KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is suing televangelist Jim Bakker and his show for claiming a product could cure the new coronavirus.
The lawsuit, announced Tuesday afternoon, alleges that in an episode of the “Jim Bakker Show” a guest claimed a product sold through his online store can cure the coronavirus.
Those claims are not backed by reliable scientific evidence, the lawsuit says. COVID-19, the disease’s official name, has killed more than 4,000 people and infected more than 100,000 throughout the world. Two people have been diagnosed in Kansas and Missouri.
The goal of the lawsuit filed in Stone County Circuit Court, attorney general’s spokesman Chris Nuelle said, is to stop misinformation.
“We wouldn’t want a consumer seeing this and thinking it could help them with the coronavirus,” Nuelle said. “If there’s misinformation out there, we want to combat it. If there’s misrepresentations being made, we want to prevent that.”
The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction ordering Bakker to stop marketing the product as a treatment for the coronavirus. It cites the Merchandising Practices Act, which says any misrepresentation when selling products is unlawful. The attorney general’s office also filed a request for a restraining order. We wouldn’t want a consumer seeing this and thinking it could help them with the coronavirus. If there’s misinformation out there, we want to combat it.
In an episode of his nationwide show on Feb. 12, Bakker asked his guest, Sherill Sellman, if the Silver Solution would be effective against the coronavirus.
“Let’s say it hasn’t been tested on this strain of the coronavirus, but it’s been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and has been able to eliminate it within 12 hours,” Sellman said.
She went on to say the product “has been proven by the government that it has the ability to kill every pathogen it has ever been tested on including SARS and HIV.”
But according to the Food and Drug Administration, the product is an unapproved new drug that violates the law. There are no over-the-counter products that treat or cure the coronavirus, according to the FDA.
On Monday, the attorney general warned Missourians of scams and price gouging related to the coronavirus. No complaints were made to the attorney general’s office as of Monday, according to a news release, but consumers should be wary.
“The Missouri attorney general’s job is to protect all 6 million Missourians,” Nuelle said. “We want Missourians to know that we are here to help them and we want to hear from them if they see … any other scam related to the coronavirus because we want to hear about it.”
Consumers can report scams or price gouging to the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-392-8222 or through the attorney general’s website.
The New York Attorney General’s Office last week issued a cease and desist letter to Bakker’s show, telling him to stop making claims that aren’t supported by scientific evidence.
