Scientologist Brent Jones has taken down his Real Water website. We point this out because the first indicators of serious trouble at GPB Capital Holdings began when the firm started removing people and information from its website.

Brent Jones of Real Water made a video last week in which he pledged to cooperate with the FDA investigation into the cases of acute non-viral hepatitis linked to the consumption of Real Water.

Now, however, Jones is not cooperating and is refusing to turn over documents to the FDA. Accordingly, the FDA has used its enforcement powers to file a Section 414 Demand for Records. From the FDA statement (emphasis ours):

The FDA, along with the CDC and the Southern Nevada Health District, is investigating a number of reports of acute non-viral hepatitis in the state of Nevada associated with “Real Water” brand alkaline water.

On March 25, 2020, in addition to the information reported in the firm’s recall, FDA learned that that 3- and 5-gallon containers of Real Water brand drinking water were distributed in the state of Utah.

Given a lack of cooperation by the firm, FDA investigators have been unable to complete investigations at the “Real Water” Inc. facilities in Henderson, NV and Mesa, AZ and have not been provided with requested records. As a result, on March 23 and on March 25, FDA issued a Demand for Records under section 414 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Consumption of “Real Water” brand alkaline water is the only common link identified among all of these cases to date. This brand of alkaline water is owned by Real Water Inc., headquartered in Mesa, Arizona.

Although the investigation is ongoing, current epidemiologic information indicates that this alkaline water product may be the cause of the illnesses.

As this outbreak investigation continues, the FDA will provide additional updates to this advisory as more information becomes available.

What Brent Jones has left posted at the Real Water website are two downloadable and outdated product testing reports from third-party labs. These reports are meaningless inasmuch the contamination happened after the test reports. Jones is apparently trying to show that Real Water was tested at regular intervals.

The question we ask is this: Did Real Water have automated live-testing in place at its facilities for each and every batch of water it bottled and shipped? Did Real Water do any on site batch testing at all?

The downloadable Eurofins report at the Real Water site provides batch testing results but does not explicitly state where or how the testing was done. Further, per the Eurofins report the testing was conducted for Western Environmental Testing Laboratory (WetLabs) and not for Real Water. The WetLabs website states that it couriers samples. There appears to be a long chain of transport and custody for Real Water batch sample testing.

This chain presumably runs from Real Water in Las Vegas to WetLabs to Eurofins in Monrovia, California. We could be incorrect as the data Jones posted is ambiguous. The FDA would be asking for specific data of this type and yet Jones is pushing back on the FDA requests. Hence, the FDA’s Section 414 enforcement action.

Real Water appears to have relied upon vendors and did not perform automated live-testing of each batch at its production facilities. Properly calibrated and maintained onsite batch testing should have caught the contamination. The next question is this: What happened at Real Water? Was there a break down in the chain of custody in testing? How did contaminated product get past Real Water QA and onto the loading dock for shipping? This is what the FDA, the CDC, and Nevada health authorities are trying to determine.

A PRIOR CASE OF SCIENTOLOGISTS REFUSING TO COOPERATE
WITH HEALTH AUTHORITIES

Brent Jones is not the first Scientologist that refused to cooperate with public health authorities.

The Church of Scientology’s ship MV Freewinds was stricken by a measles outbreak in 2019. St. Lucia health authorities ordered the vessel into a 21 day quarantine after several cases of measles were confirmed aboard the Scientology vessel. The MV Freewinds ignored the quarantine order and instead departed St. Lucia and headed back to its then home port in Curacao.

The pandemic has seen the MV Freewinds permanently docked in Aruba since March 12, 2020.

The FDA document on Real Water: