Chase debanks Florida health company, owner critical of Covid policies, offers no reason

Dr. Joseph Mercola, owner and founder of Natural Health Partners, LLC and its subsidiary, Mercola Health Resources, has been a vocal critic of the official narrative surrounding Covid-19 and vaccines, pushing on numerous occasions claims that have garnered the attention and ire of scientists and the Food and Drug Administration.

According to Florida's Voice, Mercola and his employees all received letters from Chase dated July 13 vaguely explaining that they were no longer welcome to bank there.

"Financial institutions have an obligation to know our customers and monitor transactions that flow through our customers' accounts," Chase wrote in the letters, obtained by the outlet. "After careful consideration, we decided to close your accounts because of unexpected activity on this or another Chase account."

Mercola Health Resources CEO Steven Rye said even his wife and children were told they could not bank there, but after calling Chase, he was asked to submit paperwork to have his and his family's accounts reconsidered.

"It's just hard to believe that your family, your wife, your kids can't have a bank account because of the opinions of your employer and they've never done anything wrong," Rye said, pointing out that they "all have completely clear records."

Mercola, an osteopathic physician by training, sells a variety of holistic medicine and specialty natural health products, and "strives to expose corporate, government and mass media hype that diverts people from what is truly best for their health."

In 2021, the company was targeted by the FDA for pushing "unapproved and misbranded products" claiming to "mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19," namely Liposomal Vitamin C, Liposomal Vitamin D3, and Quercetin and Pterostilbene Advanced.

"Based on our review," the FDA wrote, "these products are unapproved new drugs sold in violation of section 505(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act."

The agency also went after Mercola for articles and social media posts in which he touted the benefits of Vitamins C and D.

At the height of the pandemic, Mercola co-authored a book titled "The Truth About Covid-19," in which he discussed "the great reset, lockdowns, vaccine passports and the new normal." The foreward was written by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, and it went on to become a bestseller.