First, try to answer specifically what you asked:

-- Scientific studies: Wikipedia says there is no scientific evidence of any positive effects. If anyone finds studies (whether conclusive one way or the other) hopefully they will update the wikipedia article to reference them. (I assume the reason there is a lack of scientific evidence is that scientists can see immediately that this will not "cleanse" the body and that it is unhealthy to deliberately starve study subjects).

-- Safety: Probably not actually dangerous if you only persist for up to a week or so. But obviously not healthy.

However, I don't think a rational person needs to go much further than the name to confirm a strong suspicion that this is bull. Since its a type of fast, you almost certainly will be very hungry and lose a lot of weight. Of course you will be starving your body of some important nutrients and protein and not just losing fat.

If these people actually think that this non-scientific "detoxification" will make them generally healthier, they have been misled. If the person suspects that they may have some bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic, coronary, diabetic, or other condition (as almost all of us in fact do to some degree) they should try to find a doctor that is willing to do the appropriate medical tests to verify whether any of these is a significant health risk. If any condition is detected then specific medications targeting those problems are available.

Having said all of this, if you are determined to starve yourself in order to lose weight, there are more dangerous ways (such as not ingesting anything at all). I would assume that the people following this approach are quite desperate to lose weight. In that case you should encourage them to research scientific approaches to weight loss and medical science related to fat storage.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Cleanse

http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Muscle-gene-influences-fat-stor...


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