Notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to stop selling fake cures for coronavirus by the New York Attorney General.
The 46-year-old Infowars broadcaster told his listeners this week that a toothpaste he sells on his website for US$20 per tube is "verified by the Pentagon and Homeland Security for its ability to kill SARS-corona family viruses".
There is currently no known vaccine for COVID-19, which at the time of publishing has killed over 4900 people worldwide.
A cease and desist letter from New York Attorney General Letitia James also says in addition to the toothpaste, Jones has been "marketing and selling dietary supplements, creams, and several other products as treatments to prevent and cure the coronavirus".
Jones has hit back at the letter, saying: "I would never tell my listeners that this is a silver bullet, it's just not true", reports the New York Post.
The SuperSilver Whitening Toothpaste remains available on the Infowars website and even currently has a 50 percent discount.
"As the coronavirus continues to pose serious risks to public health, Alex Jones has spewed outright lies and has profited off of New Yorkers' anxieties," said Attorney General James.
"Jones' public platform has not only given him a microphone to shout inflammatory rhetoric, but his latest mistruths are incredibly dangerous and pose a serious threat to the public health of New Yorkers and individuals across the nation.
"If these unlawful violations do not cease immediately, my office will not hesitate to take legal action and hold Mr Jones accountable for the harm he's caused."
Jones' claim was made in an Infowars radio show broadcast in the US on Tuesday (local time), reports the Huffington Post.
"The patented nanosilver we have, the Pentagon has come out and documented and Homeland Security has said this stuff kills the whole SARS-corona family at point-blank range," he said.
"They're still discounted despite all the hell breaking loose."
Attorney General James strongly shot down the claim.
"In addition to this fraud, Jones also makes deeply deceptive claims about the benefits and medicinal powers of nano silver or colloidal silver - the main medicinal ingredient in his products," she said.
"According to the National Institutes of Health, colloidal silver can actually be dangerous to a person’s health, and the FDA has warned that colloidal silver is not safe or effective for treating any disease or condition.
"Countless scientific studies have also determined that there is no evidence to support the use of colloidal silver as a treatment for any disease or condition."
Jones has propagated countless inflammatory conspiracy theories, including claiming the Sandy Hook massacre was fake, which led to many of the slain children's parents being harassed.
In addition to reporting that the grieving parents were 'crisis actors', Jones was also one of the leading proponents of the 'pizzagate' conspiracy theory, which led to a 29-year-old man firing an assault rifle in a Washington DC restaurant.
He has also alleged the US government is secretly controlled by a shadowy international cabal called the New World Order, whose sinister deeds include turning frogs gay and running a child slave colony on Mars.
Jones has also claimed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are literal demons and publicly threatened to murder Trump/Russia collusion investigator Robert Mueller, who he also said is a demon.
Attorney General James has previously sent a cease and desist letter to Christian televangelist Jim Bakker and Dr Sherrill Sellman after claiming in a February broadcast that 'Silver Solution' can cure certain strains of the virus.
Coronavirus COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) this week.
