SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A federal judge ordered a Utah man to stop selling silver products marketed as cures for the coronavirus.
U.S. District Judge David Barlow issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday against 60-year-old Gordon Pedersen and his companies, My Doctor Suggests LLC and GP Silver LLC, The Deseret News reported.
U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber filed a civil complaint against Pedersen Monday saying he fraudulently markets silver products as a cure for COVID-19.
“The defendants have made a wide variety of false and misleading claims touting silver products as a preventative for COVID-19,” a statement from Huber’s office said.
The misrepresentations include claims that “having silver in the bloodstream will ‘usher’ any coronavirus out of the body and that ‘it has been proven that alkaline structured silver will destroy all forms of viruses, (and) it will protect people from the coronavirus,’” the statement said.
Pedersen and his companies have promoted silver products as a treatment for various diseases including arthritis, diabetes, influenza, and pneumonia since about 2014, the civil complaint said.
Prosecutors said in court documents that prices on the My Doctor Suggests website go up to $299.95 for a gallon (3.79 liters) of the silver solution, a mix of water, extract from silver wire and sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda.
Court documents did not list an attorney for Pederson and he did not immediately return an email message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
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