\n<\/p>\n
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s promoted disproven treatments for COVID-19 and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are \u201cdropping dead on the field\u201d after getting the COVID-19 vaccination. Now the Wisconsin politician is endorsing a book by a discredited doctor promoting an unproven and dangerous treatment for autism and a host of ailments: chlorine dioxide, a chemical used for disinfecting and bleaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The book is \u201cThe War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine\u201d<\/em> by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before losing his medical certification for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he\u2019s said, makes him unemployable, even though he still has a license.<\/p>\n Kory has said there\u2019s a globally coordinated campaign by public health agencies, the drug industry and the media to suppress evidence of the medicinal wonders of chlorine dioxide. His book, according to its website, contends that the \u201cremarkable molecule\u201d works \u201cto treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor\u2019s treatise: \u201cA gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Chlorine dioxide is a chemical compound that has a range of applications, including as a disinfectant and deodorizer. Food processing plants apply it to sanitize surfaces and equipment. Hospitals use it to sterilize medical devices, and some municipalities use low levels to treat public water supplies. Paper mills rely on it to whiten wood pulp. Safety experts advise those who handle it to work in well-ventilated spaces and to wear protective gloves.<\/p>\n Concentrations in drinking water systems higher than 0.8 milligrams per liter can be harmful, especially to infants, young children and fetuses, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a \u201cmiracle mineral solution,\u201d ingested to rid people of a host of maladies. The Food and Drug Administration has warned that drinking these chlorine dioxide mixtures can cause injury and even death.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is not medicinal, despite Kory\u2019s contention. \u201cIt is all lunacy. Absolutely, it\u2019s 100% nonsense,\u201d said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University\u2019s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the threat of pseudoscience. Schwarcz has written articles about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it \u201ca poison\u201d when it\u2019s in high concentrations.\u00a0<\/p>\n The cover of the paperback version of \u201cThe War on Chlorine Dioxide\u201d features a quote from Sen. Ron Johnson.<\/span> Bella Luna Press<\/span><\/p>\n Kory\u2019s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide\u2019s effectiveness has been suppressed by government and medical forces that need people to remain perpetually ill to generate large profits. The use of the word \u201cwar\u201d in the title is fitting, Kory said in a recent online video on his co-author\u2019s Substack. \u201cIn the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. \u201cAfter reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,\u201d he said. \u201cHave you read the book?\u201d<\/p>\n ProPublica asked Kory and his co-author, Jenna McCarthy, to provide an advance copy, an interview and responses to written questions. Kory did not respond. McCarthy wrote in an email to ProPublica that she was addressing some of the questions on her Substack. (She did not send a book or agree to an interview.)<\/p>\n The book \u201cis a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,\u201d she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide\u2019s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: \u201cEverything has a toxic dose \u2014 including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that \u201cthe real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.\u201d<\/p>\n Her Substack post was signed \u201cJenna (& Pierre).\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson did not agree to an interview and did not answer questions emailed to his office by ProPublica, including whether he views chlorine dioxide as a world-changing medical treatment and whether he believes the FDA warnings are false.\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnson has been an advocate of Kory\u2019s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 Senate hearings. In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2021, an analysis of data from clinical trials concluded that ivermectin could reduce deaths from COVID-19 and may produce other positive effects. McCarthy cited that analysis in her Substack response.<\/p>\n In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, warned that suspicious data \u201cappears to invalidate the findings\u201d regarding ivermectin\u2019s potential to decrease deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n Later clinical trials have found no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA has warned that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug\u2019s manufacturer has said it hadn\u2019t found any scientific basis for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.<\/p>\n In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory\u2019s certifications in internal medicine, pulmonary disease and critical care for making false and misleading public statements about the ability of ivermectin to treat COVID-19. Hospitals and many insurance networks typically require doctors to be board certified.<\/p>\n Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his recommendations for addressing COVID-19, though not the \u201cconsensus-driven\u201d approach. He also sued the board in federal court, citing his free speech rights in a case that is still progressing in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Substack, McCarthy excoriated the ABIM, saying it \u201cbullies physicians\u201d and \u201cenforces ideological conformity.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned a Fox News op-ed opposing a California bill that would strip doctors\u2019 licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but was repealed after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute\u2019s definition of misinformation to be too vague, which could infringe on doctors\u2019 right to free speech.<\/p>\n Johnson, who has been in Congress since 2011, has a history of advocating for experimental treatments and viewing the government as an impediment. Dr. Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a public health advocacy group, said that among members of Congress, Johnson was \u201can early adopter of anti-science ideas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. \u201cWhat may have started off as the cutting edge of an anti-science movement has now turned into a much more broader-based movement that is supported by millions of people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that vaccinated children had an increased rate of serious chronic diseases when compared to children who were not vaccinated. The conclusion questions the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe. The study\u2019s researchers chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.<\/p>\n In November, Johnson and Kory were listed among the speakers at a conference of the Children\u2019s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs anti-vaccine sentiment. It was launched in 2018 by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose FDA is considering new ways to more closely scrutinize vaccine safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy\u2019s views on chlorine dioxide. At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy praised President Donald Trump for his wide search for a COVID-19 remedy in his first term, which Kennedy said included vaccines, various drugs, \u201ceven chlorine dioxide.\u201d<\/p>\n Kory\u2019s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. \u201cThanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won\u2019t find The War on Chlorine Dioxide <\/em>on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble. We had to design and build this website, figure out formatting and printing and shipping, and manage every aspect of order processing ourselves,\u201d the book\u2019s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)<\/p>\n As this new book is released, the autism community is also grappling with another controversy: the unsubstantiated assertion by Kennedy that Tylenol use by pregnant women poses an increased risk of autism. In addition, under Kennedy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its website in November to cast doubt on the long-held scientific conclusion that childhood vaccines do not cause autism.<\/p>\n Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for dubious and at times dangerous panaceas, including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.<\/p>\n Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has \u201cacted extremely irresponsibly\u201d in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.<\/p>\n \u201cWisconsin is filled with experts \u2014 clinical experts, medical experts, scientists \u2014 who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.\u201d<\/p>\n People with autism may take medication to reduce anxiety, address attention problems, or reduce severe irritability. Many benefit from behavioral interventions and special education services to help with learning and functional abilities. But there is no cure, said Tager-Flusberg.<\/p>\n Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: \u201cWe have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There\u2019s a word for this, it\u2019s called snake oil.\u201d<\/p>\n In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that \u201cchlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said \u2018cure\u2019) autism with life-changing results.\u201d<\/p>\n The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of North Carolina, heard Kory reference his book in early November on The HighWire, an internet talk show hosted by Del Bigtree, a prominent vaccine skeptic and former communications director for Kennedy\u2019s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n Eaton for many years has worked to expose people who peddle chlorine dioxide and to report apparent injuries to authorities. She monitors social media forums where parents discuss giving it to their children orally or via enemas. Sometimes the families reveal that their children are sick. \u201cThey\u2019re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,\u201d Eaton said.<\/p>\n Some adherents advise parents that the disturbing effects indicate that the treatment is working, ridding the body of impurities, or that the parents should alter the dosage.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMost of these kids are nonverbal,\u201d Eaton said. \u201cThey\u2019re not able to say what\u2019s hurting them or what\u2019s happening to them. The parents feel they\u2019re doing the right thing. That\u2019s how they view this: They\u2019re helping to cure autism.\u201d<\/p>\n The idea that chlorine dioxide can be a miracle cure began to spread about 20 years ago when a gold prospector, Jim Humble, wrote a book claiming his team in Guyana fell ill with malaria and recovered after drinking safe amounts of chlorine dioxide.\u00a0<\/p>\n Humble later co-founded a \u201chealth and healing\u201d church in Florida with a man named Mark Grenon, who called himself an archbishop and sold a chlorine dioxide solution as a cure for COVID-19. They described it as a \u201cmiracle mineral solution,\u201d or MMS.<\/p>\n Grenon went to prison in 2023 for conspiring to defraud the United States by distributing an unapproved and misbranded drug. The scheme took in more than $1 million, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: \u201cFDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.\u201d<\/p>\n Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. \u201cMy book will tell the truth.\u201d He declined further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chlorine dioxide is currently used in many ways that are not harmful. It is found in some consumer products like mouthwashes, but it is not meant to be swallowed in those instances. (One popular mouthwash warns to \u201ckeep out of reach of children.\u201d) It\u2019s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds \u2014 commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid \u2014 and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.<\/p>\n But numerous online shoppers post product reviews that go further, referring to it as a tonic. Various online guides, some aimed at parents of autistic children, recommend a shot-glass-size dose, sometimes given multiple times a day and even hourly. That can far exceed the threshold the EPA considers safe.<\/p>\n McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: \u201cYou point to various online guides that offer what could be considered dangerous dosing instructions. We agree, the internet is a terrifying wasteland of misinformation and disinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n In the Substack video, Kory said he felt compelled to spread the word about chlorine dioxide much as he did about ivermectin, even though it cost him professionally.\u00a0<\/p>\n He no longer has a valid medical license in Wisconsin or California, where he did not renew them, according to the Substack post. His medical licenses in New York and Michigan are active.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,\u201d he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide\u2019s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn Amazon, it\u2019s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,\u201d Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t know how to make it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines. He\u2019s promoted disproven treatments for COVID-19 and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are \u201cdropping dead on the field\u201d after getting the COVID-19 vaccination. Now the Wisconsin politician is endorsing a book by a discredited doctor promoting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[2335,1980,20506,20507,11261,37,4302,247,10385,9578,9827,14172],"class_list":{"0":"post-36862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-benefits","9":"tag-book","10":"tag-chlorine","11":"tag-dioxides","12":"tag-endorses","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-johnson","15":"tag-propublica","16":"tag-ron","17":"tag-sen","18":"tag-touting","19":"tag-unproven"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cIt\u2019s Called Snake Oil\u201d<\/h3>\n
The Search for Miracle Cures<\/h3>\n