Family Behind COVID Cure That's Really Bleach Is Indicted

A father and three sons accused of selling industrial bleach as a miracle cure face federal charges, reports the AP. Mark Grenon, 62; Jonathan, 34; Joseph, 32; and Jordan, 26, could face life sentences if convicted in connection with a product called Miracle Mineral Solution, which the FDA says actually becomes chlorine dioxide once ingested—a bleach whose typical uses involve the treatment of textiles, industrial water, pulp, and paper. Mark Grenon is the archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing based in Bradenton, Florida, which sells the bleach solution. The Grenons have been advertising the solution for years as a cure for COVID, autism, cancer, and other illnesses, but claimed national attention last year when they asked then-President Trump to grant them protection from the FDA.

The FDA issued a warning about the product—which the Grenons were making in a shed in their backyard—last year, the New York Times reports. A federal indictment alleges the Grenons made more than $1 million, per Spectrum News. They’re also accused of criminal contempt for violating court orders to stop selling the product. They marketed the bleach solution through their church, which they describe as nonreligious; one of its founders, Jim Humble, has said that he is "a billion-year-old god from the Andromeda galaxy," per the Times. Humble has not been charged in the case. The Times reports it's unclear whether anyone suffered ill effects from ingesting the solution, though an earlier Spectrum News article said people were getting sick from use of the product.