Nathan Jones, CEO of Xlear, Inc. Statement in Response to a Lawsuit Filed by the Department of Justice, on Behalf of the United States, Alleging That Certain Statements Made by Xlear Violated the FTC Act and the Consumer Protection Act

AMERICAN FORK, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Nathan Jones, CEO of Xlear, Inc. released this statement in response to a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, on behalf of the United States, alleging that certain statements made by Xlear violated the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Consumer Protection Act:

Last year, the Government published on the website of the National Institutes of Health the results of a clinical trial performed by researchers at Larkin Community Hospital, Florida. The Larkin clinical trial found people who were already sick with COVID-19, who used Xlear nasal spray—and just Xlear nasal spray—cleared the disease and tested negative in half the time of the average COVID-19 case. None of the patients developed severe cases, none required hospitalization. Now the Government is suing Xlear asserting, among other things, that when Xlear tells people about scientific studies, even ones republished by the NIH, we are somehow misleading people and making false claims. It’s nonsensical.

What is more troubling, despite the results of the Larkin trial, and despite the results of a Government-funded Random Clinical Trial done at Vanderbilt University, and despite the findings of yet another Random Clinical Trial done in Georgia, the Government refuses to tell the American people that washing your nose may significantly reduce your risks of getting a severe case of COVID-19, which could result in hospitalization and death.

At the same time, growing numbers of in vitro studies find Xlear, and its components, are: antiviral (blocks adhesion—infection—by COVID-19); virucidal (kills and/or deactivates the COVID-19 virus); and, antibacterial (help prevent pneumonia, a leading COVID-19 co-morbidity). This is real science—done and published by independent medical experts. We believe so strongly in the science we are providing links to these studies here. People should read them for themselves.

In sharp contrast to trying to protect the American public, the Government is doing all in its power to stop Xlear from simply telling the public about the science. It is profoundly ironic that the Government, which now constantly ignores science for political reasons, suggests that it is taking this action against Xlear to somehow protect the people. From what is the Government protecting Americans? From the facts. From the science. From their right to know.

Notwithstanding the Government’s litany of failures in protecting Americans from COVID-19, the Government seeks to pin blame on Xlear, a small company trying to help Americans understand there are other things that you can do that may help to provide additional layer of protection against COVID-19 for you, your friends, and your family. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, social distance, use common-sense, wash your hands—and wash your nose.

The Government tells people to wash their hands; Yet COVID-19 is an upper respiratory illness. Most COVID-19 infections start in the nose. It makes commonsense to wash your nose. People have been using nasal cleansing to fight respiratory illnesses going back thousands of years.

Xlear denies the Government’s allegations. We will vigorously defend against the Government’s case, and, in doing so, defend the science against politics, paternalism, and dogmaticism.

References:
Go , Camille Celeste, Pandav, Krunal, Sanchez-Gonzalez, Marcos A, Ferrer Gustavo, Potential Role of Xylitol Plus Grapefruit Seed Extract Nasal Spray Solution in COVID-19: Case Series (Nov. 2020), available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7645297/
Ferrer, Gustavo, et al, A Nasal Spray Solution of Grapefruit Seed Extract plus Xylitol Displays Virucidal Activity Against SARS-Cov-2 In Vitro, BioRxiv (Nov. 25, 2020), available at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.23.394114v1.full;
Cannon, Mark, et al, In Vitro Analysis of the Anti-viral Potential of nasal spray constituents against SARS-CoV-2, bioRxiv 2020.12.02.408575, available at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.02.408575v2.full.pdf+html;
Ferrer, G., et al., In Vitro Analysis of the Anti-viral Potential of Nasal Spray Constituents Xylitol and Grapefruit Extract plus against SARS-CoV-2, forthcoming in Journal Virus Research;
Kimura, K., et al., Interim analysis of an open-label randomized controlled trial evaluating nasal irrigations in nonhospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2020; 10: 1325– 1328, available at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32914928/.
Amy Baxter, et al., Rapid initiation of nasal saline irrigation to reduce morbidity and mortality in COVID+ outpatients: a randomized clinical trial compared to a national dataset, medRxiv 2021.08.16.21262044; doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.16.21262044 available at https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.16.21262044v2;
Cegolon L, Javanbakht M, Mastrangelo G. Nasal disinfection for the prevention and control of COVID-19: A scoping review on potential chemo-preventive agents [published online ahead of print, 2020 Aug 18]. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2020;230:113605. doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2020.113605;
Lipworth B, Chan R, RuiWen Kuo C. COVID-19: Start with the nose. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2020;146(5):1214. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2020.06.038; Spinelli, M. et al., Importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions in lowering the viral inoculum to reduce susceptibility to infection by SARS-CoV-2 and potentially disease severity, The Lancet, Feb. 22, 2020, available at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30982-8/fulltext;
Radulesco T, Lechien JR, Saussez S, Hopkins C, Michel J. Safety and Impact of Nasal Lavages During Viral Infections Such as SARS-CoV-2. Ear Nose Throat J. 2021;100(2_suppl):188S-191S. doi:10.1177/0145561320950491.