Court orders halt to sales of silver product touted as coronavirus cure

A federal court on Wednesday issued an injunction halting the sales of a silver product that has been fraudulently touted as a coronavirus cure.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah issued a temporary restraining order against My Doctor Suggests LLC and GP Silver LLC in response to allegations that the companies are promoting and selling various silver products on the unsubstantiated claims that they can treat and prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The court issued a second order freezing the defendants’ assets. 

“The Department of Justice 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,” Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt said in a statement. “We work closely with our partners at the Food and Drug Administration and will move quickly to shut down schemes that promote and sell unlawful products during this pandemic.” 

A civil complaint brought against the two companies alleges that Gordon Pedersen, who owns the two companies, began selling the products earlier this year on the claims that having silver in the bloodstream will “usher” any coronavirus out of the body and “prevent the disease totally and completely.” 

The website for My Doctor Suggests appeared to be down Wednesday morning, though it was not immediately clear if that was a result of the injunction. A screenshot from the website from Sunday showed it advertising products such as “Silver Gels & Liquids,” “Silver Soaps” and “Silver Lozenges.”

“The FDA will continue to help ensure those who place profits above the public health during the COVID-19 pandemic are stopped,” said Judy McMeekin, associate commissioner for regulatory affairs at the Food and Drug Administration. “We are fully committed to working with the Department of Justice to take appropriate action against those jeopardizing the health of Americans by offering and distributing products with unproven claims to prevent or treat COVID-19.”