Time Is Running Out To Get The First Techdirt Commemorative Coin By Contributing To Our Fundraiser
At the beginning of the month, we [kicked off][1] a fundraising drive to help sustain the independent, uncompromising coverage that we always try to offer at Techdirt. We also decided to try a new experiment that we hope to turn into an annual tradition: offering up a [limited edition commemorative coin][2] for our biggest supporters. Since 2026 also happens to be the 30th birthday of Section 230, a law we write about a whole lot around here, we figured that would be a great milestone to mark with this inaugural coin!
Now we’re reaching the end of our fundraiser, and **time is running out**. If you want to get your hands on the coin, you can [make a donation of $100 or more][3] by **Monday, January 5th.** Shortly after that we’ll be minting the coins and sending them out, after which they’ll never be available again — so if you don’t want to miss out, don’t delay!
[2]: https://rtb.techdirt.com/products/friend-of-techdirt/
Let’s Go! The Public Domain Game Jam Starts Today
As you hopefully [know by now][1], we are once again hosting our annual game jam celebrating the works that enter the public domain in 2026, a.k.a. today! This year, that means we enter a new decade, as works originally published in 1930 *finally* exit copyright protection and become free to remix, repurpose, and build on. **[Gaming Like It’s 1930!][2]** begins today and runs **until the end of the month**, and we’re calling on designers of all stripes to help us show why a robust and growing public domain is so valuable and important.
You can sign up on [the game jam page on Itch][3], read the full rules, and get some ideas about works you might use (but we encourage you to go looking for other hidden gems too!) As usual, we’ll be giving away prizes in six different categories. For extra inspiration, you can have a look at [last year’s winners][4] and our series of [winner spotlight posts][5] that take a look at each year’s winning entries in more detail.
We’re always astounded by the creativity on display in these jams, and I’m sure this year will be no different. 2026 has now begun, so it’s time to get designing!
[1]: https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/28/its-almost-time-the-public-domain-game-jam-starts-this-week/
[2]: https://itch.io/jam/gaming-like-its-1930
[3]: https://itch.io/jam/gaming-like-its-1930
[4]: https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/26/announcing-the-winners-of-the-7th-annual-public-domain-game-jam/
[5]: https://www.techdirt.com/tag/winner-spotlight/
https://www.techdirt.com/2026/01/01/lets-go-the-public-domain-game-jam-starts-today/
Use The Failures Of The Past As Inspiration For A Better Future
Look, I get it. The world is a mess. Important institutions are crumbling. It feels like both the tech and political worlds are collaborating to squeeze all remaining humanity out of all of us. Cynicism is ascendant. Nihilism is the new black.
And yet: I remain optimistic.
Not the naive, everything-will-work-out-fine kind of optimism. The kind grounded in seeing what’s actually happening beneath the surface-level chaos. Because while legacy institutions are [capitulating][1] and [folding][2], others are [standing up][3] and [speaking out][4]. And more importantly, people are building alternatives that route around the failures entirely.
This is the pattern: centralized systems fail, people figure out how to build around them. We’ve seen it before. We’ll see it again. The difference this time is that we’re building with the knowledge of how those systems failed baked in from the start.
Every year, my final post on Techdirt is about optimism. For the past decade, I’ve felt like I needed to apologize for it. Not this year. At the lowest points, you need optimism. Things are a mess. But let’s roll up our sleeves and fix stuff. And it’s easier to maintain that optimism when you can see the concrete alternatives already taking shape, even if only in their earliest forms.
If you want to see the past final posts of the year, they’re here:
* **2008**: [**On Staying Happy**][5]
* **2009**: [**Creativity, Innovation And Happiness**][6]
* **2010**: [**From Pessimism To Optimism… And The Power Of Innovation**][7]
* **2011**: [**From Optimism And Innovation… To The Power To Make A Difference**][8]
* **2012**: [**Innovation, Optimism And Opportunity: All Coming Together To Make Real Change**][9]
* **2013**: [**Optimism On The Cusp Of Big Changes**][10]
* **2014**: [**Change, Innovation And Optimism, Despite Challenges**][11]
* **2015**: [**Keep Moving Forward**][12]
* **2016**: [**No One Said It Would Be Easy…**][13]
* **2017**: [**Keep On Believing**][14]
* **2018**: [**Do Something Different**][15]
* **2019**: [**Opportunities Come From Unexpected Places**][16]
* **2020**: [**Make The World A Better Place**][17]
* **2021**: [**The Arc Of The Moral Universe Is A Twisty Path**][18]
* **2022:** [**The Opportunity To Build A Better Internet Is Here. Right Now.**][19]
* **2023:** [**Moving Fast And Breaking Things Is The Opposite Of Tech Optimism**][20]
* **2024:** [**The Biggest Challenges Create The Biggest Opportunities**][21]
Earlier this month, with some friends, we [launched][22] the [Resonant Computing Manifesto][23]—a framework for building tech that empowers rather than extracts, that resonates with what people actually want rather than what some corporation or politician decides they should have.
The response was overwhelming. Over and over we heard from people who’d been thinking similar thoughts but didn’t realize how many others shared them. That’s how movements start: not with grand pronouncements, but with the realization that you’re not alone in seeing what needs to change.
A movement comes about as more and more people realize things that need to change and need to be fixed and then step up and say “hey, we can be a part of the process of fixing things.” It’s not easy. It doesn’t happen overnight. There’s no silver bullet.
But you can move things in the direction of change towards a better system. And as more people join in, real change is possible.
Take politics. People are rightfully upset about the direction things are heading, in the US and globally. But the backlash is producing politicians [who believe in actually helping people][24] over accumulating power. That matters.
And, similarly, for all the reasonable fears about giant tech companies working hand in hand with authoritarians, we’re seeing that kick off the processes that will enable more people to take more control over their own lives, and away from those collaborators.
Or take AI. Yes, the slop is real and the hype is exhausting. But the same tools the giants are using to flood the internet with garbage can be turned against them. I’ve spent this year building [personalized tools][25] that work for me without handing my data to corporations for their benefit over mine. You can [take back control from the billionaires][26]. The tools exist.
This matters more now that we’ve watched centralized systems and power-hungry billionaires get co-opted by authoritarian regimes. But we can use the tools of innovation to empower ourselves over them.
It’s also why I remain incredibly bullish on the work being done on open social networks like Bluesky (where I’m on the board). This year may have felt slower than the year before, but there are so many exciting developments happening where people are building amazing tools and systems without having to rely on billionaires or ask for permission.
This feels like the early internet, when you could just build something and see what happened. But we’re smarter now. We’ve seen how centralized systems become capture points for authoritarians. We know the failure modes. So we’re building with that knowledge baked in—creating systems that are, by design, resistant to the kind of control we’ve watched corrupt the previous generation of platforms.
The mess that we’re in today on both the tech and political vectors should be seen as a guide to where we need to go and what needs to be done. The seeds have already been planted and many folks are already building. The optimistic viewpoint is that this movement will continue to grow and more people will continue to see how they, too, don’t need to be held back by the whims of billionaires and authoritarians, but can use the tools of innovation for their own interests.
**As always, my final thoughts on these posts are thanking all of you, the community around Techdirt, for making all of this worthwhile—and this year in particular for** [**coming out to support our fundraiser and our continued existence**][27]**. The community remains an amazing thing to me. I’ve said in the past that I write as if I’m going to share my thoughts into an empty void, not expecting anyone to ever pay attention, and I’m always amazed when anyone does, whether it’s to disagree with me, add some additional insights, challenge my thinking, or reach out to talk about how to actually move some ideas forward.**
**I know this community is full of creators, thinkers and advocates who care deeply about using technology to make the world better. Let’s use this opportunity to prove that innovation, thoughtfully applied, can route around institutional failure and corruption. Once again, thank *you* to those who are reading this for making Techdirt such a wonderful and special place, and let’s focus on being truly optimistic about the opportunities in front of us.**
[2]: https://www.techdirt.com/2025/11/12/cowardice-and-capitulation-at-cornell/
[4]: https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/22/harvard-goes-to-court-to-stop-trump-nonsense/
[5]: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081230/2351323263.shtml
[6]: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091231/0417397561.shtml
[12]: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151230/11260433205/new-years-message-keep-moving-forward.shtml
[14]: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171227/17121238887/new-years-message-keep-believing.shtml
[18]: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/12/31/new-years-message-arc-moral-universe-is-twisty-path/
[21]: https://www.techdirt.com/2024/12/31/the-biggest-challenges-create-the-biggest-opportunities/
[23]: https://resonantcomputing.org/
[25]: https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/03/how-i-built-a-task-management-tool-for-almost-nothing/
[26]: https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/03/stop-begging-billionaires-to-fix-software-build-your-own/
[27]: https://rtb.techdirt.com/products/friend-of-techdirt/
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/31/use-the-failures-of-the-past-as-inspiration-for-a-better-future/
How The Viral Cheese Grater Foam Hat Came From A GB Packers C&D Letter
I certainly don’t expect the wider Techdirt readership to care all that much about NFL football or, more specifically a single local team like the Chicago Bears. So, to that end, here’s a hopefully educational preamble to this post that will provide you with the context you need. If you were to make a list of the single biggest rivalries in the NFL, that list should begin with the rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. The rivalry has existed since 1921 between two charter franchise teams. Packers fans refer to themselves as “Cheese Heads” and even go so far to wear foam caps to games to celebrate the moniker.
*By [Chris F][1]. on [Wikipedia Commons][2]. [CC BY 2.0][3].*
While the Packers didn’t event the foam cap, they did buy the rights to it decades ago and those hats are now official Packers products sold on the team’s storefront. Plenty of other companies out there make variants of them as well and the Packers have been known to fire off legal notices and C&D letters as a result.
One of those companies was Foam Party Hats out of Houston, Texas. They briefly produced their own version of the “cheesehead” foam hat, but shut down production of them after the team [contacted them and demanded they stop][4]. Here is owner Manuel Rojas:
> *Foam Party Hats has hundreds of different products and, at one time, used to make a cheese head.*
>
> *“We end up getting a cease and desist letter from the Green Bay Packers,” Rojas explained.*
>
> *But that setback turned into a better opportunity.*
>
> *“So as a payback, we came up with this sign of, you know, making our own cheese grater hats. And, well, this is like the best revenge that we could ever have,” Rojas said.*
Yes, Rojas and the company turned the C&D notice they received into another foam hat product, this time a cheese grater. And those cheese grater hats have been selling fast, having gone viral during the last two Packer losses, one to the Bears, and one to the Baltimore Ravens. In both instances, players from the winning team wore one of the grater hats on television as they celebrated their respective wins.
And as a result, [sales of the grater hats have exploded][5]. What was once a small time novelty item is now selling in the thousands over these past couple of weeks. And, what’s more, Rojas is getting inquiries from all kinds of storefronts and is hoping to work with some NFL teams directly.
> *Rojas said now he’s thinking of more ways to tap into the NFL and continue to reach fans in new and creative ways.*
>
> *“Now that things are starting off with the Chicago Bears fans, we want to take advantage of this and actually build a brand more towards NFL fans because I know people love this stuff and at Foam Party Hats, we shine with creativity,” he said.*
>
> *He said the company is even planning to reach out to the Bears directly.*
>
> *“The next move for us is definitely to sell them to the Bears and see where we can collaborate,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of inquires from stores near the Chicago area to see where we can sell these.”*
And there you have it. Because the Packers wanted to exert control over a foam hat created to celebrate Packers fans, it instead has fueled the team’s chief rivalry all the more, while birthing a competing product designed to make fun of the team instead. I’m not sure that’s exactly what they were going for, but it’s nice to see a company make nimble work of all of this and turn it into fun win for everyone.
Everyone except the Packers, that is. Go bears.
[1]: https://www.flickr.com/people/114264438@N03
[2]: .jpg)
[3]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
[4]: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/meet-company-behind-viral-cheese-042240024.html
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book On A Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism To Cancer
*This story was [originally published][1] by ProPublica.* *Republished under a [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0][2]* *license.*
For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.
He’s promoted [disproven treatments for COVID-19][3] and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” 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.
The book is “[The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine*”*][4] by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before [losing his medical certification][5] for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, [makes him unemployable][6], even though he still has a license.
Kory has said there’s 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 “remarkable molecule” works “to treat everything from cancer and malaria to autism and COVID.”
The book jacket features a prominent blurb from Johnson calling the doctor’s treatise: “A gripping tale of corruption and courage that will open eyes and prompt serious questions.”
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.
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.
Still, for many years people in online discussion groups have been promoting the use of chlorine dioxide in a mixture that they call a “miracle mineral solution,” 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][7].
It is not medicinal, despite Kory’s contention. “It is all lunacy. Absolutely, it’s 100% nonsense,” said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society in Montreal and an expert on the [threat of pseudoscience.][8] Schwarcz has [written articles][9] about the so-called miracle mineral solution, calling it “a poison” when it’s in high concentrations.
Kory’s book, set to be released to the public in January, argues that word of chlorine dioxide’s 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 “war” in the title is fitting, Kory [said in a recent online video][10] on his co-author’s Substack. “In the book I detail many, many assassination attempts of doctors who try to bring out knowledge around chlorine dioxide,” he said.
Johnson confirmed to ProPublica in an email that he authorized the statement on the cover. “After reading the entire book, yes I provided and approved that blurb,” he said. “Have you read the book?”
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.)
The book “is a comprehensive examination of the existing evidence and a plea for open-minded inquiry and rigorous research,” she wrote on Substack. She dismissed warnings about chlorine dioxide’s toxicity in high concentrations, writing: “Everything has a toxic dose — including nutmeg, spinach, and tap water.”
She said that chlorine dioxide is being studied in controlled settings by researchers in the United States and Latin America and that “the real debate is how it should be used, at what dose, and in which clinical contexts.”
Her [Substack post][11] was signed “Jenna (& Pierre).”
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.
### “It’s Called Snake Oil”
Johnson has been an advocate of Kory’s for years, calling the doctor as an expert witness in two 2020 [Senate hearings.][12] In one, Kory championed taking the drug ivermectin, an antiparasite medicine, to treat COVID-19.
In 2021, [an analysis of data][13] 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.
In 2022, however, the American Journal of Therapeutics, which had published the study, [warned that suspicious data][14] “appears to invalidate the findings” regarding ivermectin’s potential to decrease deaths.
[Later clinical trials have found][15] no beneficial effect of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the FDA [has warned][16] that taking large doses can be dangerous. The drug’s manufacturer has said [it hadn’t found any scientific basis][17] for the idea that ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19. Kory, though, continued advocating for ivermectin.
In 2024 the American Board of Internal Medicine, which credentials physicians in certain specialties, revoked Kory’s 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.
Kory vigorously fought the disciplinary action, arguing to the ABIM that he provided substantial medical and scientific evidence to support his [recommendations][18] for addressing COVID-19, though not the “consensus-driven” 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 “bullies physicians” and “enforces ideological conformity.”
In 2022, Johnson and Kory penned [a Fox News op-ed][19] opposing [a California bill ][20]that would strip doctors’ licenses for espousing misinformation about COVID-19. The bill became law but [was repealed][21] after a court fight. A federal judge found the statute’s definition of misinformation [to be too vague][22], which could infringe on doctors’ right to free speech.
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 “an early adopter of anti-science ideas.”
Lurie said that Johnson is no longer an outlier in Washington, which now has many more elected lawmakers whom he considers anti-science. “What 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,” he said.
Earlier this year, Johnson held a hearing highlighting a flawed study claiming that [vaccinated children][23] 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’s researchers][24] chose not to publish it because of problems they found in their data and methodology.
In November, Johnson and Kory were listed [among the speakers][25] at a conference of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that stirs [anti-vaccine sentiment.][26] 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. ][27]
HHS did not respond to requests from ProPublica about Kennedy’s 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, “even chlorine dioxide.”
Kory’s publisher is listed as Bella Luna Press, which has issued at least two other titles by McCarthy. “Thanks to the Censorship Industrial Complex, you won’t find *The War on Chlorine Dioxide *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,” the book’s website states. (A representative for Bella Luna could not be reached for comment.)
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.
Some parents of children with autism, desperate for a remedy, have long reached for [dubious and at times dangerous panaceas,][28] including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy, used for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. Neither method has been proven effective.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University, said Johnson has “acted extremely irresponsibly” in lending his name to a book making claims about chlorine dioxide treating autism.
“Wisconsin is filled with experts — clinical experts, medical experts, scientists — who understand and have studied autism and treatments for autism for many many years,” she said. “He’s chosen to completely ignore the clinical and the scientific community.”
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.
Referring to chlorine dioxide, she said: “We have had examples of this probably throughout the history of medicine. There’s a word for this, it’s called snake oil.”
In her response on Substack to ProPublica, McCarthy wrote that “chlorine dioxide is being used to treat (nobody said ‘cure’) autism with life-changing results.”
### The Search for Miracle Cures
The mother of an autistic son, Melissa Eaton of [North Carolina][29], 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][30] for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. She then looked up the book online and noticed Johnson’s endorsement.
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. “They’re throwing up and vomiting and having diarrhea and rashes,” Eaton said.
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.
“Most of these kids are nonverbal,” Eaton said. “They’re not able to say what’s hurting them or what’s happening to them. The parents feel they’re doing the right thing. That’s how they view this: They’re helping to cure autism.”
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.
Humble later co-founded a “health and healing” 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 “miracle mineral solution,” or MMS.
Grenon [went to prison in 2023][31] 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.
An affidavit in the case filed by a special agent with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations noted: “FDA has received numerous reports of adverse reactions to MMS. These adverse reactions include hospitalizations, life-threatening conditions, and death.”
Grenon, who is now out of prison, told ProPublica that he too is writing a book about chlorine dioxide. “My book will tell the truth.” He declined further comment.
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 “keep out of reach of children.”) It’s also available to consumers in do-it-yourself packages where they combine drops from two bottles of different compounds — commonly sodium chlorite and hydrochloric acid — and add it to water. Hikers often carry the drops, or tablets, using small amounts to make quarts of fresh water potable.
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.
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You 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.”
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.
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.
“I like to say I was excommunicated from the church of the medical establishment,” he said in the Substack video. As a result, he said, he turned to telehealth and started a practice.
In the Nov. 6 HighWire episode hosted by Bigtree, the discussion included talk not just of chlorine dioxide’s medicinal potential but also of how cheap and easy it is to obtain.
“On Amazon, it’s literally, you get two bottles, well, it comes in two,” Kory started to explain, before stopping that train of thought.
“I wouldn’t know how to make it,” he said.
[1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-johnson-wisconsin-chlorine-dioxide-pierre-kory-endorsement
[2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
[3]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/
[4]: https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/
[6]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[7]: https://www.e-lactancia.org/media/papers/Dioxido_cloroSMM-FDA2019_eng.pdf
[8]: https://www.ebay.com/p/9057275448
[10]: https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you
[11]: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180565271
[13]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248252/
[14]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946064/
[15]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2801828
[16]: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19
[17]: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-statement-on-ivermectin-use-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
[18]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FLCCC-Media-Statement.pdf
[20]: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2098
[21]: https://reason.com/2023/10/11/california-quietly-repeals-restrictions-on-doctors-covid-19-advice/
[23]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Siri-Testimony-1.pdf
[24]: https://www.henryford.com/news/2025/09/henry-ford-health-vaccine-study-fact-check
[25]: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-2025-conference/
[26]: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/05/30/wisconsin-doctor-makes-wild-measles-claims/
[27]: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5626374-fda-vaccine-rules-child-covid-deaths/
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Quite obviously, the Trump Administration was never going to respect the law when it came to its mass deportation plans. That much became immediately clear as ICE engaged in raid after raid of neighborhoods and businesses, searching for literally any migrant, rather than just those suspected of or convicted for violent crimes. As soon as […]
Trump’s War On Knowledge Requires Re-inventing Academic Publishing
A year ago, Walled Culture wrote about a growing risk that we will lose access to the world’s knowledge, because of a failure by traditional academic publishers to place copies of the articles they publish in key backup archives. Although unacceptable, that oversight is more a matter of laziness and cost cutting on the part of […]
Daily Deal: The Complete Circuit Design And Simulation Super Bundle
The Complete Circuit Design and Simulation Super Bundle has 19 courses on electronics, 3D simulation, and PCB builds. You’ll learn what tools you need to set up your own home lab, how to build your own Arduino board, how to solder, how to create a customized printed circuit board, and more. It’s on sale for […]