On the Second Day of Trial, Fake Doctor Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Before opening statements, Gordon Hunter Pedersen, 64, of Cedar Hills, Utah, pleaded guilty today to mail fraud and introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead. The case against Pedersen received national attention after he, acting as a doctor, promoted and sold silver products that falsely claimed could treat and cure diseases, including COVID-19.

In August 2023, Pedersen, a three-year fugitive, was arrested after he fled from law enforcement in 2020 and failed to appear on the indictment in this case. See prior news release here. 

According to court documents, from 2012 through 2020, Pedersen lied to consumers about his education, qualifications, and about the palliative abilities of his silver products – “structured alkaline silver solution,” silver lozenges, silver probiotics, silver soap, silver mouthwash and silver gel. 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. Mr. Pedersen distributed his Silver Products through his company My Doctor Suggests, LLC (MDS), where he was 25% owner and the company spokesman and primary marketer. 

At the end of 2019 through May 2020, through YouTube videos and other advertising means, Mr. Pedersen claimed that his silver products would prevent, cure, and treat COVID-19. Via the internet, Pedersen, sold the “structured alkaline silver” solution, which he claimed, “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 anyway.” To further defraud, Pedersen falsely claimed on YouTube videos to be medical doctor. On January 30, 2020, Pedersen posted a video promotion on YouTube entitled “Coronavirus Best Solution! Hand Sanitizers! Structured Silver Gel from Dr. Gordon Pedersen.”

In April 2020, Pedersen shipped his silver products, via United States Postal Service, first class mail from American Fork, Utah to Kansas City, Kansas, therefore impacting interstate commerce. 

Pedersen is scheduled to be sentenced May 29, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. in courtroom 8.1 at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City. 

United States Attorney Trina A. Higgins of the District of Utah made the announcement. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Jacob J. Strain and Brian Williams from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah are prosecuting the case with assistance from Trial Attorney Speare Hodges and Sarah Williams from the Department of Justice, Civil Division’ Consumer Protection Branch. James Smith from FDA’s Office of Chief Council is also assisting.

The case is being investigated jointly by the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation (FDA-OCI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Salt Lake City Field Office. Valuable assistance was also provided by the U.S. Marshals Service. 

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.