<p>
	A baby boy whose father advocates the use of &ldquo;harmful alternative medication&rdquo; should be taken into council care, a family court judge has decided.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	The man had sold Master Mineral Solution (MMS) as a treatment for cancer and autism, social services staff told Judge Helen Black.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Staff said MMS was a sodium chlorite solution equivalent to industrial-strength bleach. They said the man advocated the use of MMS and his website included &ldquo;paraphernalia for the administration of such products to babies&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Social workers said there were concerns that the boy, now aged about eight months, might ingest &ldquo;harmful alternative medication&rdquo; either directly or via his mother&rsquo;s breast milk.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Detail of the case has emerged in a ruling published by the judge following a family court hearing in Portsmouth, Hampshire.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Judge Black said Southampton City Council had responsibility for the boy and had asked her to make decisions about the boy&rsquo;s long-term future. She said the boy&rsquo;s father was English and his mother Portuguese.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Judge Black said the little boy had been temporarily taken from his parents when he was a few days old over fears including that the boy had not been given appropriate medical attention.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Judge Black said the boy&rsquo;s parents had not attended family court hearings for a number of months &mdash; and had gone to Portugal.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	(Published by the Irish Examiner on the 24th August 2016)</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/baby-taken-into-care-over-risky-treatment-417448.html">http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/baby-taken-into-care-over-risky-treatment-417448.html</a></p>
