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Gordon Hunter Pedersen holds a bottle of a “structural alkaline silver” product in a Youtube video. Pedersen, of Cedar Hills, was recently arrested after being indicted in 2020 on federal charges alleging he sold products that fraudulently claimed to cure COVID-19.

Courtesy U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Utah

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Gordon Hunter Pedersen is seen at a gas station in Lindon through surveillance footage on July 5, 2023.

Courtesy U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Utah

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After a three year manhunt, a Utah resident who allegedly posed as a doctor with an unproven cure for the coronavirus in 2020 was found and arrested in Utah County, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.

Gordon Hunter Pedersen, 63, of Cedar Hills, “had a warrant issued for his arrest on August 25, 2020, after failing to appear on an indictment in federal court,” the release states. He’s charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and felony introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud and mislead.

Before an approved COVID-19 vaccine was available, Pedersen reportedly posted YouTube videos of himself dressed in a white lab coat monogrammed with “Dr. Gordon Pedersen” and a stethoscope. The federal complaint says he claimed to be a board-certified “Anti-Aging Medical Doctor,” and “promoted his products through MyDoctorSuggests.com.” The charging documents allege “Pedersen sold via the internet a ‘structural alkaline silver’ product which he claimed ‘resonates, or vibrates, at a frequency that destroys the membrane of the virus, making the virus incapable of attach to any healthy cell, or to infect you in any way.'”

An initial appearance was made by Pedersen on Tuesday at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City. At the hearing, held before Magistrate Judge Jared Bennett, Pedersen was present in-person and in custody. The minute entry for the proceedings in court stated that he “wishes to represent himself.” His next court appearance will be Friday, when the judge will rule on his self-representation.

My Doctor Suggests LLC, previously co-owned by Pedersen, pleaded guilty in 2020 to a “one-count criminal information related to its false and misleading marketing of ingestible silver products as a drug treatment for COVID-19,” according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs.

The charging documents for Pedersen state, “Bank records confirm that from January to end of April 2020, My Doctor Suggests experienced a 400% jump in revenue, generating approximately $2 million in that time frame.”

The 2020 press release stated, “The company has severed ties with Pedersen and agreed to cooperate in his prosecution. The criminal information filed … are 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.”

My Doctor Suggests was accused of making false claims that the silver-based product could be ingested to protect against the virus, with the product reportedly not providing necessary directions for use. The company also reportedly operated without properly registering with the Food and Drug Administration.

On April 28, 2020, search warrants for Pedersens house were issued and federal agents interviewed him. The charging documents state, “During the interview Pedersen claimed that his silver solution ‘destroys’ COVID-19 and admitted that he exaggerated his credentials on his advertisements.”

Pedersen is facing federal felony allegations for the selling of his “silver solution” as a cure for the coronavirus without evidence that the product cured or treated the virus. He claimed to have Ph.D.s in immunology and naturopathic medicine, both of which were false, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“The federal felony allegations are serious, especially against the backdrop of this pandemic where Americans are yearning for effective relief,” U.S. Attorney John Huber for the District of Utah stated in the 2020 press release. “If proven, this conduct reveals a scheme where greed was a higher priority than conveying truth to consumers.'”

Before Pedersen could be sentenced, he disappeared after not showing up for the indictment in federal court. After the no-show in court, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

According to the charging documents, there have been several attempts to locate Pedersen by agents with the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Marshals, who have conducted interviews and surveillance attempts.

In December 2020, deputies with the Marshal Service conducted an interview with Pedersen’s wife, Julia Currey. The charging document states that she “was uncooperative and told the deputies ‘she did not know where her husband was,’ but added that ‘[his lawyers and friends] were taking care of Gordon’ and that they would not give his location to police.”

Pedersen was spotted last month on July 5 during surveillance at Pedersen’s known address. He was observed leaving the house in a red sedan, which was discovered to be a rental car under Currey’s name. A special agent followed Pedersen to a gas station where he purchased fuel and a beverage with cash instead of using credit cards.

Attempts by the Daily Herald to contact Pedersen’s assigned federal public defender were unsuccessful.

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