A baby boy whose father advocates the use of “harmful alternative drugs” should be placed in council care, a family court judge ruled. The man had sold Master Mineral Solution (MMS) as a treatment for cancer and autism, social services staff told Judge Helen Black. Staff said MMS was a sodium chlorite solution equivalent to industrial-strength bleach – and they said the Food Standards Agency had warned it should not be taken.

They said the man advocated the use of MMS and that his website included “paraphernalia for administering these products to babies.” Social workers said there were concerns the boy, now around eight months old, could ingest “harmful alternative drugs” either directly or through his mother’s breast milk.

Details of the case emerged in a decision released by the judge following a family court hearing in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Judge Black said the family involved could not be identified – but said Southampton City Council was responsible for the boy and asked him to make decisions about the boy’s long-term future. She said the child’s father was English and her mother Portuguese.

Judge Black said the little boy was temporarily taken away from his parents when he was just days old after social workers and police became concerned for his safety. She said social workers had a number of concerns, including that the boy had not received proper medical care.

The judge said the boy’s parents had not attended family court hearings for several months – and had been to Portugal. They had complained that their baby had been “kidnapped” by the council “in order to be adopted”. Judge Black retorted that the couple had in fact “abandoned” their son and that no other family member had come forward as a potential caregiver.

“This child has been waiting in the health care system almost since birth … for decisions to be made about his future,” Justice Black said. “The parents abandoned him as they took no action that would allow the local authority or the court to consider resuming contact, let alone rehabilitation.” She added: “The court is convinced that there is no one who is able to meet the needs of the child and that there is no parent who has the ability or the willingness to meet the needs of the child. of the child. “

Justice Black said removing the children from the parents and placing them in the care of the counsels was “serious business” and such steps should only be taken if “nothing else will.” But she added: “There is no other option in this case. . Judge Black praised the social service staff for the ‘enormous effort’ they had put into ‘involving’ the boy’s parents.

Pennsylvania