How miracle-cure scams borrow the language you trust

Key takeaways

• In October 2023, four Florida men were sentenced to federal prison for selling a bleach-like “Miracle Mineral Solution” as a cure for COVID-19, cancer and other diseases¹.
• The FDA defines a fraudulent health product by its promise: it is sold as working against a disease without being proven safe and effective for that use³.
• Phrases like “all natural,” “ancient remedy” and “secret ingredient,” along with claims that doctors are hiding a cure, all appear on FDA and FTC red-flag lists²³⁴.
• In a national study, people with breast or colorectal cancer who chose alternative medicine instead of standard treatment were about five times as likely to die during follow-up¹³.
• Before you buy, search the FDA Health Fraud Product Database, and report scams to ReportFraud.ftc.gov or FDA MedWatch³¹¹.

Federal agents found dozens of blue drums in a backyard shed in Bradenton, Florida. The drums held almost 10,000 pounds of powdered sodium chlorite. Their labels warned that the chemical was toxic and dangerous to swallow¹.

The men who owned it mixed the powder with water and sold it as “Miracle Mineral Solution.” Once swallowed, the mix becomes chlorine dioxide, a bleach used to treat industrial water and whiten paper¹. They promised it would cure cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and HIV, and later COVID-19¹.

They sold it through the “Genesis II Church of Health and Healing.” Its websites described it as non-religious, and its required “donations” worked like prices¹. Sales topped $1 million. In October 2023, Jonathan and Jordan Grenon received more than 12 years in federal prison, and Mark and Joseph Grenon received five years each¹.

Most miracle-cure scams are smaller and quieter, but they share this playbook. They speak the language of natural health: purity, ancient wisdom, the body’s power to heal, and distrust of a medical system that has let many people down.

Your values are not the problem. Scammers borrow them because they work. Here is how to spot the borrowing and check a product in minutes.

“Health fraud” is about the promise, not the plant

The FDA calls a health product fraudulent when it is promoted as effective against a disease or condition but has not been proven safe and effective for that use³. The definition says nothing about whether a product is natural, synthetic, old or new. What makes fraud is the promise.

Two agencies share the job. The FDA oversees product safety and labeling, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) polices advertising². The FTC’s 2022 Health Products Compliance Guidance says health claims need “competent and reliable scientific evidence.” For health benefits, that generally means randomized controlled trials, where people are assigned by chance to get the product or a comparison⁵.

The same guidance says customer stories are never enough to prove a health product works⁵. It also says sellers should not use traditional-use claims to suggest that a product treats or cures a serious disease, even with a disclaimer⁵. That rule protects tradition, too. It keeps a plant’s long history from becoming a cancer pitch.

The FDA sorts harm into two kinds². Direct harm comes from the product itself, like a toxic chemical. Indirect harm comes from what you stop doing, like skipping insulin because a fake cure promised to fix diabetes.

The pitch borrows words you already trust

FDA and FTC warning lists overlap with phrases natural-health readers hear every day²³⁴. One phrase on its own proves nothing. Several together, attached to a serious disease, should stop you cold.

What the ad says	Why it lands	What the record shows
“All natural, no side effects”	Many of us prefer gentle remedies	FDA has found “all natural” products hiding high doses of prescription drugs3. A product potent enough to cause side effects is acting like a drug, the FDA notes2.
“Ancient secret” or “new discovery”	Tradition and breakthrough both feel exciting	A real cure for a serious disease would be widely reported and prescribed, not sold through obscure ads23.
“Cures cancer, arthritis, diabetes and more”	One answer to many problems is a relief	Claims to treat many unrelated diseases top the FDA’s warning list3.
“Doctors don’t want you to know”	Many readers have felt dismissed	FDA lists claims that the government or drug companies are hiding a cure as a classic tip-off3.
“Thousands of success stories”	Stories feel more honest than statistics	An FDA official calls testimonials “compounded hearsay”2.
“Works in days”	Relief now matters when you hurt	Few conditions improve quickly, even with proven treatment3.
“Risk-free, money back”	It feels safe to try	Fraudulent sellers often move on before refunds arrive2.
“Order today, supplies are limited”	Nobody wants to miss a chance	The FTC treats on-the-spot pressure as a sign of fraud4.

From backyard bleach to stem cell clinics: the cases on record

The Grenons even threatened the federal judge in a related civil case¹. Most sellers are less dramatic, but federal records show the same pattern again and again.

Sixteen teas for sixteen cancers

In a 2008 sweep called Operation False Cures, the FTC brought 11 cases against sellers of fake cancer remedies⁶. One seller, doing business as Herbs for Cancer, marketed 16 Chinese herbal teas for 16 types of cancer. A 17th blend was sold for cancers that weren’t on the list⁶.

Another company sold essiac tea blends, cat’s claw, maitake mushroom extracts and chaparral, claiming they could shrink tumors and prevent breast cancer⁶. The FTC settlements barred the claims and required the sellers to notify past buyers⁶. The problem was never the tea. It was telling sick people that tea could do the work of cancer care.

The FDA keeps finding the same pitch. By 2017, it had sent more than 90 warning letters over a decade to companies falsely claiming to treat cancer⁷. The products included pills, creams, oils, salves, teas and pet remedies, sold on Facebook, Instagram and at flea markets⁷. Some told buyers they could skip chemotherapy or surgery.

A clinic that injected food coloring

In 2016, a federal jury in Oklahoma convicted Antonella Carpenter on 29 fraud counts⁸. She was a physicist, not a doctor, and ran a clinic called Lase Med. She told cancer patients her laser method was 100 percent effective with no side effects⁸.

Prosecutors said the real treatment was salt water mixed with food dye or an extract of walnut hulls, injected into tumors and then heated with a laser⁸. Her sentence was set to include a forfeiture judgment of about $1.1 million⁸.

Stem cell shots sold for almost everything

The FDA says the only stem cell products it has approved are blood-forming cells from umbilical cord blood, and only for disorders that affect blood production⁹. No regenerative product is approved for autism, Parkinson’s, ALS, chronic pain, blindness or joint problems⁹.

The FDA has received reports of blindness, tumors and infections after unapproved treatments⁹. A 2021 analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts found 360 people harmed, including at least 20 deaths, and counted more than 700 U.S. clinics offering such treatments¹⁰. The FDA warns that a listing on ClinicalTrials.gov or a registration with the agency does not make a product legal to sell⁹.

“All natural” pills with prescription drugs inside

Some miracle products seem to work because they are secretly drugs. FDA labs found hundreds of weight-loss products sold as supplements that contained sibutramine, a drug pulled from the market over heart attack and stroke risk³.

The FDA’s Health Fraud Product Database shows this is still happening in 2026. In March, the agency flagged a product called Artri Ajo Rey for undeclared dexamethasone (a steroid), diclofenac (an anti-inflammatory pain drug) and methocarbamol (a muscle relaxant)¹¹. In April it flagged Curcuflex for hidden dexamethasone and diclofenac, and in July a product called Detoxi Slim for hidden sibutramine¹¹.

COVID-19 brought a new wave

When COVID-19 arrived, the pitches followed fast. The FDA’s list of warning letters about fraudulent COVID-19 products begins on March 6, 2020¹². It includes vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc products, essential oils, herbal tinctures, a product called “Corona Destroyer Tea,” colloidal silver and chlorine dioxide¹².

The vitamins were not the scandal. The promise to prevent or cure a brand-new disease was.

Why careful, smart people still get taken

It is tempting to think only gullible people fall for fake cures. The evidence says otherwise.

In a large study of cancer patients, those who chose alternative medicine instead of standard treatment tended to be younger, healthier, better educated and better paid¹³. These are people who research and take charge, which is exactly who a skilled scammer wants.

Several forces work together:

• Fear after a diagnosis. The FTC says health fraudsters target people with serious conditions such as cancer and play on the feelings that follow a diagnosis⁴.
• Real distrust, turned into a sales tool. Many people have good reasons to question drug companies. The FDA warns that “they’re hiding the cure” claims distract from common-sense questions³.
• Stories beat statistics. A neighbor’s recovery feels more real than a trial result. But the FDA notes that a good outcome may come from a natural remission of the disease, not the product².
• The feed rewards drama. Researchers studied the 200 most popular social media articles on four common cancers. About a third contained misinformation, and those pieces drew more engagement than accurate ones: a median of 2,300 interactions versus 1,600¹⁵.
• Sunk cost. After spending hundreds of dollars, quitting can feel like admitting a loss.
• Isolation. Some sellers tell buyers to keep treatment private, which cuts them off from people who might ask hard questions².

None of this is a character flaw. It is how minds respond to fear and hope.

The real price is time, and sometimes a life

Money matters. The Grenons took in more than $1 million¹. An FDA case over a laser falsely sold to treat cancer, HIV and diabetes involved a $16.6 million scheme³.

The bigger cost is delay. Yale researchers used national cancer data on 1.68 million patients to compare 281 people who chose alternative medicine alone with similar patients who got standard care¹³. Over about five years, people choosing alternative medicine alone were about five times as likely to die if they had breast or colorectal cancer, and more than twice as likely with lung cancer¹³. The study found no difference for prostate cancer.

A 2018 study in JAMA Oncology looked at patients recorded as using complementary medicine¹⁴. They were far more likely to refuse standard care: 34 percent refused chemotherapy, compared with 3 percent of other patients¹⁴. Their risk of death was about twice as high. But once researchers accounted for refused treatment, the gap was no longer statistically significant¹⁴.

The danger came mainly from what people gave up, not from what they added.

Claim	What the evidence shows	Rating
Chlorine dioxide (“MMS”) cures disease	It becomes bleach in the body; FDA has reports of hospitalizations and deaths1	Evidence says no, or unsafe
Herbal teas or extracts sold as cancer cures work	One FTC settlement made a seller tell buyers that no reliable studies show its products treat or cure cancer6	Not enough evidence
Stem cell shots outside a trial treat joints, autism or Parkinson’s	Not approved; blindness, tumors, infections and deaths reported910	Evidence says no, or unsafe
Cord-blood stem cells treat certain blood disorders	Approved by FDA after review9	Strong evidence
Alternative medicine can safely replace standard care for curable cancer	Higher death rates in one national study; refused treatment drove the risk in another1314	Evidence says no, or unsafe
Complementary practices added to standard cancer care change survival	In one observational study, the survival gap disappeared once refused treatment was counted14	Not enough evidence

A 10-minute check before you buy or book

1. Write down the exact promise. If it says the product treats, cures or prevents a disease, ask whether the FDA has approved it for that use. The FDA sends warning letters to sellers of unapproved products that make such claims⁷.
2. Count the diseases. One product for many unrelated conditions is the FDA’s first warning sign³.
3. Search the FDA health fraud product database by product and company name. It includes only a small fraction of risky products, so a missing entry is not a clean bill of health¹¹.
4. Look for “alternative to” wording. Products sold as alternatives to prescription drugs or steroids, marketed mainly in a foreign language, or promising rapid results match the FTC’s description of tainted products⁴.
5. For a clinic, ask about FDA oversight. If a clinic charges you for an unapproved regenerative product, or offers one outside a clinical trial, the FDA says you are probably being misled⁹.
6. Check the seller. The FDA suggests asking your state attorney general’s office or the Better Business Bureau about complaints².
7. Ask someone who doesn’t profit. Show the product to a pharmacist or clinician before you start, as the FTC advises⁴.
8. Sleep on it. A real treatment will still be there tomorrow. Pressure to buy today is itself a warning sign⁴.

Your values are a better filter than you think

Natural health at its best is cautious. It favors gentle doses, time-tested foods and plants, patience and respect for the body. Miracle-cure marketing runs against all of that. It promises speed, certainty and a total cure, and it asks you to stop asking questions.

Turn your own values into a shield:

• Purity. If you read a food label for additives, read a cure’s claims for the drugs it might be hiding.
• Respect for tradition. Honest traditions describe how a plant has been used. They don’t promise that it cures everything, and the FTC says such claims shouldn’t be made for serious disease⁵.
• Skepticism about profit. Apply it evenly. A seller who calls doctors greedy while charging hundreds of dollars a bottle deserves the same scrutiny.

You can use complementary care alongside proven treatment. Tell your care team what you take, so they can watch for interactions and support your choices.

How to report a miracle-cure scam

Reports help regulators spot patterns. Keep the package, receipts, lot numbers and screenshots of the ads.

• Someone is harmed right now. Call 911 for an emergency, or Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 if a product was swallowed.
• A bad reaction. Tell your clinician, then report it to FDA MedWatch online or at 1-800-FDA-1088³.
• False advertising. File a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)⁴⁶.
• Illegal online sales. Use the FDA’s online form for reporting unlawful sales of medical products on the internet³.
• A stem cell or regenerative clinic. Email the FDA at ocod@fda.hhs.gov and report injuries to MedWatch⁹.
• A local seller or clinic. Contact your state attorney general or state health department⁴.

Questions readers ask

The bottom line

Miracle-cure scams don’t win by sounding foolish. They win by sounding like things you believe: that nature is powerful, that tradition holds wisdom, and that you deserve to be taken seriously. Those beliefs are worth protecting, and that means refusing to let a seller use them against you.

Check the promise, search the FDA database, ask who profits, and keep proven care in place while you explore. If something seems wrong, report it. Your report may protect someone who is more frightened than you are.

Related reading

• What gets into supplements that isn’t on the label
• Why supplement labels say ‘supports’ and never say ‘cures’
• Fake reviews became illegal in 2024, yet reviews still mislead you
• What happens when you don’t tell your doctor about supplements
• Fear sells health products, and five questions show when the threat is real

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, and FDA Office of Criminal Investigations. “Leaders of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing Who Sold Toxic Bleach as Fake ‘Miracle’ Cure for COVID-19 and Other Serious Diseases, Sentenced.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2023. fda.gov
2. Kurtzweil P. “How to Spot Health Fraud.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA Consumer (page current as of 2018). fda.gov
3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “6 Tip-offs to Rip-offs: Don’t Fall for Health Fraud Scams.” Consumer Update, 2021. fda.gov
4. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Miracle Health Claims.” FTC consumer information, 2011. consumer.ftc.gov
5. Federal Trade Commission. “Health Products Compliance Guidance.” 2022. ftc.gov
6. Federal Trade Commission. “FTC Halts Bogus Cancer Cures.” Press release, 2009. ftc.gov
7. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Questions and Answers: FDA Alerts Companies to Stop Illegal Sale of Products Claiming to Treat Cancer.” 2017. fda.gov
8. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. “Owner of Cancer Treatment Clinic Convicted of Providing Fraudulent Medical Treatments to Patients.” 2016. justice.gov
9. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Important Patient and Consumer Information About Regenerative Medicine Therapies.” 2024. fda.gov
10. The Pew Charitable Trusts. “Harms Linked to Unapproved Stem Cell Interventions Highlight Need for Greater FDA Enforcement.” 2021. pew.org
11. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Health Fraud Product Database.” Accessed October 2026. fda.gov
12. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Fraudulent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Products.” Accessed October 2026. fda.gov
13. National Cancer Institute. “Alternative Medicine Alone and Cancer Survival” (on Johnson SB et al., Journal of the National Cancer Institute). Cancer Currents blog, 2017. cancer.gov
14. Johnson SB, Park HS, Gross CP, Yu JB. “Complementary Medicine, Refusal of Conventional Cancer Therapy, and Survival Among Patients With Curable Cancers.” JAMA Oncology, 2018. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
15. Johnson SB, Parsons M, Dorff T, et al. “Cancer Misinformation and Harmful Information on Facebook and Other Social Media: A Brief Report.” Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2022. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov