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. The report by the House subcommittee investigating the government’s COVID-19 response focused on pressure at the FDA, which serves as gatekeeper for the drugs, vaccines and other countermeasures against the virus. Much of the information comes from an interview with the agency’s former commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, who was picked for the job by Trump in late 2019. Frustrated by the pace of FDA’s medical reviews, Trump repeatedly 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 expected to conduct their reviews free from outside influence. Indeed, the FDA’s credibility largely stems from its reputation for scientific independence. But Hahn told investigators that he felt pressure due to the “persistence” of Trump aide Peter Navarro’s calls to reauthorize hydroxychloroquine after the FDA’s decision to pull its emergency use. “We took a different stance at the FDA,” Hahn told investigators. “So that disagreement, which of course ultimately became somewhat public, was a source of pressure.” The subcommittee chairman, Democrat Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, said efforts to bend the FDA’s scientific work on treatments and vaccines exemplified how the “prior administration prioritized politics over public health.” But Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the panel’s top Republican, said the report was “further proof” that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “only set up this sham panel to carry out a political vendetta” against Trump. Much of the report focuses on actions taken 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 Mr. Navarro devised multiple pressure schemes targeting FDA and federal officials who they contended were wrongly impeding widespread access to hydroxychloroquine,” according to the report. In his response, Hatfill said: “We never wrongly pressured anyone. We simply followed the science and the overwhelming evidence as detailed in several studies available at the time.” Navarro, in an emailed statement, said the […]

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