Infowars founder Alex Jones has received an official warning from the Food and Drug Administration for peddling phony coronavirus cures online.
In a formal letter to the alt-right television personality on Thursday, the agency ordered Jones to stop telling viewers of his widely watched broadcasts that they can stave off coronavirus with the colloidal silver products sold on his website.
They include “Superblue Silver Immune Gargle,” “SuperSilver Whitening Toothpaste,” “SuperSilver Wound Dressing Gel” and “Superblue Fluoride Free Toothpaste,” all of which the FDA referred to as “unapproved new drugs sold in violation” of the law.
Videos describing the products on the Infowars website “misleadingly represent them as safe and/or effective for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19,” according to the letter.
In one March video titled “Experts Say Trump Must Seal The Border Like Israel & Italy Or Face Massive Coronavirus Surge,” Jones claims his products have been approved by the White House and are known cures for SARS-related viruses.
“I’m not going to belabor this, I’m just gonna tell ya, that for just your daily life, and your gums and your teeth and for regular viruses and bacteria, the patented Nano Silver we have, the Pentagon has come out and documented, and homeland security have said this stuff kills the whole SARS corona family, at point-blank range,” he says in the clip.
“Well, of course it does, it kills every virus. But they found that, this is 13 years ago, and the Pentagon uses the product we have.”
Despite the comments, which are similar to others across several videos, there is a disclaimer about the products pushed by Jones on the Infowars website.
“The products on this site are not intended for use in the cure, treatment, prevention or mitigation of any disease, including the novel coronavirus,” it warns. “Any suggestion to the contrary is false and is expressly disavowed.”
The FDA goes on to list several federal laws that Jones has violated by pushing his phony cures, requesting that he “take immediate action to cease the sale” of these products or face consequences.
Jones, a conspiracy theorist well-known for fueling the “Pizzagate” story and promoting the false narrative of staged mass shootings, has been banned from most social media sites, as have his websites. Google earlier this year removed the Infowars show from its Android App for spreading coronavirus misinformation.
He was one of seven companies to receive such a letter this week. Others include Idaho company Herbal Amy and televangelist program “The Jim Bakker Show,” Forbes reported. Some of the products cited included teas, essential oils, tinctures and colloidal silver products.
According to the FDA website, “Currently there are no FDA-approved drugs specifically for the treatment of COVID-19,” though several medications are in clinical trials.
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