The design of a washing machine looks more or less the same as it did 50 years ago: a white box with an opening in the middle some 60 cm from the floor. This is ergonomically impractical, however, and means that older adults are no longer able to do their laundry at home.

I’ve written on the ergonomics and office furniture problem as it applies to women workers. There’s another area of our lives, washing machines, where the designers have failed to consider the excessive demands on our musculoskeletal frames, pain, and these machines. The problem was first outlined in the literature in the 1960s-1970s when concerns for workers in industry were outlined.

The cleaning industry was one where workers developed serious MSDs. New research has outlined this work’s problems, measurements, and potential improvements. But they also may have discovered a hidden cost, too.

Ergonomics in the home directly relate to the industry’s cost for work-related activities that result in injury. Although Worker’s Compensation or healthcare insurance pays for medical treatment incurred by injury on the job, it has been established that home-related injuries may predispose workers to injury exacerbation. These injuries, therefore, would appear to be work-related but had their genesis in the home via domestic work, which is a necessity of life.

Biomechanical risk factors exist in the home but are not usually thought of as precipitating work-related injuries. The joints, the back, and the shoulders, in particular, can be injured in the home during normal home maintenance activities.

Home Layout and Washing Machines

Some areas where design changes would appear to be needed in innovative changes involve kitchen layout and storage, kitchen utensils, and cleaning materials. Although we no longer use scrub boards or wring clothing out before hanging them up, washing machines and dryers have not eliminated stressful activities that, in the past, led physicians to refer to these injuries as “washerwoman strain syndrome.”

The syndrome has also been deemed De Quervain syndrome because of repetitive housework such as chopping vegetables, stirring and scrubbing pots, vacuuming, cleaning surfaces, drying dishes, pegging out washing, mending clothes, gardening, harvesting, and weeding.

Low back injuries are directly related to the top-end loading washing machines, typically 36 inches off the floor with a depth inside the drum of 24 inches. The person doing the laundry must flex their trunk 45 to 80° to pull a heavy load out of the machine. The average height of an American woman is 5’4″, and reaching down into the machine can be difficult.

Once washed clothing is removed, it must be lowered to the floor into a container before it is taken to the dryer. Dryers present another potential danger for body mechanics since individuals generally have to lean over with these heavy loads to place them into the dryer, necessitating a twist on their spine of 90°. It has been estimated that disc compression forces can be as high as 578 pounds during this activity.

But not all washing machines are of top-loading design. Frontloading machines present the same danger to the spine as the dryers since they similarly require bending over to remove wet laundry from them. If a home has both a frontloading washing machine and a frontloading dryer, the person doing the laundry has twice the potential injury to their body.

Even the materials needed to do the laundry, such as detergents, can present another concern. If they are stored on an upper shelf, then the individual has to move them down to use them. Forces required and which can impact the spine or lower back can be close to or over 1000 pounds of stress. The shoulders are also, similarly, brought into play and placed in danger. Again this is a function of setting the laundry detergents on an upper shelf.

Aging is frequently associated with the gradual degeneration of
physiological and cognitive functions, such as impairments of vision
and hearing, loss of hand grip and dexterity, and decline in motor skills…

Regarding the elderly, few studies have investigated the ergonomic use of household appliances by them. Since it is becoming more prevalent for the elderly to live alone and less likely to live with their children, household appliances have increased in importance in their facility to be helpful for these individuals who wish to live independently.

Although some washing machine manufacturers have attempted to increase the ability of their machines to provide new functions, elderly individuals have found that they suffer from feature fatigue and consequent low useability and satisfaction with these products. A focus group of elderly washing machine users indicated that there was a problem with the buttons on the operating panel that were too dense and made it seem too complicated. They didn’t feel that many buttons were required for the actual operation of the machine, and the controls were too small and too close together, so it was hard to select the correct button.

Again, as with other washing machine users, elderly users found that top loading machines were difficult to lean into, and frontloading machines were also problematic because they required stooping down. A preferred machine would have a tilt open door, allowing the person to stand almost upright.

How independent would you feel if you couldn’t do your laundry when you wanted? Paying for it, on an often fixed income, to be done by someone else isn’t an option.

But what about anyone with a physical disability? No one seems to be addressing this particular need, and one wonders how disabled users can use one of the currently available washing machines and what they might prefer.

Is there a psychological aspect to the washing machine syndrome? Yes, if you consider that lower back pain results in depression and distorts a person’s ability to act in an even-tempered manner. As noted, patients with debilitating chronic low back pain show personality characteristics that deviate significantly from the normal population norms but do not reach maladaptive forms of personality disorders.

It would seem there’s creative work to be done, and more user input is needed for the washing machine to indeed be the innovation we all thought it was when it was first introduced.

The post Washing Machine’s Tyranny of Design Must Be Stopped appeared first on Medika Life.

What is the Predatory Health (PH) sector 

This broad term, which Medika has coined for convenience, encompasses practitioners from almost all the fields of healthcare and includes the complimentary and alternate health (alt-Health) sectors,

For clarification, the alt-Health sector we refer to includes Complimentary and Alternate Health (CAM) – which includes fields like homeopathy and chiropractic – and is far less strictly regulated. The same is true of the other included sectors under this heading, including but not limited to, the natural products and supplement market, new age life coaches, and the grey area of unregulated health (medical) devices. 

The alt-Health sector tends to far more representative of Predatory Health practices. Traditional medicine is broadly regulated and therefore less susceptible to the quackery of PH, but by no means immune to its perpetrators.

Predatory Health practitioners gravitate towards the alt-Health sector, attracted by lax regulation and the vast legally grey areas that allow them to operate and ply their wares almost with impunity. 

The more outlandish and non-traditional the peddled cure or treatment becomes, the more likely the PH practitioner is to gravitate away from traditional medicine by embracing these fields, where their cohort welcomes them with open arms. 

What does a Predatory Health practitioner sell?

Their main product is intangible. They are selling hope, albeit false, something terminal patients and those afflicted with conditions like chronic pain are desperate for. These patients cling to the hope of finding some relief or miracle cure and the predatory health market preys on this. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the typical markets (marks) and strategies these individuals exploit with their health cons.

• Offering miracle cures, treatments, and relief to the terminally ill. Cancer patients are a favored target, but any deadly disease offers these quacks the opportunity to peddle their dangerous and untested wares.
• If you or your child suffers from conditions like autism, you are a primary target. Support groups, especially closed groups on Telegram, Facebook, and other social media groups offer these practitioners the opportunity to exploit you in relative safety. Be wary of any individuals offering treatments for conditions that do not have known medical remedy.
• Chronic pain sufferers are a massive target for Predatory Health. They have an unlimited number of relatively safe, but ineffective treatments and natural products they can peddle to you. It isn’t in their interest to kill their cash cow, but there are unscrupulous merchants who will offer you products that are known to be very dangerous and sometimes fatal
• Obesity, eczema, high blood pressure, influenza, and covid. The list is endless as are the techniques and strategies these unscrupulous merchants will engage to appear legitimate.
• Mental Health is also catered for with New Age life courses offering all sorts of benefits from attending costly online seminars and retreats. It is hocus pocus and has no foundation in solid science. None of these things will cure your chronic pain, cancers, or autism.
• Machines claiming to offer some sort of medical benefit, some working on sound, some using vibration, and others still, claiming amazing unvalidated results and health benefits. Never, ever take endorsements at face value. If these devices actually worked, don’t you think your doctors would be using them?
• The exploitation of misguided activist groups like anti-vaxers to further promote their sales. More damage is done to the cause of vaccines by these individuals than any other group combined. It serves the interests of Predotory Health to promote distrust in traditional medicine.

False Prophets and Fake Prophets

There is a distinction between the two and in the examples and names I will highlight below, most occupy one camp or the other. 

False prophets are usually doctors and medically trained individuals who, for unknown reasons, have latched onto treatments that are not evidence-based and they believe, without conclusive medical evidence to support their beliefs, in the safety and efficacy of the treatments they peddle. 

Belief is a dangerous drug and the sustenance of religion. It has no place in evidence-based medicine. 

Fake prophets, on the other hand, are under no such illusions. They know full well the potential dangers and risks of the products or treatments they peddle. They are highly skilled at manipulating marketing channels to ensure they reach their potential ‘marks’ and will often possess no formal medical training. 

Both are equally dangerous. The fake prophets are usually limited to the alt-Health markets and prefer this environment as it allows for greater freedom to ply their deadly wares. 

It is important to note that sales may not be the only motivating factor that drives certain Predatory Health practitioners. It can simply be a desire to spread disinformation, or, as they may see it, deeply insightful information they have come upon. These are possibly the most disruptive and dangerous voices from within the Predatory Health sector as they enable and empower the real charlatans by creating doubt in people’s minds. 

Take for instance Dr Christiane Northrup, whose divergence from a reasonably distinguished medical career in women’s health has been abrupt and complete. Her adoption of conspiracy theories, 5G cell towers, microchips in vaccines, and other nonsensical rantings on YouTube and social media beggars belief.

Whatever her motivation, this doctor enjoys a broad following on social media, and her voice has impact. I have no doubt whatsoever that her rantings will result in eventual deaths. People avoiding the Covid vaccine because of baseless lies, people not inoculating their children, and an avoidance of traditional medicine because of the distrust she sows. She epitomizes the False Prophet. 

Meet the Predatory Health Practitioners

The names below are linked to Medika’s Quack Scale, a tool designed to enable the public to identify quacks and charlatans operating in the Predatory Health sector. 

The other end of the scale (Fake Prophets) is occupied by individuals like Dr Fitt, a marketing pseudonym for a disgraced doctor, Roby Mitchell, who now peddles bleach treatments and enemas to autistic children from his base in Texas. Purely driven by financial gain, Mitchell ranks among the bottom feeders in the world of predatory health. 

Dr. Kerri Rivera is another example of a doctor gone bad. Her exploitation of vulnerable mental health patients for profit is well documented and her association with Sayer Ji, an alt-Health proponent who used to sell health foods, has resulted in them spewing a sea of misinformation on Covid and other medical topics. Once again, their motivation is the sale of their products and treatments ay any cost

Kelly Brogan, Joseph Mercola, Zach Bush, the list is as endless as it is dangerous and the reason it grows daily is simply this. Money. There are fortunes to be made in the alt-Health sector, particularly if you claim to have the “cure for Covid” marketed of course as a drug or treatment to boost your immune system against influenza viruses. The FDA might be watching.

Millions of dollars change hands daily, paid over freely by those duped into believing the lies. Often, customers also pay with their lives. 

The individuals who engage in Predatory Health are willing to risk being caught. The system grinds slowly and by the time the FDA catches up with them, the damage is already done. Their message is out there and they simply move the supply of their “toxins” to less mainstream channels. Loopholes and blindspots in current U.S legislation leave room enough to drive buses through. The system offers little more negligible punitive fines and smacks on the wrist, which are not a deterrent.

This is the nature of predatory health and it isn’t always easy to spot. Particularly if your desperation and need for relief or hope outweigh your common sense.

Buying from a “large” business isn’t always a guarantee of safety either. Take the following company Phoenix Biotechnology, whose aggressive marketing campaign to sell a “natural extract” called Oleander 4x is a textbook case of manipulating the health market to promote sales of a product that can potentially cause death. 

Through the misrepresentation and manipulation of clinical studies, they have produced the illusion of medical acceptance and the latest FDA warning issued against them for offering their toxin as a treatment for Covid has exposed the true nature of their business. 

Many other similar companies operate below the radar for years in relative safety, selling and enabling Predatory Health practitioners by making their fake treatments and products available to a global market. 

It is a monumental problem that the healthcare industry and the American government can no longer afford to ignore. Every Predatory Health practitioner we allow to operate, particularly those who still have a foot firmly placed in traditional medicine, bring disrepute to the industry. 

They encourage mistrust of conventional treatments to the detriment of many critically-ill people. The formally qualified quacks breach the oath they have taken and a legal option must be explored to permanently strip them of their qualifications and the right to their use.

Many of these individuals took an oath and their actions are a clear breach of this oath, thereby rendering the conditions of the degree null and void. Simply removing their right to practice is an insufficient response and continues to endanger public health. Where clear intent to harm and deceive is established, the full force of the law should be brought to bear on these quacks.

Legislation enabling medical boards to act more aggressively against medical professionals in the predatory health sector is desperately needed on a federal level. It is in the interests of public safety and in the continued interests of maintaining credulity in existing public healthcare institutions.

Dealing with alt-Health

Policing the alt-Health sector requires an entirely different approach which may include clear legal guidelines of operation, enforceable by institutions like the FDA. This is simply one mechanism though, and the problem will require a multi-faceted approach. 

What compounds the complexity of the problem is the alt-Health sector itself. There are definite and real health benefits to certain treatments and therapies offered by the sector. Recognizing, regulating, and protecting these practitioners, products, and therapies will be critical to the future of this market. An excellent example of how a legitimate profession can be ruined by its association with predatory health is the Chiropractic industry.

Left unchecked, the alternative will be an eventual wholesale ban on many potentially helpful drugs, therapies, and products. This would be a knee-jerk response, an oversimplified solution to a complex problem and needs to be avoided at all costs. Sadly, all too often, this type of exaggerated response is typical of politicians who lack a clear grasp of an industry’s dynamics and are looking to simply exercise damage control.

There has been little effort shown by the alt-Health sector to police themselves and whatever results now from the proliferation of fraudsters within their sector, they will share blame in the outcomes. 

If you’ve been affected by Predatory Health practitioners what can you do to stop others falling victim?

Stop enabling Predatory Health Practioners

Every time you come across these individuals and you paths will cross, perhaps frequently, as they proliferate on social media, call them out, unfollow them, report them, block them. 

Their current success is largely attributable to the internet and their mastery of social media as a sales and marketing tool. The privacy of private groups on Facebook and other platforms allows them to operate with impunity, away from prying eyes. 

They are usually only exposed when tragedy occurs, when someone dies from the poisons they peddle and that death is often a child. You can help by exposing them before this happens. 

Websites like Medika Life and others offer pages that highlight the unethical and dangerous practices of these doctors. We also offer a page where the public can confidentially bring names to our attention. You can also report the professionally registered quacks to the relevant boards within their states or directly to the FDA if medication is involved. 

Reporting accounts to the social media platforms is often futile as they are slow to respond, if ever, particularly if groups are closed. Take screenshots of offending materials and include these in a report to the websites listed below. 

Your actions are essential to saving lives and stopping the spread of the rot of predatory health within our communities. By using your voice, you can join a growing community of people speaking out against disinformation. You will not be alone and somewhere on the planet, a child may owe you their life. 

You can also sign a MOBILIZE™ Health petition if you would like to add your voice to a campaign to rid the industry of this blight by creating a formal watchdog, an Organization tasked with and legally enabled to, root out health fraud and the dangerous practices of predatory health practitioners. 

Help us to help protect the most vulnerable sectors of our communities. 

The post Exposing the Dark World of Predatory Health 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.

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.

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.

Parents desperate to try and find help and improve the quality of life of their children are being mercilessly lied to and misled by people ranging from qualified medical quacks (most, thankfully, have had their licenses to practice revoked) to uneducated con-artists looking to profit off the backs of these vulnerable individuals. These quacks are selling false hope in poisonous bottles, treatments which can only result in one end.

Autistic children are being fed Chlorine Dioxide (a form of bleach) and exposed to a whole range of non-medically approved products sold to the parents by these charlatans. In some instances, children die. Others are lucky to escape with their lives. If you’ve been in this situation, we would like to ask you to help us by contributing your story.

We want to use the power of your voices and experience as an additional tool to help educate others and ensure the safety of these vulnerable families. We know how traumatic these events can be and we will ensure, for those who wish to remain anonymous, that your privacy is protected. You have our word. Our goal here isn’t to judge, it is all about preventing others from experiencing the same misery these despicable quacks have put your family through.

Your story will be published in Medika Life alongside others as a resource and warning to others and we will advertise these pieces broadly across our social media networks.

For brave families that have the strength to relive their trauma, please do reach out to us at the following email address. Again, all communication will be restricted to our editors and treated in the strictest of confidence.

The email address is mobilize@medika.life or you can email our editor Robert Turner at robertturner@medika.life and help us shine a light on the dark holes these monsters hide in.

The post Do You Have an Autistic Child? appeared first on Medika Life.

You, as a potential customer or patient seeking reliable advice and OTC products to assist with health conditions, can save yourself, your health, and your loved ones by studiously avoiding any of the retailers we have listed below. Whilst not all the products sold may pose a risk, the fact these retailers sell dangerous and harmful products under the guise of health should be warning enough of their actual intentions.

Do not buy into the marketing bullshit and “personal stories” of how they saved their child from autism by feeding them bleach, or how fantastic they all are now they use their own products. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to drink the rubbish they sell, so why should you. Educate yourself and rely on solid science, registered medical experts or your doctors advice. If you don’t, at best you become one of the suckers funding these charlatans, at worst, these products can cost you your health or your life.

To make us aware of a retailer, create a free account and comment below or email us on rottenretailers@medika.life

The Rotten Retailers List

If the shop link shown below is not active it means that the retailer no longer uses this website to peddle their wares. Make a note of the owner and business name and compare these to any new websites you may encounter under the listed names.

This list will be updated on a daily basis, bookmark the page and check back from time to time.

The post MOBILIZE™ HEALTH: The Rotten Retailers List appeared first on Medika Life.

You can help us root out these charlatans by contributing the names of products and retailers to our MOBILIZE™ ROTTEN RETAILERS LIST. Drop us an email at rottenretailers@medika.life or alternatively register a free account and leave a comment below. You can also share our lists on Social Media to warn others as these businesses will use closed support groups on platforms like Facebook to sell their poisonous brand of “health” to desperate, ill people.

The retailers prey on your fears, scaring you with one tale and then selling you a fairy tale cure for the fear in the next tale. It’s classic marketing and they use your desperation as a tool to enforce belief. It’s a reprehensible practice and while the FDA and DOJ play catch up with the digital age, responsibility rests with legitimate health and medical websites to highlight these fraudsters and to make their places of business known.

The MOBILIZE™ Rotten Retailers list highlights the names and web addresses of businesses that sell fake health and label it a health food, dietary supplements, or even medical elixirs in some instances. Here’s the list we use to identify these products and even if the retailer is only selling one of these items, by association we view that as sufficient reason to list them, as, in our opinion, they are not exercising due care in the products they sell to their customers or are intentionally misleading you for profit.

If a website appears on the list, rest assured their real motives for sales are purely profit-based and they have no regard for your health or wellbeing. If they did, they wouldn’t be selling you snake oil.

How websites and retailers qualify for inclusion

• Sales of books, videos, and any other written or recorded items that promote medical disinformation, conspiracy theories, and blatant lies and have no foundation in real medicine, health, or proven wellbeing that is underwritten by scie3nce or reputable clinical trials and studies. If a quack is involved, the materials are automatically disqualified.
• Products, pills, tablets, lotions, liquids, and others that make outrageous claims about offering cures for diseases and related health conditions. For instance, MMS which claimed to cure aids/HIV, autism, diabetes, and Covid-19 and which, despite now being banned in the US as a dangerous substance, is still being sold on the black market.
• Any sales of any products manufactured or authored by individuals we have earmarked as quacks on our Quack Scale.
• Any retailer that currently is under warning by the FDA for selling dangerous health-related products that make unsubstantiated claims.

How we allocate Rotten Apples

This retailer sells a mixed bag of products. Some are of value, for instance normal vitamins and supplemental dietary products, but others are manufactured by known quacks and charlatans with existing or satisfied FDA Warning notices. The website has clear contact details displayed. Consumers are warned to avoid products sold with unreasonable claims and exercise caution when dealing with this retailer.

This website predominantly sells suspect products that will either seriously affect your health or simply waste your money as the products do not do what the seller claims on the site. These are harmful ad potentially dangerous products that can seriously compromise your health or the health of a loved one. Despite contact details being available on the site, we strongly urge consumers to avoid this retailer’s site. There may also be current or expired FDA warnings attached to many of the products sold by this retialer.

In Medika’s opinion this retailer should immediately be closed as the products they sell are dangerous and the claims made by the retailer are unproven and designed to mislead for the purposes of selling snake oil. There are no miracle cures, but this site will present medical looking articles and even use legitimate studies to promote their products. Often these retailers manufacture much of what they sell and they are intentionally obtuse with regard to providing contact details.

Purchasing anything from these sites will simply be a waste of money and pose a significant risk to your health. Americans die from products purchased on sites like these. Is believing in a scammer worth your life?

The post ROTTEN RETAILERS: Quackery Websites Selling Harmful Health Products appeared first on Medika Life.