlorine Dioxide.

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is a chemical compound consisting of one chlorine atom and two oxygen atoms. It is a reddish to yellowish-green gas at room temperature that dissolves in water. It is used for a variety of antimicrobial uses, including the disinfection of drinking water. Chlorine dioxide gas is usually produced onsite from sodium chlorate or sodium chlorite.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the maximum concentration of chlorine dioxide in drinking water to be no greater than 0.8 parts per million (ppm).

In hospitals and other healthcare environments, chlorine dioxide gas helps to sterilize medical and laboratory equipment, surfaces, rooms, and tools. Researchers have found that at appropriate concentrations, chlorine dioxide is both safe and effective at helping to eliminate Legionella bacteria in hospital environments. Legionella pneumophila bacteria can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially deadly type of pneumonia.

Chlorine dioxide is not a cure or treatment for medical ailments, including but not limited to autism, HIV, malaria, hepatitis viruses, influenza, common colds, and cancer. Claims that the ingestion of chlorine dioxide, often advertised as “Miracle Mineral Solution” or MMS or CDS, will cure these or other ailments are false. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises MMS should not be consumed.

That warning has done little to stop the booming quackery industry based on chlorine dioxide. Now it’s time to look at the origins of this snake oil treatment and most agree that the blame for it can be laid squarely before the door of one single individual, the father of the bleach treatment, former Scientologist Jim Humble.

Jim Humble

Jim Humble is the founder of the Genesis II Church, whose demise you can read about here. Covid and the Department of Justice finally managed to undo the church after years of petitions from the public and failed interventions from the FDA had proved futile. Humble is a former Scientologist who claims, amongst other things, that he’s a billion-year-old god from the Andromeda galaxy.

The Church, under Humble’s guidance, actively advocated and sold MMS as a Miracle cure for almost everything, from cancer and leukemia to autism and the common cold. When Covid arrived, they couldn’t resist the temptation of a global market and started making claims about MMS as a cure for Covid. It proved to be their undoing.

MMS is made up of potentially toxic chemicals and an FDA warning calls MMS a “potent bleach.” Sodium chlorite, the main chemical used to cook the controversial concoction, is typically used in waste-water treatment and hydraulic fracking. Humble claims he discovered the miracle potion in the jungles of South America. He has acknowledged in interviews that he stands by his claims that MMS cures cancers, autism, and other conditions. He currently lives outside Guadalajara in Mexico.

His cohorts from Genesis II, the Grenons, are now in prison in the U.S., awaiting trial. Links to President Trump, which some claim, prompted Trumps bleach comment as a treatment for Covid-19, proved of no use. MMS’s claim to fame is however in no small part thanks to the multi-faceted global marketing campaign undertaken by Genesis II to take their poison to the masses. A sign of their foreign market penetration was the Bolivian Senate designating MMS as a treatment for COVID-19, authorizing its sale in pharmacies in July of 2020.

Social media played a massive role and platforms like Facebook and Youtube provided, and still do, an almost unending supply of vulnerable and gullible customers. Private support groups are especially popular and the peddlers of this poison engage a multi-level sales strategy to ensnare mothers and other vulnerable individuals within these groups. Many, like Kerri Rivera, have now turned to private platforms like Telegram to ensure they can operate undisturbed.

At its peak, Genesis marketed its snake oil to 139 countries. Countless people, including innocent children, have lost their lives as a direct result. Currently, churches in South America bless bottles of MMS during services and continue selling it as a cure-all to an uneducated and trusting public.

The real truth about how bleach affects your body

Bleach reacts with biological tissues, causing irritation and cell death by protein denaturation. This reaction is most severe for the more sensitive tissues such as the respiratory system and eyes and less severe for more resistant tissues such as GI tract (which is accustomed to low pH) and skin (which is adapted to be in contact with the environment).

The FDA recently received reports of people suffering serious problems after drinking chlorine dioxide products and has issued very clear advice on MMS and bleach-based products. Avoid drinking them.

Those problems reported include respiratory failure; changes in the heart’s electrical activity that can cause deadly abnormal rhythms; life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration; acute liver failure; low blood cell counts that require blood transfusion; as well as severe vomiting and diarrhea.

In case of bleach poisoning follow these:

• Call Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222
• If you get bleach on your skin or in your eyes, flush the area with running water for a minimum of 15 minutes.
• If you accidentally swallow bleach you must drink milk or water immediately, unless you experience vomiting or convulsions.
• If you inhale bleach you must seek fresh air immediately.
• If on your clothes, take off your clothes without rubbing into the skin and wash immediately, separated from the rest of your clothes.

Addressing the real culprits

As damaging as chlorine bleach and its byproducts are if used incorrectly, fault doesn’t lie with the compounds. These are essential ingredients to medicines, water purification processes, disinfection and the manufacture of products like plastics.

The problem can be placed squarely at the door of quacks and health charlatans. Conmen and women who take advantage of some of the most vulnerable sectors of our communities. We aren’t talking about a few dollars here either. Millions are made annually by these criminal undertakings. Health and alternate cures are big business.

Changes to current medical licensing boards need to be considered as a matter of urgency. The abilities to strip doctors and health professionals of their licenses and the right to use an associated qualification, if found guilty of deceiving the public and promoting harmful treatments, are key to combatting the plague of quackery.

These unscrupulous individuals intentionally seek to reduce the trust of patients in conventional doctors and as they progressively erode this relationship, more and more patients will look to alternate sources for health and treatments. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the anti-vaccine campaigns run across America. They are promoted by quacks and fringe elements of the healthcare profession, their success largely dependant on their ability to destroy the trust built up over generations by conventional medicine.

Most importantly, our regulatory bodies, the FDA, the EPA and the DOJ need to be enabled to act against these individuals, to rapidly and permanently sanction and prosecute them for endangering the public and contributing to the murder of innocents. Social media needs to be held accountable for enabling these quacks and fined accordingly. Only then, will meaningful change be possible.

The post Debunking Bleach or Chlorine Dioxide as a Medical Treatment appeared first on Medika Life.