A federal judge has ordered a self-described church to stop selling a bleach-based product that it claims cures coronavirus.

The Florida-based company, Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, is alleged to have improperly marketed its "Miracle Mineral Solution" as a treatment for COVID-19.

The product contains chlorine dioxide - a chemical compound that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned will turn into a dangerous bleach when it is mixed with other things, making consumers ill.

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Prosecutors in the US Attorney's Office in South Florida filed a civil complaint against the company and said its claims were "unsupported by any well-controlled clinical studies or other credible scientific substantiation".


It came after the FDA sent a warning letter to the company on 8 April over its claims, ordering it to respond within 48 hours about what corrective measures it planned to take.

Prosecutors also argued that the company is secular despite having the name "church" in its title. The firm's executives - Mark Grenon, Joseph Grenon, Jordan Grenon and Jonathan Grenon - hold titles of "bishop" or "archbishop".

The company describes itself as a "loose-knit organisation" on its website, adding that it was "formed to serve MANKIND directly" and "bring health to the world".

The Justice Department said that Mark Grenon made erroneous comments about a cure for coronavirus in a video on the company's website.

"The coronavirus is curable, do you believe it? You better... it's wicked good stuff Joe," he says in the clip.

Joseph Grenon then replies: "MMS will kill it."

According to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 700,000 known coronavirus infections in the US - the most of any country. At least 35,000 people there have died.

In March, Attorney General William Barr ordered all US Attorney offices to prioritise investigations into coronavirus-related scams, such as the peddling of fake cures, investment schemes and Medicare fraud.

Earlier this month, US celebrity "doctor" Drew Pinsky apologised for a series of statements where he downplayed the coronavirus and suggested it was "press-induced panic".

An online video put together clips from a series of appearances he made over a two-month period where he repeatedly suggested COVID-19 would not be as bad as the flu.

At one point, he said the probability of dying of coronavirus was less than being hit by an asteroid.

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American televangelist Kenneth Copeland recently claimed the coronavirus pandemic will be "over much sooner than you think" because "Christian people all over this country praying have overwhelmed it".

Mr Copeland declared COVID-19 was "finished" and "over" and made the US "healed and well again" in a sermon last month.

In another recent sermon, he summoned the "wind of God" to destroy the disease, chanting: "You are destroyed forever, and you'll never be back. Thank you, God. Let it happen. Cause it to happen."