The Food and Drug Administration issued a strong warning to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to stop promoting products he sells on his website as cures for the deadly COVID-19 disease currently sweeping the globe.
The FDA issued a letter Thursday to Jones, who owns and operates the conspiracy-based radio show “Infowars.” In the letter, the FDA cited multiple examples of Jones claiming to have a treatment to combat the coronavirus, which has killed thousands in the U.S. alone.
“Described below, you sell products that are intended to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19 in people,” the letter said. “We request that you take immediate action to cease the sale of such unapproved and unauthorized products for the mitigation, prevention, treatment, diagnosis, or cure of COVID-19.”
The FDA cited several examples of Jones’ bogus claims from February and March.
“Regardless of how deadly this virus is ... if it kills you, it’s bad news,” Jones said on a March 20 broadcast. “So, I would advise listeners, just for your everyday life anyway, to boost your immune system.”
“We have the products that are documented on record to be good for your body,” he continued, before hawking several wares that supposedly contain silver like a toothpaste and a wound treatment gel.
There is currently no cure for COVID-19. That didn’t stop Jones from sticking to his lies, telling HuffPost in a statement last month that Infowars stands by the bogus products. New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a cease-and-desist letter in March demanding Jones stop promoting his fake medicine.
The FDA said in its letter that Jones’ misrepresentation could carry financial penalties and risk product seizures by the government. That could spell more trouble for Jones, who has already lost nearly $150,000 in court costs related to his failed bids to shut down several current lawsuits against him by the parents of dead children who he falsely claimed were “crisis actors.”
Jones was given until Saturday to respond to the FDA’s letter expressing his compliance. Products including “SuperSilver” wound gel no longer appear on the Infowars store, though plenty of other bogus remedies continue to be featured.
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