Friday, Sept. 3, 2021 | 6:22 p.m.
A Las Vegas man is accused of manufacturing and selling a chemical compound he claimed could cure COVID-19, autism and cancer, according to his arrest report.
Elias Daniel Beltran Suarez, 53, was charged this week with practicing medicine without a license and is awaiting trial in December after police received an anonymous tip that he was manufacturing and selling the substance chlorine dioxide.
Metro Police received an anonymous tip alleging Suarez was selling the substance after his information was found on Telegram and the website comusav.com, according to an arrest report. Police say he advertised his chlorine dioxide on the internet and on social media.
After Beltran Suarez was taken into custody, police searched his residence and found multiple five-gallon buckets filled with an unknown liquid, a bucket containing tubes, a respirator, and several glass jars and plexiglass devices, according to the report. Investigators found he held no licenses with the Nevada State Board of Examiners to practice medicine.
Suarez claimed he has advanced degrees from institutions in Mexico for chemistry and electrochemistry, and called the compound an alternative therapy, according to the report. He said the machine he used to make the compound was the same machine he uses to clean pools. He also admitted that he should not be treating patients and the ingredients used to make the substance were purchased from Amazon, Lowe's and a local herbal supplement store.
The FDA in April 2020 issued a warning that chlorine dioxide products should not be used to treat COVID-19 and described the substance as a bleaching agent. The agency said it was not aware of “any scientific evidence supporting their safety or effectiveness and they pose significant risks to patient health.”
Consuming chlorine dioxide, especially in children, can cause adverse health effects like respiratory failure, abnormal heart rhythms, low blood pressure, acute liver failure, low blood cell counts, severe vomiting and diarrhea, the FDA said.
The FDA also advises against ingesting Ivermectin, a drug used in humans and animals to treat conditions caused by parasitic worms, to treat COVID-19. The agency said clinical trials assessing the dewormer to prevent or treat COVID-19 are ongoing, but taking large amounts of it — such as doses meant for large animals — is dangerous.
The most effective way to limit the spread of COVID-19, the FDA says, is to get one of the vaccines and following guidance set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
