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  1. Home
  2. Vitamins, Supplements & Herbs
  3. Supplements & Remedies

No Magical Cures?

Is MMS, the miracle mineral supplement, a scam? It is chlorine dioxide.

Andrew Weil, M.D. | July 30, 2010

Young female patient discuss with doctors on her medical exam at hospital.
1 min

It sure is. Claims for this product are outrageous – that it can quickly cure AIDS, cancer, malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis A, B and C, herpes and more.

Looking around the MMS website, one of the the first things I saw was a claim that a 99 percent accurate test for cancer has been around for more than 25 years, and that you can order it on the Internet and be tested for $165. This is the AMAS test that I’ve written about previously on this site (Is AMAS a Worthwhile Cancer Test?). It is not a recognized test for cancer, and it is unconscionable for MMS promoters to advise anyone who may be seriously ill to forego proven tests and therapies in favor of something that has no medical validity.

Chlorine dioxide has long been used as a bleaching agent and a disinfectant. I am aware of  no studies in humans showing that it has any beneficial effect for treatment of any of the diseases for which it is being sold. As I understand it, you’re supposed to take drops of the stuff by mouth. If you have cancer and the treatment causes nausea, you have to continue until the nausea stops; at that point you know it is working to cure the cancer. This is a ridiculous and dangerous claim. There are no such easy cures for cancer or any of the other serious diseases this product is being sold to treat.

You can’t buy MMS on the website that describes all of its supposed miraculous powers. It refers you to other sites that supply it. Any substance said to treat, prevent or cure an illness is considered a drug and can’t be legally marketed in the United States without FDA approval. The most that domestic MMS suppliers can legally claim is that their product purifies water.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

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