Senior Student Uncovers Bleach Scandal
Rhys M of year 11 has recently
been praised for his efforts in exposing a bogus ‘cure all’ product
widely touted to the sick and vulnerable on the internet.
After being diagnosed with
Crohns disease earlier this year, Rhys went on line in search of
explanations and support and to research any treatments that he may
be started on.
Seeing a product called MMS or
‘Miracle Mineral Solutions’ being discussed on a Crohn’s support
forum, he wisely decided to conduct his own research about the
contents of this unbelievable product that claimed to cure
everything from HIV Aids to Crohn’s. After ‘googling’ the main
chemical that was contained in the product, Rhys came across a
recent FDA warning that it was a ‘potent, industrial bleach’ which
further piqued his interest.
Quickly and sensibly, he posted
a link to the FDA warning on Crohn’s Forum, hoping to warn people
about the harmful product but instead of being thanked, was
repeatedly abused before being banned. This may have stopped some
youngsters in their tracks but only served to spur the tenacious
teenager on to record a video and upload it to a blogspot which
soon caused quite a stir and caught the attention of a number of
mainstream media columnists.
Rhys further reported those
sellers he came across on the internet to Trading Standards and
encouraged others to do the same which spurred and article entitled
“The man who encourages the sick and dying to drink industrial
bleach” in The Guardian. With the help of Cllr John Dixon, he next
went to Cardiff County Council, on the 23rd September,
to ask exactly what was being done with regards to Trading
Standards and his complaints and encouraged the council to write to
the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Tony Jewell. The Food
Standards Agency has subsequently released a warning about MMS
which led to further interviews and more publicity for Rhys’
campaign.
He is pleased to announce that
many of the on-line traders of this awful product have been
forcibly shut down by Trading Standards and that the FSA has passed
the complaint on to the European Commission “so that the product
may be withdrawn across the European Authority.” The FSA also
started informing local authorities about MMS sellers found in
their areas and other European countries have also begun releasing
warnings similar to those of the FSA’s and the complaint has been
passed on to the World Health Organisation.
Rhys has recently been awarded
the James Randi Educational Foundation Award for Outstanding
Skepticism at the grassroots level at TAM London, was shortlisted
for the Radio 1 Teen Award. and has recently appeared on BBC 1’s
The One Show.
He has said: “MMS is
not a permitted food supplement. It is a disgrace
that people like Jim Humble prey on the sick and vulnerable in
order to make a living and I am pleased to have achieved what I
have to try to bring an end to such an unscrupulous trade. I don’t
intent to stop here!”
Nick Dorey, Principal at Kings
Monkton School commented: “What Rhys has achieved is quite
remarkable. Politicians and agencies can spend years cementing any
change. Rhys has managed to alter national and international
policies in just a few months. The quality of his campaigning
on-line, in radio interviews and on television has been exceptional
by any standards. He has done a great service to many vulnerable
individuals worldwide and his campaign also sends a strong reminder
of the dangers of believing all that you read on the internet.”
Click on the link below to read
some of Rhys' press coverage.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/tags/rhys-morgan/
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