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British Teen Rhys Morgan Tweets to Raise Awareness About Fake Drug

by Amar Toor on October 19, 2010 at 11:00 AM

rhys morgan tweet
We all know that we can't trust everything we read on the Web, yet when many of us get sick, we still tend to seek medical advice online before consulting doctors or health care professionals. Although some online sources do offer valid, fact-based advice, others can often misinform and mislead curious web surfers, who may suffer severe health consequences as a result. Rhys Morgan, a 15-year-old afflicted with Crohn's disease, could've very easily fallen prey to this online trap of misinformation. Instead, he spent a few extra minutes doing some research on a suspicious drug, and, with the help of Twitter, has now singlehandedly exposed the medicine for what it is: a fraud.

While browsing through an online support forum for others afflicted with the digestive condition, Morgan learned about a so-called 'miracle drug' called MMS. The British teenager eventually landed on the drug's website, where purported creator Jim Humble trumpeted MMS as "the answer to AIDS, hepatitis A, B and C, malaria, herpes, TB, most cancers and many more of mankind's worse diseases." The site also claimed that MMS had been tested on over 75,000 people in Africa, and that Humble himself had used the drug to treat 2,000 malaria victims.

Instead of taking Humble at his not-so-humble word, however, Morgan decided to do some independent research, and discovered the alarming truth behind the MMS ruse. According to the FDA's website, MMS, "when used as directed, produces an industrial bleach that can cause serious harm to health." The British Food Standards Agency, meanwhile, warned that the drug could "cause severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea."

Worried that others may fall for Humble's scheme, the teenager rushed to Twitter, where he posted a series of tweets about his recent discovery. Within a few hours, the number of people following Morgan's account jumped from 150 to 350. Prominent British science journalists also noticed his tweets, and retweeted his warnings to their followers, as well.

Humble, thus far, has not commented on his drug, but Morgan is hopeful that the apparent con artist will think long and hard about what kind of business he's running, and change his ways. It remains to be seen, of course, what Humble does and whether he'll suffer any legal consequences for his action. In the meantime, though, it's safe to say that MMS' sale figures will probably decline, and fewer people will fall for its phony claims. And Morgan, at least, should feel pretty good about himself.

Tags: british, CrohnsDisease, doctor, drugs, health, jim humble, JimHumble, medicine, mms, scam, SocialNetworking, teenagers, top, twitter, web

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