"Miracle" Health Cures

This is truly serious stuff. One can only wonder how gullible people can be, and then come to the realization that they can be very gullible indeed. Sometimes for lack of common sense, and sometimes because they're so desperate, having exhausted all other 'normal' avenues, that they will turn to anything that holds out promise to help them.

And that's where the fraud, the charlatans, those without conscience, the sociopaths and fast-buck artists step into the picture. The Internet has made it just so much easier to gull people. Put up a website, make it look semi-official, attractive and reliable, and you've got them hooked. Still, you've got to scratch your head about it.

You'd imagine as soon as someone sees the word "miracle", they'd be on their guard. But no, here's someone hawking a product he calls a "miracle" supplement guaranteed to cure whatever it is that's ruining your life and your health. And thank heavens, Health Canada has managed to shut the website down.

Calgarian Stan Nowak insists his miracle cure, which he has sold to hundreds of customers "all over the world", throughout a four-year period of operation, has saved countless lives. Perhaps for the undertaker. His MMS, Miracle Mineral Solution - or, as he also refers to it - Miracle Mineral Supplement, has as its major ingredient sodium chlorite.

And it is advertised on his website - since shuttered - as a substance that can cleanse toxins from the human body. It is, in fact, a cleaning agent. Sodium chlorite has use as a germicide by veterinarians. It is an industrial product used to clean hard surfaces, as a disinfectant. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers it an industrial strength bleach.

Now if that won't clean out the alimentary canal, the intestines, the bowels, what will? In the process, of course, make whoever trustingly uses it, extremely unwell. "It's helped all kinds of people with all kinds of diseases, from colds to malaria to diabetes to cancer", this man proudly maintains.

He knows all about cleansing agents, since he works in the chemical water treatment business.

Ingestion of the product, according to Health Canada, has been associated with three adverse reactions in Canada, including one life-threatening reaction. Reactions can include poisoning, kidney failure and harm to red blood cells.

In addition, people can experience abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The surprise in all of this is that the man is not being charged with deliberately endangering the lives of human beings. Surely there's an appropriate criminal penalty for such anti-social actions?

If there isn't, there sure as hell should be.