A product being widely advertised is being called 'the Antidote.' The product website (www.biologicalmiracle.net) claims that the antidote is produced from the blood of crocodiles, and that it is effective against all bacteria and viruses.



Having read all pages that are accessible on the website, and having run a search on PubMed, I find no evidence that the crocodile product would be beneficial for Avian Flu or any other viral disease that affects humans.

A few claims that are unnsupported include:

• The common cold is a thing of the past, even serious infectious diseases such as Cancer, HIV, Avian(Bird) Flu, SARS and many other life threatening diseases can be helped by the miracle healing powers of the Antidote. Evidence? None, really. The website includes many testimonials (but no articles from referreed science journals).

• An emailed testimonial states: "The Antidote has done its work with parasites, polarity, biological warfare, viruses, bacteria, candida and even Parkinson's disease. My guess is that these organs are still being bombarded with Geopathic Stress, Inversion Air and Atmospheric conditions, so they need a boost with alternative medicine to achieve a more normal function. Hopefully my immune system will improve. But I am not complaining. Having all the free radicals under control is amazing to me." Yes, my organs are constantly bombarded with atmospheric conditions; we get weather here all the time! Perhaps that is why people get sick and feel 'under the weather.' Honestly, if the people selling this product can't spot this type of babble, but instead see it as 'proof' of their product, then they deserve public ridicule. I am a proponent of alternative medicine, but believe that proof is better than marketing hype.

There are also links to respectable websites that are provided in an attempt to bolster the claims made for the Antidote. I followed one of the links and found this:

"It has recently been brought to my attention that this website has been linked to a product called “The Antidote” marketed at Biologicalmiracle.com. The linkage of this page to their site should NOT be interpreted as an endorsement of Dr. Merchant or McNeese State University for this product. In April of 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an import alert on the sale of this product into the United States. This alert can be viewed at the following web site: http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia5718.html (cache)."

Mark Merchant, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
McNeese State University
link (cache)

Conclusions

While I do believe that we may someday have antibiotics derrived from reptiles or amphibians, there is NO EVIDENCE that the 'Antidote' is useful in treating any type of influenza virus. It is far more likely that these potential drugs would be used against bacteria, fungi, or parasites. Crocodiles did not evolve to survive bird flu, but are constantly being exposed to other water borne diseases.

The persons marketing the 'Antidote' make broad, unsubstantiated claims. Save your money. This claims made for this product would be funny, if not for the fact that people's health is at risk.

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