Police Arrest Utah Man Accused of Posing as Doctor, Selling Silver Products as COVID-19 Cure

The Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 14, 2020. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

A Utah man, who allegedly posed as a medical doctor and sold products he claimed could cure COVID-19, was arrested and charged on Aug. 14 following a three-year manhunt, according to officials.

Gordon Hunter Pedersen, 63, of Cedar Hills, Utah, was discovered by federal agents conducting surveillance on July 5, nearly three years after he went on the run on Aug. 25, 2020, after failing to appear for an indictment in federal court.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest since 2020.

Mr. Pedersen was charged with “mail fraud, wire fraud, and felony introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead,” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.

He appeared for a detention hearing on Aug. 15 at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City, the press release said.

Prosecutors allege that Mr. Pedersen began fraudulently promoting and selling a “structural alkaline silver” product online at the start of the pandemic, claiming that it could treat or cure COVID-19.

Appearing in videos posted online wearing a stethoscope and white lab coat, Mr. Pedersen allegedly claimed that the product “resonates, or vibrates, at a frequency that destroys the membrane of the virus, making the virus incapable of attaching to any healthy cell, or to infect you in any way.”

‘False Claims’ About COVID Products

Mr. Pedersen made the claims before multiple COVID-19 vaccines approved by health officials were made available, officials said.

However, prosecutors said there was no evidence that the ingestible silver-based products could treat or cure COVID-19.

Furthermore, they claim that Mr. Pedersen, in videos posted to YouTube, stated he was a board-certified “anti-aging medical doctor” and holds a doctorate in immunology and naturopathic medicine.

These claims, prosecutors say, were false.

According to court documents (pdf), Mr. Pedersen has been making other “false claims” about the “structural alkaline silver” products since at least 2014, including that they can treat a range of diseases, such as arthritis, diabetes, influenza, and pneumonia.

All of the products he sold listed the precious metal silver as an ingredient for consumers to ingest or apply topically, and were marketed under various names, including “Silver Solution,” “Silver Gel,” “Silver Soap,” and “all Natural Silver Lozenge.”

The items were allegedly sold through Mr. Pedersen’s companies—My Doctor Suggests LLC and GP Silver LLC—as well as Amazon and Shopify, for up to $299.95 for a gallon of the Silver Solution, a mix of water, sodium bicarbonate, and extract from silver wire, court documents state.

‘This Destroys Viruses’

Beginning in 2020, according to prosecutors, Mr. Pedersen began promoting the products as a way to treat or cure COVID-19, such as that the silver solution had “destroyed related coronaviruses” and that consumers could expect a similar outcome against “the Wuhan version COVID-19.”

“If all of this problem is coming in and out of your sinuses and mouth, it’s as easy as taking a silver lozenge and now you got 25 minutes of silver protection. What is the protection? This destroys viruses,” he said in one of the videos posted online, according to prosecutors.

In other videos posted online, Mr. Pedersen allegedly told users they would be able to travel freely without fear of contracting the coronavirus if they used his products, prosecutors said.

As a result of marketing his products as effective for preventing and treating COVID-19 in early 2020, prosecutors said Mr. Pedersen and his companies had experienced “a substantial increase in sales.”

Mr. Pedersen was initially indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2020 but evaded authorities for three years.

His case is being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration’s criminal investigation office, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Utah.

Mr. Pedersen is representing himself in the case and could not be reached for comment.