An influencer has come under fire for encouraging parents to give their kids bleach to “cure” autism. Though there is no known cure for autism spectrum disorder, the influencer, Kerri Rivera, has falsely claimed that “parasites” cause autism and bleach can be used to “detoxify” the body. According to a recent report from The Independent, parents who have trusted Rivera’s advice have witnessed their kids suffer from dangerous side effects.
Rivera told parents to give their kids chlorine dioxide.
Chlorine dioxide, which is sometimes called “Miracle Mineral Solution” or MMS, is a bleach used as a cleaning agent and disinfectant. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, using the solution comes with serious health risks, such as vomiting, liver failure, and life-threatening low blood pressure.
“Consumers who have MMS should stop using it immediately and throw it away,” the FDA advises. The Georgia Department of Public Health also issued a warning about chlorine dioxide, noting that the “bleach-like cleaning agent” is for industrial use and “not meant to be swallowed by people.”
Rivera has dismissed these warnings and concerns, and she claimed that scary symptoms kids experience after ingesting the bleach mean that it’s “working,” per The Independent.
Parents have written to Rivera about the disturbing symptoms they witnessed.
According to The Independent, Rivera has a private support group for parents who have tried to use chlorine dioxide to cure autism. In the group, parents have expressed concerns about how the “treatment” has affected their children.
“I have noticed a high ammonia-smelling urine in my daughter’s pull-ups … I imagine these are the parasites dying and leaving behind their toxins. Is this a good sign to be smelling this?” one parent in the group wrote, per the news outlet. Parents have also posted in the group about rashes, seizures, and vomiting, among other symptoms.
Rivera has responded to comments like these by saying that the body is simply “detoxifying.”
Her TikTok has been deactivated, but she’s still active on Instagram.
In spite of promoting harmful misinformation about autism, Rivera has more than 17,000 followers on Instagram. The Independent confirmed that her TikTok, which previously had more than 3,000 followers, has been deactivated. Rivera has been spreading misinformation about autism for some time, but in 2015, she insisted that those who criticized her content were just “trolls.”
At the time, she claimed that her “autism cure” had treated autism in over 100 children.
One expert who recently spoke to The Independent described Rivera’s misinformation as “sickening.”
“No autistic person, parent or carer should be told to ‘cure’ their child by administering a dangerous, potentially life-threatening chemical,” Tim Nicholls, assistant director of policy, research and strategy at the National Autistic Society, told the news outlet. “Autism is a lifelong neurodivergence and disability, it is not a disease that can be ‘treated’ or ‘cured.'”
