Utah man sentenced for posing as doctor, selling unproven COVID ‘cure’ infused with silver

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — A Utah man was sentenced on Monday for posing as a doctor and scamming consumers by promising his products could heal a variety of ailments, including diabetes and COVID-19.

Gordon Hunter Pedersen, 64, was sentenced to three years in prison and one year of supervised release. In March, he pleaded guilty to committing mail fraud and “introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.

According to the attorney’s office, Pedersen lied about his credentials and posed as a medical doctor. He also “exaggerated the palliative abilities” of his silver-containing products by claiming his products could heal people.

“His silver products included silver lozenges, silver probiotics, silver soap, silver mouthwash and silver gel,” the attorney’s office said.

Pedersen used his company My Doctor Suggests, LLC, to distribute the products. The attorney’s office said he was the spokesman for the company and its primary marketer.

From his silver-selling scheme, Pedersen made an estimated $6,110,473, according to the attorney’s office.

Over the span of eight years — from 2012 to 2020 — Pedersen claimed his products were “a suitable and effective remedy” for a wide variety of ailments including diabetes, arthritis, pneumonia, COVID-19, and the flu, according to the attorney’s office.

“His fraudulent salesmanship generated thousands of dollars and his sales skyrocketed in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, and before approved vaccines were available,” the attorney’s office said.

Pedersen used the United States Postal Service to deliver the products, which led to the mail fraud charge, according to the attorney’s office. He also fled from law enforcement for three years.

The FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation investigated the case, along with help from the U.S. Marshals Service.

If you have information regarding allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you are asked to contact the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline through the disaster complaint form .

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