Just over a year ago I posted that 12 charges had been brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions against Belinda Gae Harris over the supply and advertising of black salve products. This followed an investigation by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which confirmed alleged criminal offences under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (the Act), against Harris.
Harris insisted on her blog she was “helping people” and had written on Facebook about using the dangerous corrosive to “suck out” snake bite poison and COVID-19 vaccines from the injection site. The TGA reported at the time she faced up to “a maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $222,000 for each charge”. Harris, who traded under ‘Tickety Boo Herbal’, was manifestly spared the maximum sentence. Found guilty of 10 charges on 30 October 2025 in Deniliquin Local Court, the TGA reported on 16 January 2026, that Harris had been:
[S]entenced today to 7 months imprisonment, a community corrections order, and fines of $20,000 for unlawfully advertising and supplying black salve and bloodroot capsules, and for advertising other unapproved therapeutic goods to treat serious conditions such as anxiety.
And that:
Ms Harris was released on recognizance of $2,000 and on condition of good behaviour for a period of 3 years with 6 months supervision. Ms Harris is prohibited from making restricted and prohibited representations about therapeutic goods by any means, including on social media. The term of imprisonment can be imposed if the conditions of the good behaviour bond are breached.
Ms Harris is also subject to a community corrections order with a supervision period of 3 years.
The prohibitions regarding publication about therapeutic goods, particularly on social media, and the threat of prison linked to the good behaviour bond, are certainly welcome. Let’s revisit some of Harris’ response to the charges last January:
I’m just going to keep doing it, because I’m helping people and I’m saving lives. My angels managed to keep this at bay until 2025… This matrix is bullshit. Bullshit lies. They’re allowed to administer carcinogenic chemotherapy to people and fry the fuck out of them with their radiation.
But I’m not allowed to do a simple herbal remedy that I have tested over and over again… I’ll see you in court government… You can’t shut me up. If you put me in jail I’ll just be educating everybody around me. Okay. Namaste. Loving you. Ben Abou.
Okay. Namaste it is.
Her Honour Magistrate Humphreys said “the offending was deliberate and planned”. She added:
The Court has an obligation to deter similar offending as it is of a kind that could cause great harm…
…The existence of a community of persons interested in the use of potentially dangerous alternative treatments for serious illnesses such as cancer adds weight to the need for general deterrence. Others involved in such communities must be dissuaded from engaging in similar conduct
In a welcome addition the magistrate also noted the indirect harm Harris’ actions had caused, in that there was, “a real potential for users of the product to delay seeking or obtaining conventional treatment”. This is an important point and often overlooked. Regardless of potential harm, any treatment that interferes with evidence-based medicine or leads to patients withholding information from specialists, can prove disastrous.
Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and head of the TGA, Professor Anthony Lawler said he was pleased with the outcome. He continued:
This significant penalty sends a clear message to anyone seeking to profit from the unlawful supply and advertising of therapeutic goods. The TGA’s highest priority is protecting the health and safety of the Australian public, and products like black salve have the potential to cause serious harm to people.
We will continue to take strong and decisive action against those who disregard their legal obligations under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 by advertising and supplying unapproved therapeutic goods.
Sanguinarine, a primary corrosive agent in black salve, is listed as a Schedule 10 substance in the Poisons Standard. These are described as substances “so dangerous to health that they are prohibited from sale, supply and use in Australia”.
Black Salve is a substance that helps nobody. Don’t be fooled by high-risk, untested so-called “alternatives”.
TGA links:
Losing In The Lucky Country 