Much has been said about hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, the malaria pushed by President Trump as remedies for COVID-19.
Trump White House officials have tried to pressure U. S. fitness experts. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security to reauthorize a discredited COVID-19 treatment, according to a congressional investigation that provides new evidence of that administration’s efforts to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s decisions at the beginning of the pandemic.
The report released Wednesday by the Democratic-led House elected subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis also sheds new light on the role television personalities have played in drawing the attention of senior White House officials to hydroxychloroquine. others from Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrated central surgeon who had a TV show that day and is now the Republican nominee for the Pennsylvania Senate. Ingraham attended an Oval Office assembly with President Donald Trump, who took the antimalarial drug.
The FDA first legalized the use of hydroxychloroquine in late March 2020, based on small studies suggesting it would possibly have some efficacy against the coronavirus. At the time, many researchers hoped that existing antiviral drugs could also be used to fight the virus. But in June, FDA officials concluded that the drug was likely useless and could also lead to potentially harmful complications at the center, canceling its emergency use.
DOSSIER – Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen M. Hahn speaks as U. S. President Donald Trump listens to the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Brady Session Room of the White House in Washington, D. C. on April 21, 2020. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The Trump administration’s efforts to publish COVID-19 rules and install political agents in public fitness agencies have been well documented.
The report by the House subcommittee investigating the government’s reaction to COVID-19 focused on pressure on the FDA, which acts as a gatekeeper for drugs, vaccines and countermeasures against the virus.
Much of the data comes from an interview with the agency’s former commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, who selected for the task through Trump in late 2019. Frustrated by the speed of FDA medical reviews, Trump has continually accused Hahn, without evidence, of delaying decisions on COVID-19 drugs and vaccines “for political reasons. “
Although FDA commissioners are politically appointed, the agency’s scientists are meant to conduct their reviews without any outside influence. In fact, the FDA’s credibility comes in large part from its reputation for clinical independence.
But Hahn told investigators he felt tension over the “persistence” of calls through Trump aide Peter Navarro to reauthorize hydroxychloroquine after the FDA’s resolution to withdraw its emergency use.
“We took another position at the FDA,” Hahn told investigators. “So this disagreement, which of course eventually became public, was a source of pressure. “
Much of the report focuses on moves made by Navarro and Dr. Steven Hatfill, a virologist and outside adviser described by the subcommittee as a “full-time volunteer” on COVID-19 for the White House.
“Dr. Hatfill and Navarro designed multiple stress systems targeting fda and federal officials that erroneously prevented widespread access to hydroxychloroquine,” according to the report.
In his response, Hatfill said, “We have never wrongly emphasized anyone. We just follow the science and overwhelming evidence as detailed in several studies that were available at the time. “
Navarro, in an emailed statement, said the subcommittee was “wrongly” perpetuating that hydroxychloroquine “is dangerous. “He also said he recounted his battles with the FDA in his memoirs at the White House.
It is vital to note that there is no evidence that the White House’s efforts ultimately replaced the FDA’s decisions on hydroxychloroquine or any other therapy.
The researchers also cited a March 28, 2020 email from Oz to Dr. Oz. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, who said the drug “shows up and the effects are greater than expected. “
Birx forwarded the email to Hahn within the hour, saying “we talk. “
A cancer specialist with no previous political experience, Hahn was widely criticized as covid-19’s first reaction for decisions that appeared to yield to White House officials.
According to emails received through the committee, Hatfill described “constant fights with (Dr. Anthony) Fauci and Dr. Hahn” over access to hydroxychloroquine during the summer. Fauci is the country’s most sensible infectious disease expert.
During this time, Hatfill also suggested to Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. , that he request a federal investigation into the handling of hydroxychloroquine, according to a letter sent to the Congressional Record.
There is no indication that such a request has been made. But in mid-August, Johnson and his Republican colleagues, Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas, wrote to the FDA requesting an explanation for the refusal to reinstate hydroxychloroquine’s authorization. Johnson also chaired a Senate committee hearing in November. 2020 about the characteristics of the treatment and complained that doctors prescribing hydroxychloroquine for COVID had been “despised”.
In the fall of 2020, the FDA and white house focused on the upcoming approval of Pfizer and Moderna’s first COVID-19 vaccines.
As previously reported, the White House opposed an FDA requirement that vaccine brands gather two months of protection information before filing their claims, saying this condition would delay the launch of the injections. Trump had continually said he would allow himself to shoot before the election. Day, even though government scientists reported that the delay was unlikely.
The committee’s report that FDA rules for vaccine brands had been delayed for more than 3 weeks, from mid-September to early October, due to White House concerns.
Hahn told investigators that the firm faces “pushback on the issue” from several officials, adding that Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told the FDA commissioner on Sept. 23, 2020, that the White House would not approve the two months. ask.
On Oct. 6, the FDA quietly released its vaccine rules as part of a broader set of documents for drug manufacturers. After the documents were online, Hahn said Meadows called him to inform him that fda standards had been approved.
The post sparked the president’s fury on Twitter.
“The fda’s new regulations make it difficult for them to speed up vaccine approval before Election Day. Just political success!” Trump tweeted to his FDA commissioner.
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