CRIME, POLICE + COURTS
Utah-based company selling alleged cure for coronavirus is stopped
Apr 29, 2020, 12:32 PM | Updated: Dec 30, 2022, 11:25 am
A YouTube video making its rounds on social media claimed it had the cure for COVID-19. Now, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order for selling the alleged treatments.(US Department of Justice)
(US Department of Justice)
CEDAR HILLS — A YouTube video making its rounds on social media claimed it had the cure for the new coronavirus. Now, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Gordon Pedersen for selling the alleged treatments.
According to court documents, prosecutors said Pedersen and his companies — My Doctor Suggests LLC and GP Silver LLC — fraudulently marketed silver products to customers. The companies marketed gels and solutions as a treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, through “a wide variety of false and misleading claims.”
Pedersen asserted that once in the bloodstream, the silver nanoparticles can block the coronavirus from attaching to their cells — thus “preventing the disease totally and completely.”
The Federal Drug Administration teamed up with the Justice Department to shut down Pedersen’s site. Prosecutors filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.
An injunction was issued by a federal judge Monday, with its contents unsealed Wednesday.
“Alkaline Structured Silver will destroy all forms of viruses, it will protect people from the coronavirus,” Petersen claimed, according to court documents.
This is allegedly accomplished by the silver nanoparticles attaching to cells in the bloodstream, which prevents diseases taking hold. But prosecutors said this is a “phony cure-all” designed to defraud consumers.
Affidavits show he was selling his Silver Solution for $300 a gallon.
The Department of Justice issued a statement saying, it will protect consumers from this kind of fraud.
“[The DOJ]will take swift action to protect consumers from those who would recklessly exploit this public health crisis by offering phony cure-alls for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19,” the department said in a statement.
The department urges the public to report suspected fraud schemes related to COVID-19 to the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) hotline (1-866-720-5721) or by e-mailing the NCDF at disaster@leo.gov.
There is currently no cure for the coronavirus.
