Panel: Trump staffers pushed unproven COVID treatment at FDA
Source: Associated Press/By MATTHEW PERRONE and KEVIN FREK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials in the Trump White House tried to pressure U.S. health experts into reauthorizing a discredited COVID-19 treatment, according to a congressional investigation that provides new evidence of that administration’s efforts to override Food and Drug Administration decisions early in the pandemic.
The report Wednesday by the Democratic-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis also sheds new light on the role that television personalities played in bringing hydroxychloroquine to the attention of top White House officials. Investigators highlighted an email from Fox News’ Laura Ingraham and others from Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon who had a daytime TV show and is now the Republican Senate nominee in Pennsylvania. Ingraham attended an Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, who himself took the anti-malaria drug.
The FDA originally authorized use of hydroxychloroquine in late March 2020 based on small studies suggesting it could have some effectiveness against the coronavirus. At that time, many researchers hoped that existing antiviral drugs could be used to fight the virus. But by June, FDA officials had concluded the drug was likely ineffective and could cause potentially dangerous heart complications, revoking its emergency use.
Efforts by the Trump administration to control the release of COVID-19 guidance and install political operatives at public health agencies have been well documented.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hydroxychloroquine-covid-treatment-campaign-8f136d7e9dc52fd2d8da8854680d6004
Another "Pin the Tale on the Donkey" story.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Hydroxychloroquine is not an "existing anti-viral", it's an anti-parasitic drug. 
Parasites are HUGE critters compared to a tiny virus (which itself is even smaller than a bacteria).
