April 24, 2020

Lysol Is Begging You Not to Listen to Donald Trump

“Under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body.”

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It’s come to this: The maker of Lysol and Dettol has issued a statement emphatically pushing back against President Donald Trump’s stunning suggestion that injections of disinfectants could be used to treat patients infected with COVID-19.

“We must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” the company, Reckitt Benckiser, said on Friday. “As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines.”

The statement comes hours after Trump openly mused about what he, wrongly, thought might be the potential benefits of disinfectant injections—as well as human exposure to ultraviolet light—in treating the coronavirus. “I see the disinfectant knocks it out in a minute,” Trump said at his daily coronavirus briefing on Thursday. “Is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs.”

In one camera angle, Dr. Deborah Birx, one of the top scientists on Trump’s coronavirus task force, is seen hanging her head as she takes in the president’s remarks. The apparent shock was echoed by public health experts and lawmakers who slammed Trump for, once again, spreading dangerous misinformation amid the pandemic. 

Trump has previously come under fire for his relentless promotion of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to cure COVID-19, despite experts warning that the treatment had yet to be proven as an effective option. But in recent days, Trump has toned down that campaign, as some recent studies have suggested that hydroxychloroquine, which can have serious side effects, may not be helping patients. 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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