A federal grand jury indicted Utah resident Gordon H. Pedersen for posing as a doctor to sell a phony cure for the treatment for COVID-19, officials announced today.
The indictment stated that Pedersen fraudulently promoted and sold ingestible silver-based products as a cure for COVID-19. He offered no evidence that his products could treat or cure the disease.
Pedersen is also allegedly claimed to be a physician. He wore a stethoscope and white lab coat in videos and photos posted on the Internet to further his alleged fraud scheme.
Pedersen told televangelist Jim Bakker in 2011 that 51% of Americans would die from the bird flu within four months — but his “silver solution” would protect them, according to the Charlotte Observer.
According to ABC4.com, Pedersen listed as the Medical Director for The Silver Health Institute and has sold what he calls Alkaline Structured Silver in gel, lozenge and liquid form advertised in YouTube videos:
“I’m drinking, morning and night, two tablespoons twice a day,” he says in one video entered as evidence by the U.S. Department of Justice. “Because I want that liquid silver in my bloodstream circulating around so in case that virus gets into my bloodstream through inhalation or eating my foods or my eyes that it’s going to be in my bloodstream ready to usher it out as soon as it gets in my body.”
In a related matter, the company Pedersen previously co-owned, My Doctor Suggests LLC agreed to plead guilty to one count related to false and misleading marketing of ingestible silver products as a drug treatment for COVID-19, officials stated.
The company has severed ties with Pedersen and agreed to cooperate in his prosecution.
The criminal information filed Thursday is part of a global resolution with My Doctor Suggests that also includes a civil consent order requiring the company to cease fraudulently labeling its products and to issue full refunds to affected consumers.
“The Department of Justice will take swift action to protect consumers from those who offer phony cure-alls for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan Davis.
The indictment alleges that beginning in early 2020, Pedersen conducted a scheme to defraud consumers throughout the United States, by falsely presenting himself as a medical doctor and promoting and selling silver products on the Internet-based on fraudulent claims of protection against, and treatment for, COVID-19, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.
According to the criminal information filed Friday, My Doctor Suggests made false and misleading claims that the company’s silver-based products could be ingested to protect against COVID-19 .
The products lacked the necessary directions for use as a drug product.
The information also allege My Doctor Suggests operated without properly registering with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It is anticipated My Doctor Suggests will plead guilty to a single misdemeanor count of distributing misbranded drug products in interstate commerce in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
“The FDA is actively monitoring the marketplace for fraudulent products represented as preventing, curing, or treating COVID-19. Americans expect and deserve treatments that are safe, effective and meet appropriate standards, and the agency will continue to bring to justice those who place profits above the public health during this pandemic,” said Judy McMeekin, Pharm.D., Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The Department of Justice obtained an emergency court order alleging in its civil complaint that My Doctor Suggests worked with two co-defendants, Pedersen and his company GP Silver LLC, to fraudulently promote and sell various silver products for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19.
Subsequent orders temporarily enjoined Pedersen, GP Silver LLC, and My Doctor Suggests from distributing silver products as well as representing they could cure, mitigate, treat, or otherwise prevent COVID-19 or any other disease.
The recent consent order permanently enjoins My Doctor Suggests LLC from making these representations, and it provides a notification and refund process for deceived consumers.
The consent order specifically requires that My Doctor Suggests LLC permanently stop any fraudulent promotions.
It also requires that My Doctor clearly and conspicuously disavow any statement that its silver products treat or prevent COVID-19 in future marketing materials and consumer notices, implement robust compliance measures to prevent a reoccurrence, and provide full refunds upon request to any customer who purchased its silver products under fraudulent pretenses.
An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
DOJ NOTED:
The criminal action is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Strain from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah with assistance from Trial Attorney Matt Lash from the Department of Justice, Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and James Smith from the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel. The criminal case was investigated by the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the FBI’s Utah Field Office.
The civil enforcement action was handled by Trial Attorneys Speare I. Hodges and Sarah Williams of the Department of Justice, Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel A. Ferre, with support from FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.